Vehicle exiting junction causes motorcycle crash

On the 26th September 2020, David was riding his Honda CBR 1000 RR motorcycle on the A815 north of Dunoon. He was out with a large group of motorcyclists. It was a sunny day and David was there to be seen. As he approached the junction with Stratheck Holiday Park, a vehicle pulled out from his nearside and crossed his path.

Assessing that he would not be able to brake in time, David was forced to take evasive action and crossed onto the southbound lane to avoid a collision. Whilst doing so, he lost control of his motorcycle and ended up in the verge on the opposite side of the carriageway.

Emergency Services attended at the scene and David was taken by ambulance to Inverclyde Royal Hospital initially before being transferred to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Whilst there, David was diagnosed as having sustained thoracic spine fractures requiring complex surgery, a chest injury causing damage to his lungs, multiple rib fractures and psychological trauma stemming from the accident.

Whilst in hospital, David got in touch with Motorcycle Law Scotland and we were able to begin work on his case straight away. Prior to his accident, David had been a very active young man. Motorcycles were his passion and played a huge part in his life. When we first spoke with David, it was apparent that he was very upset with his situation and yearned for his life before the incident. At the beginning of his recovery, he was very downhearted and worried that he would have to live with physical deformities, causing him to have an excessive spinal curvature for the rest of his life.

Developing a tailored rehabilitation package

At MLS, we firmly believe in helping our clients recover from their injuries as quickly as possible. Where injuries are serious, one of the options open to us is to instruct a case manager to help us develop a tailored rehabilitation package. A Case Manager is a medical professional who takes an impartial view and assesses the needs of an injured party. Working with the third-party insurer and their appointed lawyers, we adopted a collaborative approach putting David at the very centre of the process.

With his case manager’s help and the co-operation of the third-party insurer, funding was agreed to enable David to receive counselling, physiotherapy, a gym membership and a Personal Trainer. Through determination and encouragement, David was gradually able to return to work as an Electrical Maintenance Engineer. His employer agreed that a phased return to work would work best and meantime David worked hard with his personal trainer on his physical fitness.

Knowing that David’s recovery was in safe hands, we were able to turn our full attention to valuing David’s case all in consultation with a forward looking and pro-active insurer and solicitor.

During discussions with solicitors for the insurer, we received a considerable six figure offer. We advised David on the offer and the risks involved in accepting or rejecting an offer at an early stage. There was no doubt that David’s serious injuries would impact his ability to work in a job centred around heavy manual labour. Although David had managed to return to work full-time, we had to look to the future and make sure he was protected financially and could make choices in relation to his career. During settlement negotiations, David mentioned that the compensation award would allow him to retrain and consider carefully his future employment direction away from manual labour. The offer gave him certainty and a clear future path ahead.

Collaborative approach works best

At MLS, we prefer a collaborative approach with third party insurers. It’s true that doesn’t always happen, but more and more we are seeing insurers and their solicitors engaging with us at an early stage to ensure our clients are offered full rehabilitation and then fair settlements. This is because we always put our clients at the very centre of the process.

Litigation is not the only way to settle a complex injury case and co-operation with an insurer can often be the more sensible way to proceed. David’s case is a prime example of how we, at Motorcycle Law Scotland, use our experience to ensure those with complex injuries are given a fully funded rehabilitation package at an early stage. We know that early intervention improves outcomes and it is important to engage with insurers to obtain funding. No matter how serious your injuries are, we can get you on the path to recovery and help you to achieve the best possible outcome.

David had the following words to say once his case had settled:-

"I had a fantastic experience using Motorcycle Law Scotland for my unfortunate collision. They helped me step by step through the recovery process from leaving the hospital in pain with no confidence to getting back to work full time. It was all thanks to the specialist help I received from the physiotherapist, personal trainer, psychologist and occupational therapist. It felt like I wasn't alone in the process and they truly cared about my recovery."