The MCM legal column is compiled by managing partner Andrew ‘Chef’ Prendergast and his bike-riding barristers and solicitors at White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors.
The firm deals with personal injury claims and its sister company, Motor Defence Solicitors, deals with all the motoring offences.
White Dalton lawyers have a vast knowledge of bike law, and they have full bike licences, too. They don’t act for insurance companies or the prosecution.
White Dalton is Britain’s premier specialist motorcycle law practice, and if its professionals don’t know the answer to your question, there probably isn’t one. Don’t rely on the advice from your insurance appointed solicitor, get proper independent advice.
Fiddling the books
26 Jul 2018
I got knocked off my Kawasaki Versys 650 about four years ago. Liability was admitted straight away.
Out of time
19 Jul 2018
In 2008 I was riding my Fazer 600 when a car turned right across my path. The smack up was really bad and put me in a coma for four months.
Asphalt like marbles
12 Jul 2018
Last summer I was on my BMW 1200 heading on my usual route to work. I was meandering around a roundabout on the ring road when the front end of the motorbike just washed out on gravel etc. from the broken up road surface.
Can I sue a pedestrian who causes an accident?
05 Jul 2018
I had literally just picked up my new Kawasaki Z1000SX. We were on our maiden voyage.
Reversing blind
28 Jun 2018
I pulled up at my local motorbike dealer into the proper parking spaces and was just about to get off my Ducati 916.
Tax Dodge
19 Apr 2018
My solicitor has told me to accept an offer to settle my claim after I got spanked off my ZX-12R, broke my ankle and was off work for six months.
False Economy
12 Apr 2018
I got knocked off my Multistrada by a taxi driver about 18 months ago. The taxi driver’s insurer admitted liability and offered to deal with me directly about my claim.
Without reasonable consideration
05 Apr 2018
I have received a Notice of Prosecution for “driving without reasonable consideration” and it requests I identify the rider.
Wheel of terror
29 Mar 2018
I took my Bandit 1200 to have a new tyre fitted. I rode it for about 2500 miles through the summer.
Liability not an issue
15 Feb 2018
Some young lad wiped me out while I was riding my CBR600. He was speeding down the local high-street with his mates in the back showing off and then swung onto the wrong side of the road and hit me head on.
Reversing into the ridiculous
08 Feb 2018
I went out on my Hornet 900 for a countryside wander. I was riding through rural Buckinghamshire and went to head over a canal. As it was spanned by a humpback bridge I slowed down and had just stopped to give way to an oncoming truck when I was rear ended by Sunday driving ‘football […]
Plan the Pyrenees
01 Feb 2018
Riding to the roof of the European world might sound like a daunting task, but it can be made simple.
Tangled brake
28 Dec 2017
I fell off my motorbike and broke the front brake lever and master cylinder. My fully comprehensive insurer jumped in and sent it to my local dealer for repairs. All was well… or so I thought.
Caught in the dark
21 Dec 2017
I was out riding my BMWS1000RR with a couple of mates through the Peak District. We weren’t flying and only doing about 70mph in a 50mph limit.
Corrosion erosion
07 Dec 2017
I bought a new BMW about 18 months ago. This is going to be my last bike and a retirement present to myself.
Insurance pays out
30 Nov 2017
I sold my GSXR750 to a local chap. He seemed like a decent fella, paid the cash and off he wandered. Fast forward four weeks and I got a bell off my insurance company.
Track day dummy
21 Sep 2017
I totalled my two week old Yamaha R1 and bust my leg after I fell off on a track day. I’ve been riding for 20 years and have loads of track experience.
Curb the pizza toppings
14 Sep 2017
I am a pizza delivery rider in Liverpool. I had an American Hot getting cold on board so I bumped up the curb, rode about 50ft past a queue of traffic and then turned left into a cul-de-sac.
