Lawford Kidd's Blog

New 20mph zones have been introduced in Glasgow as the city follows Edinburgh’s lead in attempting to reduce the number of road traffic accidents and injuries to vulnerable road users.

Edinburgh announced that a speed limit would be put in place in some areas of the city centre in March 2015 and Glasgow has now introduced a similar speed policy in a number of “high-risk” areas.

The Glasgow 20mph area covers a number of danger areas for vulnerable road users covering much of the South bank of the Clyde. While the new speed limit will not be enforced by speed cameras, police will be monitoring the areas to make sure that the new limits are adhered to, with new warnings also in place for drivers. The decision to implement a new speed limit was approved following a six-week public consultation, with 69% of the respondents being in favour of introducing a significantly reduced speed limit.

Despite health and safety initiatives having even more scope into the world of employment and some campaigns to try and reduce the number of accidents that occur in the UK, sadly, millions of people are injured each year,

Often people are injured due to their own actions. However, a significant percentage of people suffer severe injury through no fault of their own.

If you are injured as a result of negligence or careless from another, then you could be entitled to take legal action and obtain compensation. Regardless of the extent of your injury, we believe that no one should be injured through no fault of their own. Many people are injured but are unsure whether or not they can obtain compensation, however, we have compiled a list of the most common types of accidents and what you need to make a claim.

A cyclist who was forced to quit his job due to life changing injuries has been awarded £100,000 in compensation in an out of court settlement.

48-year-old Heath Marshall was left with a serious skull fracture and leg injuries following a crash involving a motorbike. He also suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as well as experiencing flashbacks of the incident. Due to the extent of the injuries, the cyclist was forced to quit his job which left him unable to save for a property which he was looking to move into with his partner and children.

As well as shattering his knee and finding it hard to concentrate on matters as a result of his head injury, the 48-year-old also had to cancel his wedding due to the injuries sustained and struggled to continue cycling, a hobby he loved.

A Dundee worker lost two fingers when his hand was trapped in a veneer press in a workplace accident.

James Doig had the two middle fingers of his right hand amputated after they were injured during an incident at Lam-Art Ltd. The Sheriff Court heard that although Mr Doig had experience and training in regards to using the machine, he had not been taught how to turn the machine on safely resulting in a fine for his company, Lam-Art, of £5,000.

The employee had been working at the company for 20 years and was only in charge of using the machinery when the normal operators were not in work. Although he was trained, another untrained worker had switched the machine on incorrectly, when Mr Doig then went to check the machine, the other worker who was on shift with Mr Doig touched the control panel, trapping Mr Doig’s fingers between metal plates in the machine.

The Law Society has criticised the government following their proposal to raise the small claims limit for personal injury claims to £5,000 and stop compensation payments for road traffic accidents and other such injuries.

The society has been critical of the changes as it believes that the system will result in unfair legal action as those who are entitled to and need compensation will be unable to obtain it.

Change to Small Claims Limit

The changes, which were announced in the Autumn Statement, saw Chancellor George Osborne raise the small claims limit and scrap damages for ‘minor’ soft tissue injuries. The government proposals would also see the removal of legal costs by transferring personal injury claims of up to £5,000 to the small claims court.