As widely reported in press and on the news – Alan Curtis has been awarded almost £70000 in a High Court settlement.

Mr Curtis suffered a fractured skull and was left with brain injuries and a broken arm after being thrown from his bike when it hit a pothole in a residential street in Rickmansworth in October 2009.

Mr Curtis lost his £96000 a year job and was forced to take a less demanding post, receiving approximately £30000 a year less.

In arriving at his Judgement Judge Pittaway QC said that Mr Curtis had been traveling at approximately 18-20mph when he crashed – either as a result of his wheel being caught in a linear pothole or him being forced to swerve suddenly in an attempt to avoid a pothole.It would not be appropriate for me to conclude that he bears any responsibility for the accident.’

Councils owe you a duty of care to maintain the roads – this means that they are responsible for the maintenance and repair to keep the highway ‘in a fit state to accommodate the ordinary traffic which passes or may pass along them – that is cars, lorries, buses, motorcycles, cyclists etc

Whilst this was hailed as great news for cyclists it must be borne in mind that Hertfordshire County Council, and there insurers, could have resolved this matter an awful lot sooner – which would have saved putting Mr Curtis through the added stress of a Court case, and would have dramatically reduced the cost to the Council – and therefore to the Council Tax payers of Hertfordshire.

We often here of the rising cost of claims, from local councils and the NHS – when the subject of ‘compensation culture’ raises its ugly head. Here is a case where someone suffers significant injuries as a result of the negligence of the council.

Rather than deal with the matter in a reasonable manner, and negotiate settlement at an early stage - Mr Curtis and his solicitors were forced to proceed to a Hearing at the High Court.

It is probable that the costs in forcing the matter all the way to a trial, both in respect of Court Costs, the solicitors and Barristers for Hertfordshire, and the solicitors and Barristers for Mr Curtis, will far exceed the award that Mr Curtis received – and a large proportion of those costs could have been avoided with an early admission of liability from the council – and an early negotiated settlement.

Please remember that next time someone mentions the cost of compensation culture!!

At Cycle Accident Helpline we specialize in Cyclists Accidents. If you have been involved in an accident as a cyclist, and have suffered injuries, contact Cycle Accident Helpline for help and advice.