Mark Bowman acted for John following
his road traffic accident on 7 June 2010.
John was cycling to work on his Brompton bicycle, travelling
westbound along Crawford Street, London W1 towards the
junction of Crawford Street with Seymour Place, at which he
intended to travel straight on.
As he approached the junction the lights were red and he saw a
large 7.5 tonne box lorry waiting at the lights. John did not see
the vehicle indicating and therefore proceeded along the bike lane
on the nearside of the road.
Before John had slowed to a stop, the traffic lights changed
from red to green, and the lorry started to move off. Without
warning the lorry started to turn left into Seymour Place,
colliding with John's bicycle, knocking him off and then running
over his torso.
Thankfully an ambulance happened to be in the vicinity of the
accident scene, and tended to John almost immediately. John was
taken by ambulance to St Mary's
Hospital.
John suffered an unstable fracture to his pelvis, fractures to his
left ribs, a fracture of the 4th right metacarpal, a collapsed
lung, significant internal bleeding and various soft tissue
injuries. His condition was deemed critical.
John was transferred from St Mary's Hospital to Charing Cross
Hospital where he underwent surgery to fix his unstable pelvic
fracture under general anaesthetic on 18 June 2010.
John remained in hospital until the end of July, having
developed post traumatic pancreatitis and having required a further
surgical procedure under general anaesthetic after a failed
stent.
John continued to suffer from problems with his pancreas and was
re-admitted to hospital for surgery on 03 September 2010 and again
on 30 September 2010 for further surgery.
John was initially wheelchair bound before being able to mobilise
with crutches and then unaided. He was unable to return to work
until January 2011, lost nearly 20kg in weight and is left with
significant abdominal scarring.
We were instructed to pursue a claim against the lorry driver
and his employer. Liability was denied throughout the claim and a
trial was listed for May 2012.
The defendants argued that John was responsible for his own
injuries as he had failed to note the lorry indicating, and placed
himself in a position of danger.
The defendants provided witness evidence from the driver of the
vehicle behind the lorry, who claimed the lorry was indicating
prior to moving off.
We obtained witness evidence from a cyclist on the other side of
the road who confirmed that the lorry had not been indicating at
any stage.
We obtained expert evidence from an orthopaedic surgeon, a plastic
surgeon, a psychiatrist and a pancreatic surgeon and
we were able to settle John's claim for £90,000.
Mark Bowman acted under the terms of a no
win no fee agreement and John will not pay any legal fees from
his damages.
At the end of the case, John said:
"Mark came highly recommended by a friend of mine who's a
partner in a top law firm. This was my first ever legal dispute
and, at first, the prospect of a complicated legal case seemed
daunting.
"However, Mark's obvious subject matter expertise and relaxed
demeanour made the process much easier and less overwhelming.
"He's the kind of attorney that takes you through the process
reassuring you and explaining every angle of the case so the
complex decisions you have to make are well informed and
clear."
For further information or if you have a
cycling accident claim, please contact Mark
Bowman on
020 7861 4043 or email mark.bowman@ffw.com
You can discuss your
cycling accident claim with any member of our
personal injury team on
freephone 0800 358 3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry
form.