West Yorkshire Pedestrian knocked over on Zebra Crossing on Huddersfield’s ring road

Mrs C was a 67-year-old pedestrian from Holmfirth who was out shopping in Huddersfield. She was injured early one afternoon in a road traffic accident when she was crossing the ring road in Huddersfield and hit by a car.

She had multiple serious injuries including head injuries with post-traumatic stress symptoms, deep cuts to her scalp, permanent hair loss to her scalp and permanent scarring and discolouration to the right ear. She had a fracture to her cervical spine and pelvis and psychological injuries

What happened on the day of the accident?

On the day of the accident, she was shopping in Huddersfield Town Centre. She crossed the ring road near the pelican crossing but the traffic lights were at green for oncoming cars.

Mrs C was hit by a taxi travelling at approximately 30-40mph which did not slow down or try to avoid her. She sustained serious physical injuries including breaks to the bones of her cervical spine and pelvis. She lost consciousness and suffered a head injury. Mrs C also had lacerations to her scalp that was clipped and stitched. She has permanent hair loss to the scalp region. She had scarring and discolouration to the right ear, swelling to the right eye and permanent thickening of the skin around her right thigh.

Her last memory before losing consciousness was the few minutes before the accident. Her next memory was waking up in hospital on a trolley.  She was taken to Leeds General Infirmary. She had a brace around her neck.

She was told by a nurse who came to her assistance that it took about 25 minutes for the Ambulance to arrive, during which time she came in and out of consciousness.  She has been told that the Police escorted the Ambulance because they did not know how serious her injuries were.

After about a week, she was transferred from Leeds General Infirmary to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Her physical orthopaedic injuries were attended to in hospital and plastic surgery for her scalp injuries. She was discharged home in the middle of December 2015.

On return home, her husband had to look after her a lot because she had to walk with a Zimmer frame and then used crutches. Her husband had to do everything for her for a couple of months.

She underwent physiotherapy.

What injuries did Mrs C have from the road traffic accident?

After the accident, she was left with numbness towards the right front and side of her temple.    She also has a scar at the top of her head.  When the weather was cold, she has a strange feeling at the top left front side of her head, due to the fact she had nerve damage in her road traffic accident.  She found that noise irritated her and she could not tolerate noise at all.

Mrs C said that her concentration levels varied and she could not sit and concentrate to watch a television program for as long as she used to and as her mind would tend to drift.

With regards to memory, before the index incident, it was fine but now, she forgets things. In the cold weather, she experiences pain symptoms in the pelvis area and her neck stiffens up sometimes.  Her sleep is patchy.  She does experience flashbacks once a month.

She becomes tired very easily and often it is as if she feels as though she has no energy.  She does go swimming twice a week but it took a while for her to get back to this level.  She used to swim 50 lengths and go walking most weekends but now she struggles and is not back to how she was before the accident. She is also frightened of falling and her confidence has been affected.

She stated her confidence related to falling is an issue when she has the grandchildren around because they are boisterous and she is fearful that they might knock her down.

She is independent in self-care and can cook and undertake activities in the home. She can do the shopping. Her social life is now back to normal. In terms of mood, she says she sometimes feels low but does not consider she is depressed. Prior to the incident, she is reported as being bubbly and now she is not as bubbly as she was and feels she has become more serious. She was asked about the scarring on the right forehead area and she explained that she has grown her hair to cover it and therefore it is not visible, which means she is not too distressed by it.

How did Grieves Solicitors approach the claim?

Due to the seriousness of her injuries Grieves Solicitors instructed three different medico-legal experts to prepare a report on her injuries:  An Orthopedic expert in relation to her fractured bones, a Neuropsychologist in respect of her brain injuries and a Plastic Surgeon in relation to her Scarring is Neuropsychological injuries.   The Neuropsychologist was instructed as professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brain affect cognitive functions and behaviour and due to Mr C sustaining a serious head injury this was the most appropriate expert to prepare a report on such Neuropsychological injuries.  These experts were able to confirm the injuries that she had from the accident and advise any treatment needed for her rehabilitation and advise on when she would recover or if any of these injuries would be permanent. This was needed to value her claim as the amount of compensation for general damages is based on pain and suffering a person experiences as a direct result of their accident from the time the accident occurred until the date they recover.

How was Mrs C affected by these injuries?

Unfortunately, due to these injuries, she could no longer drive or do voluntary work. His hobbies have been adversely affected. He needs care and support in aspects of his daily life and in carrying out household chores. Due to this home appointments were made for him at all key stages of his claim including arranging for funding documents to be signed, arranging for his Court Documents to be signed and discussions with him regarding his final compensation settlement.

Why did she choose Grieves Solicitors to help her make the claim?

Mrs C selected Grieves Solicitors to pursue his claim as are we are experts in personal injury claims for road traffic accidents across Yorkshire and she had been recommended to us by her Son.

How did Grieves Solicitors approach the claim?

The case was particularly difficult as our client’s opponents refused to accept full responsibility for the accident.  In order to save our client from having to go to court,  Grieves Solicitors were successful in negotiating an excellent settlement for him just before the third year anniversary of her accident.

How was the Claim resolved?

As our client’s opponents refused to accept full responsibility for her accident because they felt that she should accept some responsibility because she had run into the road at a pelican crossing when it was green for traffic and red for her.  However, Grieves Solicitors argued that it was a busy road and she was there to be seen by oncoming vehicles and other pedestrians were also on the crossing in front of her.  After a successful negotiation, Grieves Solicitors were able to negotiate an excellent compensation award for Mrs C for the injuries she sustained in her road traffic accident which covered both the physical and psychological injuries she sustained.  This meant that she did not have to go to court and relive the circumstances of the accident.

How did Mrs C benefit from the claim?

Mrs C received the compensation she deserved for her accident-related injuries.   In addition, she received compensation for care which her husband provided to her, travelling expenses covering all the medical appointments which she had attended due to the injury and also for the cancellation of her holiday.

If you have been injured in a road traffic accident which was not your fault, please get in have a no obligation free chat with the Road Traffic Solicitors on 0800 0747 644 at Grieves Solicitors, one of Yorkshire’s leading Serious & Personal Injury Claim firms.