Trevor sustained a very serious head injury… he could not remember anything about the accident…

Trevor was only 42 years old when he was knocked down whilst crossing a busy 3 lane dual carriageway one early summers morning, he was on his way to work. He sustained a very serious head injury resulting in permanent brain damage as well as orthopaedic injuries, the head injury meant that he could not remember anything about the accident, we had to forensically examine all of the evidence and build the case so that Trevor recovered some compensation to help make his life more comfortable.

The only fact that we could be sure of was that Trevor came to rest in the outside lane of the 3 laned carriageway, we had to build backwards from there to work out where Trevor was when the collision occurred. Attwaters are not afraid of these difficult cases and were happy to take the case on a no win no fee agreement to try and secure some financial recompense for what was a devastating event for Trevor, his wife his young family.

We went through the police report with a fine tooth comb and found discrepancies between the drivers evidence and that of the key witness who was travelling behind him, we instructed a reconstruction expert and were able to adduce evidence which would put Trevor in the middle lane when the accident occurred, visibility was good on the day of the accident, and there was nothing to obscure the Defendant’s view. We therefore presented the case on the basis that Trevor was there to be seen he was established on the road and had the defendant being paying proper attention to the road he would have seen him and could have/should have taken avoidance action, had he done so the accident could have been avoided or at worse the injuries would have been reduced.

It’s important in these serious complex cases that you form your legal team at an early stage, we got the barrister involved from the outset, he was with us and also agreed to take the case on a no win no fee agreement, and once we had gathered enough positive evidence we were also able to successfully apply for insurance to protect Trevor if he lost the case.

As to be expected liability for the accident was strenuously denied by the Defendant’s insurers, they were adamant that it was all Trevor’s fault he should not have been crossing the road at the point. The Defendant admitted that he saw Trevor on the road but maintained that he took as much avoidance action as he could. Our forensic reconstruction expert did not accept that was the case and presented technical evidence to present doubt, the Defendant’s expert presented his evidence in a way to support the Defendant’s case.

We were confident that Trevor would establish some fault against the other driver, there was no law against crossing the road where he did, although we advised that some blame was likely to attach to Trevor for choosing to take on the risk of doing so, it was nevertheless worthwhile to the family to continue with the case. The matter was listed for trial, and although the Defendant had made some insulting offers along the way the encroaching trial date brought out a much more realistic offer which we weighed up with the family and after careful thought they decided to accept it. No amount of money would restore Trevor to his pre accident health but some financial support can help the family through the more difficult times. We were also able to advise and set up a Personal Injury Trust to protect Trevor’s compensation.

It is rewarding winning these very difficult cases, they are high risk but to be able to help clients get some financial recompense makes it all worthwhile.