Could this be a Spoke in the Wheel for Motorists?
I have just been reading today’s Sunday Times and was shocked to see that ministers are seriously considering potentially ground breaking changes that promise to transform the current law relating to compensation claims in so far as it relates to cyclists and pedestrians.
At the moment the law in relation to liability for road traffic accidents (and indeed all other areas of compensation claims) hinges upon the question of fault and the issue of which party was to blame for the accident. Now this idea proposes to make all motorists liable when involved in an accident with a cyclist or a pedestrian even if they were not in any way responsible for the accident! The result will be that the insurance company for the innocent motorist will be automatically obliged to pay the cyclist who, for example, jumps a red light or rides the wrong way down a one way street!
Apparently the rationale for this proposed change is to encourage people onto their bikes thereby promoting healthy living and green credentials. Of course presumably it is also hoped that this change will do something to reduce the numbers of cyclists being routinely mowed down and often seriously injured by motorists failing to take any or any sufficient care.
Whilst I can understand the reasons why this change is being mooted it is likely to result in a whole range of consequences that may or may not have been appreciated:
- For instance if motorists are automatically called to account for these types of accidents will there be an increase in motorists failing to stop at accident scenes? If so the very pedestrians and cyclists which the proposed changes are designed to protect may well be put at even greater risk!
- Will some dare devil cyclists start to feel impregnable by these changes and take unnecessary risks leaving the poor put upon motorist to exclaim “It’s not fair!” I can certainly hear this cry coming from the insurance companies – surely this change would result in them having to pay much more in compensation than under the existing system on the basis that almost inevitably in these sort of accidents it is the cyclist or the pedestrian who come off worse. Needless to say if this happens any rising costs will be quickly and conveniently passed on to their paying customers – the agrieved motorists themselves!
- For the lawyer specialising in compensation claims then it would certainly make life easier when dealing with these sort of accidents. For serious personal injury claims involving catastrophic type injuries insurers for commercial reasons can fight and fight hard and deny liability even where a realistic assessment of the claim concludes there are not any realistic chances of success.
- Will it mean we are all compelled to rush out and buy a Bicycle? Certainly some of us will especially if this change is accompanied by a reduction in the suburban speed limit to 20mph.
Ultimately we shall have to wait and see how this proposal is received by the public at large and undoubtedly all those powerful lobby groups will be flexing their muscles to dictate what happens. One thing is for sure, if these changes are introduced then the relationship between motorists and cyclists is not likely to be one of strawberries and cream!
