When London Mayor Boris Johnson and Transport for London (TfL) announced the timescale for the launch of the capital’s cycle hire scheme, TfL also announced the introduction of safety measures to protect the thousands of extra cyclists anticipated to be on London’s roads come the summer, including ‘advance stop lanes’.
Cyclists are perennially vulnerable to injury when accidents occur – indeed, Boris Johnson himself was very nearly injured when a lorry pushed a car into the path of his own bike. Fortunately, when the motorist can be shown to be at fault, there is recompense available.Personal injury specialists the Legal Line report two cases where they have recovered damages from motorists for accidents involving injury to cyclists. In one the accident occurred when the cyclist was pedalling in a straight line in a designated cycle lane. The driver of a car failed to notice that he was there and made a left turn across the cycle path into another road, colliding with the bicycle.
The cyclist suffered a serious leg injury and had to undergo extensive surgery to repair the damage to his femur and hip. He required several months off from work, medical treatment and assistance from family members in order to recover and will most likely require further operations in the future.
The injured cyclist felt that the driver of the car was responsible for the accident, as he did not check that his path was clear before beginning the turn, even though the cycle lane was clearly marked. A final settlement of over £55,000 in damages was recovered in respect of his injuries and losses caused by the accident.
In the second case the victim, an experienced cyclist, suffered various injuries when a vehicle pulled out onto the road he was cycling on and collided with him, knocking him from his bicycle. As a result he required medical treatment and time off from work to recover.