Personal Injury Claim Case Studies

Mrs G - Isle of Sheppey

Mrs G was driving along a road on the Isle of Sheppey close to where she lived. She negotiated a sharp right hand bend and then turned into a shallower left hand bend. As she exited the bend her car skidded and flipped onto its roof.

Mrs G alleged that her accident had been caused by mud on the road surface caused or exacerbated by water and other debris emitted from adjacent culverts and ditches which Kent County Council had failed adequately or at all to maintain. Witnesses were called by Mrs G on the issue of the state of the road on the day of the accident and the historical maintenance (or lack of) of the culverts and ditches including a Police Officer who attended the scene of the accident and who recorded that due to the presence of mud the road was in a dangerous state. The Defendant called witnesses employed by the Defendant who alleged that there had been no historical problems with the culverts and ditches and that when they inspected the road following the incident no obvious problem could be identified. Other witnesses were called who alleged that there was not a historical problem with the culverts and ditches on the Island.

We took the matter to court for our client and the Judge found as a matter of fact that the road was in a dangerous state. The officer inspected the road and found a great deal of mud with evidence of the Mrs G's car tracking through it. The Judge found that the mud had been laid down by agricultural vehicles for which the Defendant was not responsible. The Judge accepted evidence from a witness for the Claimant that on inspection of the culverts and ditches, on the day of the accident, mud and debris was coming from an overflowing culvert. On the basis of that evidence and the Police Officer's evidence the Judge found that Mrs G Claimant had lost control of her vehicle as a result of the mud and debris flowing from the culvert onto the mud laid onto the road surface by agricultural vehicles. The Judge further found that the Defendant had failed adequately or at all to maintain the ditches and culverts under its duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act and that this combination of factors had led to Mrs G's accident.

Legal Website Design - Samson Consulting © Gray Hooper Holt LLP.

This web site has been developed with valid XHTML / CSS / Site Map / Terms

Gray Hooper Holt LLP is a firm of Solicitors registered in England and Wales and Regulated by The Solicitors' Regulation Authority. It is subject to the Solicitors Code of Conduct (www.sra.org.uk)