Safe Speed Forums

I was sorting out the papers for the recycling dump earlier this evening and cannot believe I missed this article which appeared on page 26 of the "Daily Express" of 12 January 2005.

I do not want our C+ pals and lurkers to get in a lather about it - but if they think it needs debate on their own site - then by all means, carry it across - but try not to whinge about drivers! It's a helmet issue.

I know all about insurance wheezes - they tried to pull one on me with Wildy. They tried to get out of it by claiming the guy died before he hit her and was not insured, and there was also the little matter of her deliberately removing her seatbelt to take some cover in a crash position. And yes - think all here will agree a £200 fine seems ridiculously low in any case.

Geoff Maynard reported the story:

PAYOUT CUT FOR CYCLIST WHO HAD NO HELMET

The widow of a cyclist killed in a car crash could have her insurance payout slashed - because he was not wearing a helmet.

Peter Green (59) dies of head injuries after he was struck by a careless driver who was leter prosecuted and convicted in court.

But insurers are now threatening to cut his devastated widow Gill's compensation - expected to be the max of £50,000 by as much as 20%.

The insurers claim Peter was negligent and contributed to his injuries by not wearing a helmet - even though it is not required by law.

Furious Gill said : "All the money in the world will not make up for my husband not being here. It won't replace him, but we should not be penalised like this. I do not understand: it is not required by law to wear one!"

Peter was knocked off his bicycle as he cycled to work in Chelthenham on 16 April 2004. The 24 year old driver of the Ford Sierra smashed into him as he pulled out of a junction.

Peter died two weeks later in a specialist brain injury unit at Bristol's Frenchay Hospital. The 24 year old car driver was fined £200 after admitting driving without due care and attention.

His devasted widow (61) no longer has her job at the local food factory and has to manage on a meagre pension.

Gill: "I had to pay for the funeral and everything. Luckily, I had some savings. But now I have only my pension. I had to wait unitl the court case until I could make any claim from the driver's insurers."

BUT... the driver's insurers are demanding that Gill provides an independent doctor's report proving that a helmet would not have saved Peter's life.

Gill: "If I cannot prove it - they will knock 15 -20% of my compensation"

This is the crux


"We'll never know if the crash helmet would have saved him and it wil cost a lot of money to get the report as well

Cyclists injured in accidents - or families of cyclists killed in crashes - can claimup to £50,000 compensation from the dirver's insurer or from the MIB if car was driven by some uninsured muppet.


However, it must be proved that the driver was negligent (and the court conviction confirms this in this particular case).

Wearing a helmet is not compulsory in the UK, but the Government is considering the issue.

CTC spokesman said that there is no legal authority to support the provision that not wearing a helmet is negligent. Cyclists are not obliged to wear them and we have evidence to suggest helmets are not all they're made out to be!"

And we say the same about the speed cameras......

Gill has now taking legal advice to fight the insurance firm....

============================================

Personally.... I wear one when I ride my bicycle. If I fell under someone's wheels - and the wheels met with my head - nothing would save me. But it depends on where and how one falls.

Wildy saved herself some nasty head injuries by opening her briefcase and just covering her head with it in that split second before impact. Have no idea if that saved her either. The main danger to her at the time was from internal bleeding elsewhere.

However, I think the topic is worthy of sensible debate as it highlights an insurer's view of taking responsibilty for one's safety. They do not just pay up cash without asking questions and trying to reduce the pay-out any which way they can. I know from our own fight (which took 6 years to win)

_________________
If you want to get to heaven - you have to raise a little hell!

Smilies are contagious
They are just like the flu
We use our smilies on YOU today
Now Good Causes are smiling too!

KEEP SMILING
It makes folk wonder just what you REALLY got up to last night!

Smily to penny.. penny to pound
safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
Enjoy life! You only have the one bite at it.

I think in fact the insurer caved in, but it's not so much a helmet issue but an insurance company issue. As your experience shows, they will do anything possible to reduce their liability to pay out.

There is an interesting debate going on in the US at the moment. In some States where they have canned the motorcycle helmet law motorcyclist have had to take out additional insurance to comply with the law if they are going to ride helmet free. This is being challenged in the courts with some success.

_________________
Speed camera policy Kills

I seem to remember this kind of case coming up quite often over the past few years. Each time the insurance company has caved in (for one reason or another).

I doubt the helmet debate (i.e. whether the protection they provide outweighs the risks) will ever reach a satsifactory conclusion.

At the moment I wear one whenever I go out on my bike. But the reasons are different, if I'm off road and I stack it, I'm likely to be hitting stationary objects at low speed (what a helmet is disigned for). If I'm on road, I'll wear one becuase of the threat of contributory negligence.

Oh yeah, I'm not pro-compulsory wearing either!

It's terrible that you feel in such a position - it's one of the worst possible reasons for doing anything.

It reminds me of this joke:

Q: What do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the sea?
A: A good start.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

It is indeed a shame for the widow as reported in the article. I hope she manages to win her case - and we do feel for her. It is one of those questions which you cannot answer 100%. Would he have lived if he'd been wearing a helmet? Would he have survived - yet been a "vegetable". The insurance company are on shakey ground either way - and they really should just bite the bullet and cough up!

Harsh and callous as it seems - sometimes death can be kinder and easier to accept and come to terms with. Grief never really passes. This family often wonders how the two young men who died in a plane crash and freak car accident respectively would have progressed.

True ... I saw insurance sharks at their very worst. My wife nearly died and the insurers of the person who drove into her tried to tell me he died before impact...and then pulled the "uninsured" card!

I have no illusions as to insurance companies as a result - but will pay our own insurers the credit of really fighting with me over the issue. I would never insure with any insurance company within the umbrella of a certain direct sell group after experiencing their tactics at first hand.

Wildy had removed her seatbelt and taken up a crash position. We had to prove that her action had saved her life. Had she not done so - he would have collided with her head as he went through his windscreen and through her rear window. Apparently - his belt came undone in his death throes prior to the incident. Miracle she survived in reality - but she is "feline" in character.

My stance on helmets?

Like Peyote and probably yourself... I wear a helmet when I ride my bicycle because not to do so could land me with contributory liability. I feel just a little more secure when wearing it - but then know what head injuries could do - and have always worn one for past 15 years or so - so tend not to be bothered by it. Many of our bike rides are up in the local Fells or in the Alps in my wife's homeland - and helmets are advisable on very steep gradients such as the ones we tend to ride on anyway.

In sunny weather - wear dark T-shirt and in winter - something light. At night - have the fluorescent vest in pannier ready to just slip on.

_________________
If you want to get to heaven - you have to raise a little hell!

Smilies are contagious
They are just like the flu
We use our smilies on YOU today
Now Good Causes are smiling too!

KEEP SMILING
It makes folk wonder just what you REALLY got up to last night!

Smily to penny.. penny to pound
safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
Enjoy life! You only have the one bite at it.

'Tis the way of the world.

Good joke though!