Personal Injury
Retired man knocked down by car at pedestrian crossing
Our client, a retired man in his 80s, was crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing when he was hit by a car. Read more about his story.
29 June 2021
Jack* was crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing, when a car hit him. He was immediately taken to hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a significant head injury together with polytrauma including fracture of the spine, left rib fractures, fracture dislocation of the left shoulder and fracture dislocation of the right ankle.
Jack underwent surgery, including internal fixation of the ankle and spine. He required a prolonged period of hospitalisation with poor recovery from his injuries, including problems with swallowing. He required care and assistance due to his physical injuries but also his memory issues following the incident.
The insurers of the driver at fault strongly denied the driver did anything wrong and claimed they had a green or amber traffic light signal. They said that Jack was partly to blame for crossing too early.
We obtained helpful witness evidence as well as accident reconstruction evidence before issuing court proceedings against the driver at fault. We also obtained interim payments for Jack and organised a needs assessment, case manager and rehabilitation.
The cause and extent of Jack’s injuries was in dispute because after the accident, he was diagnosed with dementia. We maintained this could have been caused or contributed to by his head injury. We obtained expert medical evidence, which included considering the impact of the various operations on his cognitive decline. We also arranged expert care and adaptations to his home for his needs.
Following the accident, Jack's lacked the mental capacity to deal with his finances and welfare, so we arranged for Jack's family to get advice from our in house Court of Protection team.
Given Jack's age and declining health, it was important for us to obtain an early settlement figure which we achieved in an urgent approval hearing. The case settled for an amount which will enable Jack to continue to get the specialist care and rehabilitation he needs.
*Client's name changed for the purpose of anonymity.