Car turned across his path
David was involved in a cycling collision on the morning of the 3rd of July whilst commuting to work as he did every day.
David approached the four-way junction between Hope Park Crescent and Melville Drive in Edinburgh. He had been cycling in a westerly direction on Hope Park Terrace and his intention was to cycle straight across the junction and continue along Melville Drive. With this is mind, David proceeded across the junction after the lights turned green. As he did so, a car travelling in the opposite direction turned right across his path, collided with him and knocked him off his bike.
David attended the Western General Hospital where he was diagnosed with a minor head injury along with soft tissue injuries to his neck, elbows, and left thigh.
David was off work and relying on his wife
Thankfully, David went on to make a full recovery. However, for two weeks after the incident, he continued to experience pain and stiffness in his neck. This resulted in him having to take time off work and having to rely on his wife to carry out all household tasks, meal preparation and walking their beloved dog.
A short while after his incident, David decided to get in touch with us to help him recover the costs of his personal injury, services, and for the damage to his bike and helmet.
We believed the Defenders were wrong
However, the Defender’s insurance company stuck their heels in and refused to accept liability. The reason for this was because they argued that the section of road from where David had cycled out from had been closed at the time.
They stated that David had cycled out from a closed road and collided with their policyholder’s vehicle which had been turning right. They argued that David should not have been cycling on Hope Park Terrace. Hope Park Terrace had been closed but marked as ‘open for access purposes only.’ The traffic lights at the junction from David’s direction of travel were still in use and there was no 'cyclist dismount' sign in place.
We strongly believed that the Defenders were wrong on the basis that the road had been open for access. The road was closed to vehicular traffic but open for access with the intention of allowing pedestrians and cyclists to use the road but limiting vehicular traffic to just those vehicles accessing the properties located on Hope Park Terrace.
Cycle Law Scotland secure a fair settlement
The driver was also obliged to drive with due care and attention at all times and to give way to all road users travelling straight on at such a junction. The fact that David had cycled out from an ‘access only’ road made absolutely no difference to the driver’s obligation.
Due to the disputed liability on behalf of the Defenders, David’s case rumbled on through the civil litigation process. Sometime later, a Joint Meeting was arranged with the Defenders in advance of the case running to Proof (Proof being the last stage of the litigation process).
During the Joint Meeting, the Defenders offered a relatively low settlement figure. This was rejected. A counter offer was made to the defenders which was almost double their original offer and was accepted.
Despite the resistance from the Defenders to admit liability, we were confident that David had not been at fault for the incident. We were able to secure a fair settlement for David which he was delighted with.
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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