Pavement Accidents Leading to Personal Injury Claims
According to the Pedestrians Association, one in five pavements throughout the UK are suffering from some form of deterioration. It is this deterioration to UK pavements which has caused a significant number of accidents and injuries to pedestrians each year. Pavements which are dogged by cracks, pot holes and raised paving slabs pose a huge trip hazard to people of all ages, but children and old people in particular.
If you are unfortunate to have had a trip on a public pavement due to a defect with the pavement, you could be entitled under UK law to make a personal injury compensation claim. To be eligible to make a pavement accident claim, the accident must have caused you to suffer some form of personal injury. Generally speaking the injury must last for at least four weeks in order to make a successful personal injury claim.
Injuries caused by pavement accidents are estimated to cost over £500 million each year, which is a huge amount of tax payers money. However, the cost to repair these pavement defects would be significantly higher, so there is somewhat of a catch 22 situation. Most councils do have some form of inspection and maintenance program in place to highlight potential problems. However, there are so many defects on UK pavement that not all can be fixed at once, leaving many pavement defects untouched for months, if not years.
Pavement accidents can cause a wide range of injuries. Some of the common injuries caused by such accidents include foot, ankle and knee injuries and back and neck injuries. Injuries to the hand, wrist and arm are also common due to the natural instinct following a trip to put your hands out to protect yourself. Whilst this can help to protect you from head and facial injuries, unfortunately your hands, wrists, elbows, arms and shoulders then take the brunt of the fall.
If you have had an accident on a public pavement you should contact a personal injury solicitor for some free advice. A specialist personal injury solicitor will be able to let you know whether or not you have a potential claim, and how much compensation you could be entitled to.
Nicholas Tate manages a number of personal injury websites which provide information on all types of no win no fee claims, including pavement accident claims, medical negligence, whiplash claims and slips and trips.
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