Car accident victim receives compensation
A teenager is set to receive full compensation after he suffered serious brain injuries in a fatal car accident.
The man, who was 16 at the time of the accident, was a front-seat passenger in his friend’s Vauxhall Astra when the driver lost control in Swinton, May 2003.
The Vauxhall swerved across the road and smashed head-on into a Peugeot 406. The 24-year-old driver died at the scene of the car accident.
His three other passengers all sustained severe personal injury. The man, now 22, suffered serious wounds to his head and right hand, which will badly affect him for the rest of his life.
His compensation claim demands a seven-figure payout from his late friend's motor insurance firm to help pay for his future medical needs and care.
However, injury lawyers on behalf of the insurance company said that the man was not wearing a seatbelt.
They argued that the man should be charged 40 per cent liable for the injuries he suffered and the amount of damages reduced as a result.
However, the judge’s at London’s Appeal Court decided even had he been wearing a seatbelt, his personal injuries would have been just as severe.
Updated on 09/03/2010