A cyclist who was left with life-changing injuries when a motorist turned across his path as he rode home from work has been awarded more than £6 million in damages following an out-of-court settlement in a complicated case that included experts acting for the victim successfully arguing that he was not to blame in any way for his injuries despite not wearing a helmet or hi-viz clothing.

The victim, referred to by the law firm by his initials LM, is a South Korean national who worked as an architect and had been living in the UK for more than 20 years when the crash happened, and Stewarts, the law firm specialising in litigation that acted on his behalf, says that (link is external) due to the injuries he sustained, he will never work again and requires round-the-clock care.

LM had been riding through a green light at a junction on the evening in question when a motorist travelling in the opposite direction turned across his path, knocking him from his bike.

Despite the horrific injuries sustained by the victim, including severe brain injuries and facial fractures, the driver was only charged with careless driving and after pleading guilty was handed a fine of just £146 and had his licence endorsed with five penalty points.

The driver’s insurers claimed, despite his conviction for careless driving, that he was not primarily liable for LM’s injuries and argued that the cyclist himself was wholly or partly responsible for them, since he was not wearing a cycle helmet, hi-viz or light-coloured clothing, and there was no front light on his bike.

However, expert evidence furnished to Stewarts by accident reconstruction expert David Hague, who examined the scene of the crash and analysed CCTV and other evidence, concluded that the junction was well-lit and that if the motorist had been driving within the 20mph speed limit and looking properly, he could have avoided the collision.

Further evidence from Chris Uff, a consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal London Hospital, asserted that had LM been wearing a cycle helmet, there would have been difference to the injuries he sustained, because the main impact was to his face, with Stewarts saying that his testimony “convincingly defused the contrary arguments of the defendants’ helmet expert.”

Some 10 weeks before the case was due to go to trial, the parties met with mediator Frank Burton KC, which resulted in them agreeing a lump sum of damages of £6.1 million.

Throughout the process, LM has been cared for by his family in South Korea, moving back there four months after the crash, and Stewarts says that while he “regained much of his linguistic capability he lacked the mental capacity to litigate the claim due to the severe brain injuries sustained in the accident.”

That resulted in his father acting as LM’s litigation friend to represent his interests in the lawsuit, although the fact that he could not speak English meant that interpreters were needed throughout each stage.

Referring to the outcome reached with the driver’s insurers, Stewarts said: “The settlement has provided LM and his family with the reassurance and comfort that his lifelong care and rehabilitation needs can be comfortably provided in South Korea.

“Having spent a large part of his adolescence and early working life in the UK, LM’s goal remains to return one day, and the compensation would go a long way to help achieve that goal.”

The damages awarded to LM are at the very top of the range of what we have seen awarded over the past 15 years in cases in England & Wales in which the victim is a cyclist who has sustained life-changing injuries, with compensation exceeding £5 million in just a handful of cases.

One of those, in 2013, related to a crash eight years earlier in which Toby Phethean-Hubble, aged 16 at the time of the collision, was awarded £5..3 million in damages against the driver who ran into him.

The compensation awarded reflected the fact that the Court of Appeal held the cyclist 50 per cent liable for his injuries since he had not been wearing a helmet, and his bike had no lights.

https://road.cc/content/news/cyclist-left-life-changing-injuries-wins-ps6m-damages-304587