It has been said that an Atheist has gone to India.
After having driven on the roads there, he has returned as
a believer of God. Which country, then, has a more powerful spiritual
presence??!!We are again reminded of what INDIA stands for,the saying:If
Needed, Divinity Is Available.
Many of the places we will be visiting, as called in the local parlance, are in the "interior" of the country, which means that there are no air or even train services, with the only access being by road. Consequently, we will be on the road for extensive periods of time, and you will experience Indian traffic which has its own unique attributes.
Within the seemingly
chaotic system, there are few accidents,
ROAD SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT:
WHD(World Health Day) is an
annual WHO event marking the establishment of the Organization.Celebrated on 7
April,WHD is a key WHO advocacy tool for engaging the general public in
discussion and debate,and calling for action on important health issues.While
WHO provides overall coordination,the success of WHD depends largely on
contributions by partners such as governments,non-governmental organizations (NGOs),academics,the
media,the private sector and the general public.
In
response to a growing concern about road traffic injuries,the WHO
Director-General has,for the first time in the history of WHO,devoted a WHD
specifically to Road Safety.
Road accidents kill 1.2 million people a year and injuring or disabling between 20 to 50 million people worldwide. Road accidents are a major public health problem in Asia and the Pacific. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for about 60% of global road deaths, despite having only 16% of the world’s vehicles. Every day thousands of people are killed and injured on our roads. Men, women, or children walking, biking or riding to school or work, playing in the streets or setting out on long trips, will never return home, leaving behind shattered families and communities. Millions of people will spend long weeks in hospital after severe crashes and many will never be able to live, work or play as they used to do.
Road traffic accident costs a lot to individuals, families, communities and nations. Each individual victim of road accident has connection. He or she is a member of a family and a community. The people around him or her are deeply affected. The cost of road accidents in low-income and middle-income countries is estimated to be US$65 billion per year – more than the total development aid received by these countries. This will help us to understand the benefits of investing in measures to prevent road accidents.
Road accidents are largely preventable. Evidence shows that with an established set of interventions, road traffic injuries have been reduced in many high-income countries since the 1960s and 1970s. However, this has not happened in many poor countries. The road traffic death rates in low-income and middle-income countries have increased substantially. For example, road deaths jumped by nearly 40% in Asia between 1987 and 1995. The number of deaths on Fiji’s roads currently stands at 17 this year, more than a 150% increase from the same period last year. The number of traffic deaths increased by 200% from 6 to 18 between 2000 and 2003 in Tonga.
In many cases, road accidents are caused by human errors. Data from several Pacific island countries shows that main causes of road traffic accidents in Pacific islands are alcohol drinking, overtaking and speeding. A survey conducted in Tonga recently with 1100 cars shows that use of seat belt rate is only 0.67%.
Road safety is a shared responsibility. Reducing the risk of road traffic systems requires commitment and informed decision-making by government, industry, NGOs, professionals and communities, through a broad range of cooperative activities and interventions including enforcement of legislation to control speed and alcohol consumption, mandating the use of seat-belts and crash helmets, safer design and use of roads and vehicles, and public education on road safety. We appreciate the efforts of Ministry of Health, Land Transport Authority, Public Works Department, National Road Safety Committee, Fiji Policy Force and others in working together to organize the weekly activities to advocate the road safety.
Road traffic injury is a public health issue. The health sector is an important partner in this process. The roles of health sector are to provide appropriate pre-hospital and hospital care and rehabilitation for victims, improve data collection, contribute to policies, develop prevention activities, conduct advocacy, and contribute to the implementation and evaluation of interventions.
Everyone can make contribution to increase road safety as a driver, a passenger or a pedestrian. Please follow traffic rules when using roads by foot or by vehicles, respect to other road users including those who drive cars on the same road, control speed and no alcohol consumption when driving, and use of seat-belts.
Today, World Bank and World Health Organization will launch the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention in Paris. It is the first major report on this subject. By releasing the Report, World Bank and World Health Organization urge governments, as well as other sectors of society to take action now on unsafe road traffic systems, which harms global public health and development.
Road safety is no accident. Let us be safe and responsible road users. Let us work together for non-accident roads.
CAUSE OF ROAD TRAFFIC ACCDENTS
Lack of traffic education causing accidents
* Government ‘not improving’ traffic system
* NHMP more successful than traffic police
Lack of education, safety standards, proper training and technology are the basic reasons for the rise in road accidents.
Government paid “lip service” to the problem and held a few privately sponsored seminars on road safety at five star hotels.The complaint was most of these seminars and functions were held at the end of fiscal years to spend the unspent funds. The grave concern was expressed over the lack of road safety by people, the media and experts, but no concrete steps were taken by any government, agency or department to prevent accidents. Traffic police observed traffic weeks but limited its efforts to roadside announcements and on the spot traffic education.
Its said that there were lower rates of accidents on the Motorway and on roads which were being monitored by the National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP). The NHMP has properly enforced traffic rules that the Traffic Police is still unable to implement.
The traffic police lacked necessary equipment. The comparison with the NHMP is wrong because NHMP officials are fully equipped. The traffic police officials worked more than 18 hours a day and were not being equally paid. NHMP officials have a good salary package with proper equipment and their shifts are only eight hours a day,adding the traffic police did their duty without police vehicles which disabled them from chasing violators, while the NHMP had motorbikes and cars. Coming to the comparatively bad attitude of the traffic police, the problem with the traffic policemen is that they are exhausted with long duties and traffic rush. They have no safeguard against weather. They don’t have traffic police cabins on main roundabouts and roads. One has to admit the fact that the traffic police don’t have facilities and equipment equal to the NHMP.
The NHMP has advanced speed measuring equipment like the Provida camera and the laser radar gun, which could record speed and violations. Hand held laser guns and vascar cameras can record speed and video and still-cameras can record the accident scene.
The NHMP launched campaigns at the inauguration of their highways to inform people about rules and regulations. The NHMP authorities adopt strategies being used in developed countries while the training of a traffic policeman is still being carried out on obsolete theories. According to an independent research, every year 1.7 million people die in road accidents around the world.
About 70 percent of deaths occur in developing countries, out of which 65 percent are of pedestrians. As many as 35 percent of them are children.Over ten million people are wounded badly every year.
The research said that around six million people would die and 60 million would be injured during the next decade in road accidents all over the world if proper preventive measures were not initiated.
A study was conducted at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) hospital Pondicherry from 1st January to 31st December 1994. The study group consisted of all the road traffic accident victims reporting to JIMPER casualty in the above one year period. For the purpose of the study, an RTA was defined as an accident which took place on the road between two or more objects, one of which must be any kind of moving vehicle. Any injury on the road without involvement of a vehicle (eg. a person slipping and falling on the road and sustaining injury) or injury involving a stationary vehicle (eg. persons getting injured while washing or loading a vehicle) or deaths due to RTA were excluded from the study. The victims of the accidents were interviewed to obtain the information about the circumstances leading to the accident. A pre-tested proforma specially designed for this purpose was used for interviewing the accident victims, either in the casualty or in the wards of JIPMER Hospital. Where the condition of the victims did not warrant the interview, the relatives or attendants were interviewed. The information collected consisted of personal identification data, protective gear worn and category of road users. In addition, the type and severity of injury suffered by the victims was graded using the "Trauma Index". The treatment given and the outcome were also recorded for each case. The medicolegal records and case-sheets of the victims were referred for collecting additional information and where necessary for cross checking.
A total of 520 RTAs involving 726 victims, excluding 26 fatalities from 24 RTAs, reported at JIPMER hospital during the study period.
I: Age and sex distribution of
victims.
There were 603(83%) male and 123(17%) female casualties.
The average age of the Victims was 31.5 years.
The highest number (31.3%) of victims were between 20-29 years of age.
About 71 % of the victims were under 40 years age group.
There were 65 children (8.9%) below 12 years of age with an average age of 7.1 years.
Motorized two wheelers = Motor cycle, Scooter and Moped,
Four wheelers = Car, Jeep And Van.
Pedestrians and drivers were 22% and 35% of RTA victims respectively.
The occupants of vehicles constituted the largest (43%) group of victims.
Thirty-five pedestrians (21.9%) injured were involved in an RTA with a truck.
Buses caused injuries to 20 pedestrians (12.5%).
Motorised two wheelers and four wheelers were involved in RTAs in which 39(24.4%) and 34(21.3%) pedestrians were injured respectively.A total of 254 drivers were involved in RTAs. Among the drivers of different types of vehicles, there were 38.6% bicyclists and 16.9% bullock cart drivers. Motorized two wheeler drivers were victims in 31.1 % cases while bus and four wheeler drivers were victims in 5.1% and 3.5% cases respectively. Among motorized two wheelers 14(5.5%) were scooter drivers. Of the 254 drivers involved in RTAs, 187 could be interviewed. Among them 102 were bicyclists and bullock cart drivers who did not require a license. From the remaining 85 drivers of different motor vehicles, 71 mentioned that they had driving license, one had learner's driving license and 13(15.3%) had no valid license. All those who had no license were driving motorized two wheelers. None of the drivers or occupants of vehicles was using protective gear at the time of the accident. Out of 254 drivers, 38(14.9%) were found to have consumed alcohol. These included 19(50%) bicyclists who were the largest number, 17(44.7%) motorized two wheeler drivers and 2 (5.3%) bullock cart drivers. Of 312 occupants, bus occupants were the highest numbers (48%) of victims involved in RTAs followed by occupants of trucks (12.6%). Among the motorized two wheelers (11.3%), the pillion riders of scooters were least involved (2%), other occupants were from four wheelers like Jeep, Car, Van (9.9%), bullock cart (9.6%), bicycle (4.1%), three wheelers (2.9%) and tractor (1,6%).
III: External injuries among the
victims.
The limbs and the face were the most commonly affected areas to suffer external injuries. The limbs (63.1%) and face (17.5%) were common sites for abrasion,while lacerations were common on the face (29.7%), head (28.2%) and the limbs (38.9%). Multiple superficial injuries were noted more commonly in the lower limbs (36.8%) and face (33.3%), while crush injuries were predominantly seen in the lower limbs (70.6%). Head injuries were the commonest form of internal injuries seen in victims (34.1%) followed by injuries to the lower limbs (13.7%) and face (10.7%). Injuries to the chest (8.5%), pelvis (8.2%) and upper limb (8.1%) were seen in roughly equal proportion of victims. Others sites were back (7.65%), spine (4.3%) and neck (0.9%).
IV: Distribution of head
injuries among the RTA victims:
Head injuries were common among bicycle riders, pedestrians and riders of motorized two wheelers. Bicycle riders had the highest proportion (22.9%) of head injuries,followed by 22.6% among pedestrians and riders of motorized two wheelers.Compared to pedestrians, bicycle riders and riders of motorized two wheelers had a significantly higher proportion of head injuries (critical ratio=3.1 and 2.8 respectively).
A total of 221 fractures were noted among the victims. The commonest site of fracture was the lower limb (43.4%), followed by upper limb (19.0%) and facial bones (10.9%).Other sites were ribs (7.7%), clavicle (6.8%), skull (5.4%), pelvis (3.6%), scapula (2.3%) and spine (0.9%).
The severity of injuries suffered by the victims was graded according to the "Trauma Index". According to this index injuries are classified as
minor injuries (0-7),
moderate injuries (8-18) and
severe injuries (more than 18).
A total of 372(51.2%) victims had mild injuries. Moderate injuries were seen in 349(48.1 %) victims and severe injuries in 5 victims. Males as compared to females had a higher number of mild and moderate injury scores but the difference was not significant. Most of the cases (99.5%) of RTA reporting to JIPMER hospital were managed within the hospital itself.While 23.6% of the victims did not need hospitalization and only 0.5% had to be sent to another hospital for further treatment.
Discussion:
In the present study the highest number of RTA victims (31%) were found between the age group of 20-29 years. Similar results were reported by others also 4,5 . Whereas, some studies have found the age groups most commonly involved were 16-30 years and 15-35 years respectively 6 ' 7 . The people of the 3rd decade for age group were most commonly involved in RTAs 8 . This study found that more than 53% of the victims were in the age group between 20-40 years. This shows that the people of the most active and productive age group are involved in RTAs, which adds a serious economic loss to the community. Similar observations were also made by others 9 ' 10 . The present study shows that below and above the age of 20 and 49 years, the proportion of accidents was low. The reason may be that children were taken care of by elders and less use of vehicles in the adolescent age group. Lower proportion of RTAs in those aged 60 and above could he due to the generally less mobility of the people. The accident rates were 4.9 times higher in males than in females according to this study. This was also observed in Delhi, whereas, another study from Delhi has reported very high male and female ratio (9:1)4 ' 8 . It was observed that 80% of the victims involved in RTAs were males 6,11 .
Males are much more exposed to RTAs than females. In this study, Pedestrians constituted 22% of the road users involved in RTA, followed by bicyclists (15.3%) and two wheeler drivers (10.9%}. Similar results were also observed in Delhi, Haryana, Aligarh and Madras 4,6-8,11 . However, in same Delhi study it was observed that animal driven vehicle users were only 3.4% compared to 6% in the present study. This could be explained by the fact that the Present study was from a semi urban area and bullock carts ply frequently on the roads, whereas, another study was from the cosmopolitan city of Delhi 4 . Among the motorized two wheelers, moped drivers were more commonly involved in RTAs. This could be due to the higher speed, which can be achieved over short distances and less stability of the vehicle. One of the most
common mode of transportation used by people is the bus and this is reflected by the fact that bus occupants constituted the highest number (48%) of RTA victims. This study found 15.3% drivers of different vehicles were without driving license, which is much higher compared to 7.4% found in Delhi 4 . The reason may be the easy accessibility of the vehicles and the casual attitude of drivers towards obtaining license. When they were interviewed they mentioned that they would be applying for and obtaining the license in future. No protective gear was used by any of the two wheeler victims in this study, because there is no such law in Pondicherry or in the adjacent state of Tamil Nadu regarding helmet use. In the present study, 15% of the drivers involved in RTA had consumed alcohol. This is a higher proportion than 4.6% and 8%, reported by others from Delhi 4 ' 12 . The role of alcohol in impairing driving ability is well documented. Also the impairment increases as the blood alcohol level rises. In addition, the risk of accidents are higher in youngsters and elderly people for similar blood alcohol levels 1 .
Abrasions and lacerations were the commonest types of injuries among the external injuries noted in this study. Similar results were also observed by others 4 ' 13 .
Head injury was the highest among the internal injuries noted in this study, a feature also reported by other studies 4,6,14 . Other common sites were the lower limbs and
face. Similar observation were made by others 4 ' 6 . Bicyclists and pedestrians suffered the highest number of head injuries, followed by motorized two wheeler riders.
The pedestrians and bicyclists in most of the instances were knocked down by another vehicles leading to head injury. Helmet was not used by any motorized two wheeler
user. This could be the possible reason for head injury among them. Among fractures, present study found that lower limbs were the commonest site for fracture, followed by fracture of upper limbs and facial bones. But in another study it was reported that the highest number of fractures were in upper limbs followed by lower limbs and facial bones 13. However, their study was confined to only two wheeler accidents, whereas, the present study takes into account all types of road accidents. It was possible to objectively score the injuries by using the Trauma Index. It was observed that about one half of all injuries caused by RTAs were of minor nature and all of them were treated as out patients and sent home. Another 48% had sustained moderately severe injuries and were managed in the JIPMER hospital. Only 5 victims (0.7%) had sustained severe injuries and four of them had to be refereed to other hospitals for neurosurgery.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
As this study shows head injuries were common among motorized two wheelers (22.6%) and none used helmet. The use of properly designed helmet should be made compulsory specially among the riders of motorized two wheelers. This might be effective in reducing head injuries. Prompt and adequate ambulance service should be provided to the victims with the help of government and other voluntary agencies. Computerization and use of International Classification of Diseases code in the hospitals would help in preparation of a good database for future studies and other uses.
HOW TO HANDLE ROAD TRAFFIC
ACCIDENT:
Most modern vehicles are designed to withstand impacts of a certain force, and to provide protection to drivers and passengers. Seat belts, 'crumple zones', collapsible steering wheels, airbags, roll bars - all these and similar devices are designed to give personal protection in an accident. Unfortunately, not all vehicles on are equipped with these modern design benefits, and many provide little or no protection at all.
As a first aid provider, you may be required to render assistance at the scene of a road traffic accident. If so, remember to be calm and methodical in your actions as others involved who have not had the benefit of first aid training will look to you for support and guidance.
Consider the danger to yourself, to others, and to the casualties. Always take time to have a good look at the scene before you approach. Approach the scene methodically, keep away from traffic, and ask someone to accompany you as an assistant.
Examine the scene - give yourself time to think about your next move: Is the vehicle stable; will it roll or move? Is there spilt fuel? Is there any danger of fire? Are power poles involved? What about oncoming traffic? If a van or truck; is the load safe? Don't touch anything until you are sure that no dangers exist.
As you move to the scene, ask bystanders to move back. Ask a responsible person to slow down or redirect any oncoming traffic. Ask someone else to make sure that bystanders (especially children) don't become involved with passing traffic. Ask bystanders not to smoke near any damaged vehicles.
What are your initial impressions.
How many casualties?
Are they walking around?
Unconscious?
Talking?
Any obviously dead?
Any trapped?
After the initial quick assessment, ask the person who accompanied you to contact the ambulance service and provide information on location, number of casualties, estimated seriousness of injuries, and if road rescue is required for trapped casualties.
Ask bystanders for help;
'Are there any first aider’s here?',
'Did anyone see what happened?'
'Could someone give me a hand?'
It is at this point that you may be required to TRIAGE the casualties remember, first aid is provided to the casualties who will benefit most, eg. the unconscious, the person bleeding profusely.
Without adequate help do not become committed to resuscitation of a cardiac arrest victim at the expense of others who require urgent assistance.
Ensure that any vehicle involved is safe. Do not touch the vehicle unless you are certain. Beware of the vehicle being in contact with an electrical power source. If it is a new model vehicle (with electronic fuel injection), DO NOT turn off the ignition as this may cause a spark. If the engine is running, turn it off but leave the ignition on.
If you attempt to gain entry, do not wrench open the door unless you know that it is not in contact with a casualty. In certain circumstances, casualties have become impaled or entrapped in contact with a door. Be careful of broken glass if you insert your head through a window. Make sure that you can gain effective entry beside and behind the casualty. Beware of sharp metal and broken glass.
Perform a quick examination of
the casualties:
SRABC, bleeding, burns, fractures, other injuries. This will tend to confirm your initial TRIAGE. Use any helpers to move the casualties with minor injuries ('walking wounded') away from the scene to a safe place. This will give you more room to attend to the more serious cases.
Always try to have a responsible person to help you attend
to serious casualties - it helps to have assistance and support.
Always consider the effects of the accident:
Was the vehicle struck on the side ('T-boned')?
Did it roll over?
Was it a high-speed impact?
Was the motorcyclist hit by his own bike?
There are certain injuries that appear associated with particular types of impact ('mechanism of injury'), and consideration of the accident's effects may point you towards any suspected injuries:
Side impact.
Fractured upper leg (femur) and/or lower leg on the side of impact. Consider a fractured pelvis. Suspect a shoulder or upper arm injury on the side of impact, and if the 'B' pillar has been damaged, suspect a head injury.
High speed impact.
Deceleration injuries involving severe internal bleeding, multiple fractures, impacted pelvis, head and spinal injuries, and multiple lacerations. Be alert for deterioration in unconscious casualties with head injuries.
Rear end collisions.
Cervical spine injuries ('whiplash' effect) and facial injuries.
Ejection from the vehicle.
Head and spinal injuries, unconsciousness, multiple fractures, multiple lacerations to top of body and head, and internal bleeding.
Roll over.
This mechanism of injury provides for the complete range of damage to the human body. Drivers and passengers are usually thrown around, irrespective of their seat belt restraints, and they have no control over their movements. Pay particular attention to children, as they are not usually correctly restrained by seatbelts designed for adults.
Motorcycle accidents.
Injuries commonly sustained by riders and pillion passengers are fractures of the femur, wrist and ankle fractures, head injuries, and deceleration injuries resulting in severe internal bleeding.
Motor cyclists’ helmets MUST NOT be removed unless the airway is obstructed or the casualty is not breathing. Casualties should remove their own helmets wherever possible. If a helmet has to be removed, it requires two rescuers to do so, and it should be done carefully with no movement of the neck.
Bicycle accidents.
Cyclists are liable to sustain multiple fractures, multiple lacerations, and head injuries. Children are susceptible to 'greenstick' fractures of the arms, and wrist injuries through falling off at relatively low speed.
Pedestrians.
Generally, adults are struck on their side as they try to turn away from the danger. Their injuries are usually more pronounced on the side that has received the impact. Children and the elderly are more likely to be struck as they turn to face the oncoming vehicle.
Most pedestrians are 'run under' rather than 'run over' as they are forced off their feet by the impact and may be thrown over the vehicle, or for some distance from the point of impact. Head and spinal injuries are common, especially where the casualty's head has struck the vehicle's bonnet or windscreen. Small children may be 'run over', and be still under the vehicle when it stops.
Treat any casualties in accordance with your training. DO NOT remove any seriously injured casualties from the vehicle unless fire, fear of further collision, airway protection, control of severe bleeding, or CPR are necessary.
Wait for the ambulance to arrive. Provide what treatment and reassurance you can, keep the casualties warm with blankets if available, and periodically check on the 'walking wounded' who have been moved from the scene.
Remember that SHOCK is a life-threatening condition, and is common after trauma sustained in a road traffic accident. Be ready to treat any signs and symptoms that indicate that a casualty is progressing into shock. Do not confuse shock with the adrenaline 'rush' associated with the 'fight or flight' mechanism which causes people involved to shiver, shake, cry and feel faint after an accident. This is not a serious condition, and others can look after them while you attend to the needy casualties.
On arrival of the ambulance, give the crew what information you have and advise them of any treatment you have provided. Your intervention will be appreciated by all concerned - especially the casualties.
The owner/driver of the vehicle must report the accident to the nearest police station within 24 hours, and also to his insurance company in the event of an accident.
The driver of a vehicle involved in an auto accident that has caused injury or damage to any person, animal, vehicle or property should render all possible assistance to the injured and report the matter to the nearest police station within 24 hours.
If the accident involves a vehicle carrying dangerous good (oil tankers, chemical carriers, etc.) it is advisable to keep everyone away. Do not let anyone smoke within 100 metres. Take emergency action as per the information displayed on the vehicle.
You should offer medical assistance. If the person refuses, attempt to obtain in writing that he/she does not wish to receive medical attention. Note down the names and addresses of the witnesses and registration numbers of the vehicles passing by. They may be useful in case of legal complications later.
Note down the name of the policeman who comes on the scene.
Section 134 of the Motor Vehicles Act casts obligatory responsibility on every driver/owner of the vehicle involved in an accident to convey the injured to the nearest hospital/medical practitioner. The doctor so approached shall be duty bound to render necessary medical aid or treatment without waiting for any procedural formalities.
For towing a break down vehicle, it is always advisable to use a crane. Only if a crane is not available, a rigid tow bar can be used. Never use a rope or flexible cable for towing, because your vehicle can dash against the towing vehicle if it suddenly stops.
Engage a vehicle in neutral gear when towing it. If its transmission system has failed, and the gear is stuck, the axle shafts should be removed.
Use the parking brake to control your vehicle if the brake has failed. Use hazard-warning lamps for giving clear indications to other road users.
It is also important to avoid moving the vehicle unless ordered to do so by a police officer.
It is imperative that person(s) who are trapped are removed.
It is necessary to prevent fire or obstruction to public.
You should avoid handling the injured unless it is necessary as a life-saving measure.
Also avoid getting into arguments with the other party and/or witnesses.
Innocent victims of road traffic accidents can claim compensation for personal injury and loss caused at the hands of a third party. So, if you've suffered injuries as a result of a road traffic accident either as a passenger, driver or pedestrian, you can claim road traffic accident compensation for injuries, trauma and any financial loss. Although it's easier to claim compensation when you know the other driver's road traffic accident insurance details you may still be able to claim if the driver left the scene of the road traffic accident without leaving any details at all.
EXAMPLE 1
EXAMPLE
2
Despite warning signs, trucks and buses continue to strike the Strathmore Dr. underpass on a regular basis (note the numerous scars in the first photo).
Do road traffic accident claims take a long time to settle? Are road traffic accident claims any more difficult than other types of compensation claim.
Every road traffic accident is different which means that
every road traffic accident claim is unique. Claims for road traffic accident
compensations of less than £5,000 tend to be settled in less than a year. A
higher amount of road traffic accident compensation – where the road traffic accident resulted in serious injuries or
there are other complicating factors - can take longer.
The good news is that road traffic accident claims can be among the easiest claims to prove therefore almost all road traffic accident claims are settled out of court.
The amount of compensation that is awarded will be calculated to make sure that
you don't suffer any financial loss now or in the future, and
you are adequately compensated for the pain, suffering, distress etc. of your accident, injuries and subsequent treatment.
Assuming that your compensation case is one of the few that gets to court (the vast majority of claims for damages are settled out of court) and assuming that the judge has agreed that the other party is liable, he or she will award general damages and/or special damages in your favour.
In an effort to make sure that there is some uniformity about the amount of damages that the courts award, the Judicial Studies Board has set guidelines that are usually taken into account by the judges. It is because of this that most cases are settled out of court. After all, if liability has already been, or is likely to be, established and assuming the amount of damages that a court is likely to award can be predicted, then most insurers will want to limit their legal costs by reaching a settlement with the victim without a costly court case.
General damages, even with the use of guidelines and the precedents set by previous cases tend to be subjective. They include an amount that is paid to you in an attempt to compensate you for the trauma of the accident, including pain and suffering, and what impact the accident had on your life. To put this into perspective, if a surgeon lost a thumb in an accident then this will clearly affect his future career, perhaps even ending it. An airline pilot, on the other hand, will probably be able to return to duty. All else being equal, both victims will have a claim but the surgeon can expect a higher award, not because he suffered more but because his capacity to earn a living from his chosen profession has effectively been terminated.
Other variables that will be considered before awarding general damages include how the injury affects the victim's lifestyle (did the victim participate in sports and hobbies which are no longer possible); has the victim's sex life or promotional prospects been affected? Has the victim's normal family life been affected? And so on.
Special damages are much easier to calculate. These cover any out of pocket expenses caused by the accident including, for example, any loss of earnings while the victim was recovering; the cost of repairing or replacing personal possessions that were damaged in the accident; the cost of hiring a car while waiting for repair, the cost of repairing or replacing the car.
Depending on the details of the case, special damages may also include the insurance excess; cost of replacing clothes; cost of travelling to the hospital; cost of the ambulance; cost of replacing jewellery; cost of prescriptions and treatment from private conventional and alternative medical treatment and so on.
Whiplash injuries, sprains and stains and even trauma counselling after the loss of a limb or impairment to any bodily function, where the victim had to engage the services of a physiotherapist, psychiatrist, osteopath or chiropractor all come under the heading of special damages.
Other examples include the cost of a replacement limb (prosthetics) private dental treatment, corrective surgery and ongoing medication.
Let's assume that you have been the innocent victim of an accident. Perhaps it was a road traffic accident, an accident at work or some other event. But our starting point is this: the accident was not your fault, you suffered some sort of personal injury or loss and you want to claim compensation (damages). What's the best way to make a claim and what does the process involve?
The first thing to understand is that you will certainly need good legal advice. Not so much for establishing liability, which is often fairly obvious and uncontested, but to help you through complexities of the claims process and to make sure that you don't suffer any financial losses as a result of the accident.
Because every accident - and, therefore, every compensation claim - is unique, you need a qualified solicitor (preferably a member of the Law Society's Panel of Personal Injury Specialists) with as much experience of pursuing personal accident compensation claims as possible.
The solicitor will look at the peculiarities of your particular case and compile evidence of the suffering and distress caused by your accident and subsequent treatment, the extent of your recovery, the affect your injuries had or are likely to have on your personal and professional life, and any financial losses that you suffered.
Some of the above is clearly subjective and may have to be argued in court but other costs are easily proved with receipts and other financial records. Your solicitor will also be able to give you advice on what costs are reasonable. If the car you were driving in the accident was a Ford Mondeo, for instance, it would not be reasonable to hire a Rolls Royce while you're waiting for it to be repaired.
In any case, do take care to keep receipts for any expenses
that occurred as a direct result of the accident. The simple rule is 'would I
have had to spend this money if the accident had never happened?'
you can claim for these reasons:
*If you were the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident caused by another driver
*If you were a passenger in a vehicle involved in an accident and your driver or the driver of the other vehicle was to blame