It is perhaps ironic that in the middle of Road Safety Week, I travelled to visit a client at her home who had recently suffered very serious injuries as a result of a road traffic accident, and is still unable to travel, to discuss a case which highlights everything that Road Safety Week is about.
She was travelling along a country road when her vehicle was struck head on by a car which had aquaplaned onto the wrong side of the road. The other driver was clearly at fault and was simply driving far too quickly for the road conditions. My client will be compensated but that is not the point. She is a young woman with a young family. She has suffered very serious injuries and her whole family will suffer in the years ahead. Very fit and active until a few weeks ago, there will be no more sports activities or fitness for my client and she will no longer be able to enjoy tennis, dance and lots of other activities with her children.
This has happened because of the clearly negligent driving with another road user but it has also been caused by the madness of bureaucracy and red tape.
The driver at fault aquaplaned because he hit a patch of water on a well-known accident blackspot. Water commonly gathers on the road at the dividing line between between two local councils. Because the road defect lies right on the border of both councils, neither has done a thing to remedy the problem despite high accident numbers every year.
I will obtain compensation for my client but I will also do what Thompsons has always done to improve things for the safety of others. I will use the case to campaign and to hold both local authorities to account until they fix the defect.
Road Safety Week is not about claiming compensation. It is about accidents being avoided in the first place. I will do everything in my power to ensure that my client is the last one to be injured on this road traffic blackspot.
