DD hit by car

[rak5a]

Our 12 yr old DD was hit by a car as she got off the bus and was crossing the road. The driver had crossed over the reservation to drive on the wrong side of the road to beat traffic to make a turn and hit DD head on. It was awful but she will recover eventually. She has a broken bone and serious concussion and lots of cuts and bruises. It will take months to heal and she is in a bad way.

The police have said they will pursue either dangerous or careless driving (driver at least stopped and stayed at the scene). We feel strange thinking about it, but presume we should make a claim against the driver’s insurance. However we don’t know where to start - all these “no win no fee” websites just feel dirty. We think our DD should be compensated for her suffering and would put any award into a savings account for her to have when she gets older. Has anyone been through this? We want to be sensible but aren’t looking to “milk the system” so don’t want a horrible ambulance chaser. Any advice gratefully received.

But she wasn't just overtaking the bus. She drove ten car lengths, which is a hell of a lot more than would be needed for that purpose. She was also accelerating; even if you are overtaking, you should be driving at a speed which enables you to react to anything unexpected. So it sounds highly likely that she will rightly be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention or even dangerous driving.

There is absolutely no way the insurance company which will potentially have to pay out will start the claims process on behalf of a potential claimant. You really need your own solicitor.

That is old - now claimants will buy an insurance policy against the risk of having to pay costs

The insurance protects you if you lose and have to pay the other side's costs. It does not pay your costs if you win.

However, the idea that you can win and then be bankrupted by your solicitor's fees is rubbish. The law prevents a solicitor charging more than 25% of the compensation awarded in a no-win no-fee arrangement.

Which a Judge has to approve in the case of a minor. And they don't like deducting from children's damages overly.

Just swallow your aversion and call one of the ambulance chaser / no win no fee firms. It's my understanding that in the UK you can only be awarded compensation for actual financial loss (not pain and suffering) but someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also check your household insurance to see if it includes something like "family legal cover" (y Direct LIne policy did and I didn't even know about it!) and also check with any trade unions you may belong to whether they offer free legal advice.

my not y

You are wrong.

This is an old thread.

How awful for everyone involved.
Hope your daughter makes a full recovery and if you go down the route of compensation she gets a suitable payment that will help should complications arise.
Also I hope the person driving is ok. Sometimes rash decisions when in a hurry/mountains of things in mind/numerous other reasons why rational decisions disappear. But actions become consequences when they go wrong and I hope the driver can accept what has happened and move forward with their mistake. I'm sure they didn't set out in the morning thinking they will mow down a child.

Ignore the weirdos having a go a you.

Go for everything.
My DS was hit by a car and the settlement was a couple million.

Far too many envious weirdos. They really are offended when anyone gets any money for any reason.

That's good to know. In that case I was incorrectly advised by a large firm specialising in medical negligence claims. I was told the 'damages' would only be for loss of earnings and nothing could be claimed for the three years i suffered before diagnosis.

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Generally pedestrians win injury claims, very unlikely a driver would be proven innocent.
I would just go with a local solicitor that you know or heard positive reports of. Insurers will have to pay the solicitors fee anyway assuming your claim is successful.

As far as the prosecution is concerned unless there are witnesses to a sustained pattern of bed driving the chances are that they will be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention so be aware that unlike dangerous driving there’s a six month limitation of proceedings. I would be in touch with the police department dealing with the collision investigation every 4 weeks for an update as you don’t want to pass the LOP date. Compensation won’t be dealt with by the magistrates and you don’t really get awarded much from them it tends to be a nominal amount so you’re better off getting legal advice which you may have already with your home insurance or AA membership or something else. I’d wait until after any prosecution for a couple of reasons. To get that side dealt with, to see how your DD is handling everything, school work, ptsd, recovery. You can give a better overview of how she has been affected. Be aware that it’s going to be about liability rather than blame so yes the driver is to blame but a percentage of the liability will be apportioned to your DD, for example if she was listening to music, didn’t look both ways etc. Likewise the driver could have mitigated the severity of the impact by driving slower if it’s clear that there were lots of people who could have been crossing the road about as just because the limit might be 30 doesn’t mean they should be driving at that speed. Good luck.

You certainly were wrongly advised.

How could the driver make a turn without going on the 'wrong ' side of the road?

He was queue jumping, passing a line of cars. But no, you don't go on the wrong side of the road when you make a turn. At no point are you driving up the right-hand side of the road.

This is a zombie thread.

Op do get advice from a solicitor. You should definitely explore what she would be entitled to.

Thanks @prh47bridge didn’t see it was a zombie!