Honda Civic pulls across his path
James was involved in a serious motorcycle collision in August at the Lix Toll Garage on the A85 between Lochearnhead and Crianlarich.
James had been on a run on his Triumph Thruxton with some friends up to Glencoe and was making his way south after stopping for a coffee at the Green Welly Stop at Tyndrum. Weather conditions were excellent. Visibility was great and the road surface was dry.
As James approached the garage, he suddenly saw a red Honda Civic that had been travelling north, pull across his path. There was absolutely nothing that he could do. He wasn’t afforded any opportunity to take evasive action. His bike went spinning off down the north bound carriageway and he ended up underneath the front nearside passenger door of the vehicle.
Air ambulance to QEUH
A Dutch girl who was also a motorcyclist pulled up and ran across screaming at the lady driver, “are you blind?” The female driver got out of her car saying, “I never saw him.”
The Emergency services were quick to respond and attended the scene. An air ambulance helicopter was requested and landed in an adjacent field. James was stretchered into the back of the ambulance to be taken down to the helicopter and that is the last thing he remembers until waking up in hospital.
Whilst in the ambulance, James suffered a cardiac arrest. He was stabilised, placed in the helicopter and then had a second cardiac arrest.
He was taken to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. He had suffered a collapsed lung, a right pneumothorax and 4 fractured ribs to his right side. He also suffered a fracture to his right clavicle and his right femur was fractured in two places.
James contacts Motorcycle Law Scotland
He spent 31 days in total at the QEUH . Most of that time was spent in the High Dependency Unit or Intensive Care.
When James eventually got home from hospital, he decided to change the Solicitor appointed by his insurer and contacted specialist motorcycle Solicitor, Brenda Mitchell at Motorcycle Law Scotland. Brenda made an appointment to go and see James at home the following day.
This case demonstrates co-operation between a Solicitor and an insurer. From day 1, the insurer agreed to support a request for extensive rehabilitation. A case manager was appointed to identify James’ needs. He got access to private physiotherapy, psychological treatment, gym membership. He got everything he needed in order to assist with his recovery.
Valuation and settlement
Interim payments were received to ease financial stress and burden because James was paid off from his job as an HGV driver on grounds of ill health. Due to the extensive nature of his multiple injuries, James’ recovery was long and slow despite the extensive rehabilitation package that was put in place. It was important to wait until the right time to obtain medical reports (cardiology, orthopaedic, neuropsychological) to allow us to properly quantify James’ case.
On receipt of all medical reports from five separate medical consultants, pension loss reports, vocational reports and even orthotic reports, we quantified James’ claim and submitted a statement of valuation to the third party insurer.
The insurer came back with very reasonable proposals for settlement. The case did not need to go to Court which displays sensible co-operation between Insurer and Solicitor. More than anything else, James was not subjected to additional stress. He was able to get closure without the uncertainly and potential unpredictability of raising proceedings in Court and another year of turmoil.
Our Award Winning Team
Brenda Mitchell
Senior Partner
Brenda has been a Personal Injury Lawyer for over 38 years and for the last 20 years has specialised representing injured motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.
Jodi Gordon
Partner
Jodi is a Partner at RTA Law LLP with 14+ years’ experience in catastrophic injury claims for vulnerable road users including cyclists and motorcyclists.
Thomas Mitchell
Partner
Thomas represents clients who have been involved in road traffic incidents and he specialises in representing vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
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