Skip to main content

Contact us to arrange your
FREE initial consultation

Email us Call me back
 

When an accident on a public road, pavement, or walkway is caused by a highway authority or council’s failure to maintain safe conditions, then the injured person can claim compensation for their injuries.

Highway authorities cannot prevent accidents that are caused by driver or pedestrian mishaps, but they have a legal responsibility to build, maintain, regularly inspect and repair public highways in a way that ensures they are safe for public use.

How can Boyes Turner help with highways accident injury claims?

Boyes Turner’s personal injury lawyers are specialists in securing rehabilitation and compensation for clients who have suffered severe and catastrophic injury in accidents caused by the negligence of others. Our clients have suffered one or more of the following serious injuries:

Who pays injury compensation after an accident caused by road defects or an unsafe road?

Accident injury claims involving unsafe road schemes or conditions, defective signs and equipment, or other road hazards can be difficult to prove. It is essential that evidence, including photographs of the road conditions, is gathered immediately to avoid it being lost by the highway authority’s post-accident repairs. Swift action is needed by experienced solicitors to identify and prove liability (fault) against the correct defendant. Expert accident reconstruction evidence may be needed, particularly where the cause of the accident is not immediately clear.

Where someone has suffered severe or catastrophic injury in an accident, it is vital that the correct defendant (person or authority at fault) is identified so that funding for the injured person’s rehabilitation can be secured urgently from their insurers.  Our serious injury lawyers are nationally acclaimed experts in handling brain injury and other major trauma accident claims.

Depending on the individual circumstances of each accident, serious injury claims arising from unsafe highway conditions may be made against:

  • the highways agency (such as Highways England) responsible for major roads and (smart) motorways;
  • the local highway authority (such as the council) responsible for minor roads, pavements and walkways;
  • a contractor carrying out building or maintenance work on the roads;
  • the Ministry of Transport/government;
  • utility companies (responsible for low hanging cables, burst water mains etc);
  • other drivers or commercial organisations responsible for hazards or obstructions on the road ( such as skips, spillages, debris, or items dropped from open lorries).
Read more

What defects, mistakes and unsafe road conditions lead to accident injury claims?

We can help clients who have suffered severe injury claim compensation from councils, highway authorities and other organisations after accidents caused by:

  • unsafe smart motorway systems, signs or errors;
  • unsafe bridges, slip roads, roundabouts, road junctions, level crossings (railway lines);
  • raised, missing or damaged paving or kerb stones;
  • deep pot-holes or dangerous road surfaces;
  • uncovered drain or utilities ‘manholes’;
  • unlit or unsigned ramps, roadworks, skips, cones or hazards;
  • unguarded  holes or drops;
  • inadequate or unsafe road repairs;
  • dangerous spillages, dropped hazards or water on the roads;
  • dangerous overhead cables, cameras, lights or signs;
  • incorrect, dangerous or missing road signs or road markings;
  • defective street lighting or traffic lights;
  • ungritted icy paths and walkways, pavements and roads;
  • falling hazards, such as fencing, trees, scaffolding, masonry.
Read more

What compensation can I claim for severe injuries caused by accidents arising from highway authority mistakes?

Each client’s entitlement to compensation depends on their individual circumstances. This includes the type of injury and severity of their disability, the reasonable costs of meeting the needs caused by their disability, and the financial impact of the injury on their life. In addition to any compensation claimed, we are often able to secure early rehabilitation, funded directly by the defendant’s insurers.  

Depending on our client’s injury and their circumstances, they may receive compensation for:

  • pain, suffering and disability; 
  • costs of rehabilitation;
  • costs of care and case management;
  • loss of earnings and pension;
  • increased costs of suitable or adapted accommodation;
  • prosthetics (artificial limbs after amputation);
  • extra costs of transport or adapted vehicles;
  • specialist equipment;
  • assistive technology (IT);
  • cost of therapies, such as:
    • occupational therapy (OT);
    • physiotherapy;
    • speech and language therapy;
    • psychological treatment and counselling;
  • costs of private medical or surgical treatment;
  • Court of Protection and deputyship costs;
  • other reasonable expenses arising from the injury;
  • loss of dependency, reasonable funeral costs and bereavement award (if the accident caused fatal injury).
Read more

Contributory negligence - can I claim if I was partly to blame for the accident?

Serious injury claims against the highway authority can be complex, particularly when they arise from ‘one vehicle accidents', where the driver loses control of a car, bicycle or motorbike and leaves the road or collides with a hazard.

There may be more than one cause for an accident, but where the highway authority was to blame, the fact that the injured person contributed to the accident or their injury in some way should not usually prevent them from bringing a claim.

We investigate who was legally at fault for each accident, based on evidence, including photographs, dash-cam footage, witness statements, police reports, and experts’ reports to prove that the defendant is wholly or partly liable to compensate our client. In most cases, where the defendant is at fault but our client was also partly to blame for their own injuries, our client may still be entitled to receive a (proportionally reduced) payment of compensation.

To find out if our personal injury solicitors can help you receive compensation after an accident,  call us on 0800 124 4845 or get in touch using our online form for your free initial consultation.

Read more

Who can we help make a personal injury claim?

If I make a claim for compensation, will I need to go to court?

How long do personal injury compensation claims take?

What compensation can I claim for serious injury?

What is an interim payment?

How do I get started with making a claim?

How are personal injury claims funded?

What injuries can lead to a personal injury compensation claim?

What is a personal injury claim?

What are the time limits for making a personal injury claim?

Road traffic accidents cases

View all

Awards & Accreditations

Our teams have been nationally recognised over the past decade for their dedication and commitment to securing maximum compensation for our clients

             Brake | The Road Safety Charity

What our clients say

Our clients constantly recognize us as the most experienced, professional, efficient and supportive

See more

"Thanks for everything"

“Thanks for everything. It’s been very nice to be able to put it all behind us and try to move forward.  I cannot thank you and Boyes Turner for all you have done for me. It goes without saying I would always recommend Boyes Turner. I couldn’t have done it without your support.”

Boyes Turner Client

"You got us the best outcome and I can’t thank you enough"

 Thank you for all your hard work on behalf of myself and my family. You were recommended to us by a close friend back in 2017 and I will certainly recommend you again. You’ve been amazing and very reassuring considering how complicated I made things at times. It’s been one of the hardest times of my life but I was glad I had you on the end of the phone. It’s a surreal feeling now it’s all over but very relieved you got us the best outcome and I can’t thank you enough.

Boyes Turner Client

"Extremely grateful for her professionalism and attention to detail. "

Through my dealings with Claire as my representative in a personal injury claim, I have been extremely grateful for her professionalism and attention to detail. 

I believe going above and beyond to help accommodate my needs and explain everything in a way that I could understand. Working around timing for video calls and zoom meetings with myself and my mum, often on weekends and evenings. We always knew she was just a phone call away to answer any questions we had and if she didn’t have the answer then it would be found out for us. Once the claim was settled, she has still offered her support and provided contacts to do with my injury fund and further surgery I need. 

Boyes Turner client

"Great support throughout a very emotional and difficult period"

Claire was very much the lynchpin in achieving settlement of a complex case. From the outset Claire ensured steps were taken to manage both rehabilitation and legal/case requirements in the correct sequence; this included the early appointment of a case manager.

In addition Claire has been a great support throughout a very emotional and difficult period in our lives.

Boyes Turner client

"I cannot recommend them highly enough"

After being involved in a Road Accident I enlisted the services of Boyes Turner to help settle our compensation claim for damages and ongoing injuries that I incurred as a result. I cannot recommend them highly enough. Their ongoing support throughout an extremely stressful ordeal was second to none. I suffered multiple injuries and they organised all my ongoing medical needs both physically and mentally, to help aid my recovery and rehabilitation. They managed my case with the utmost professionalism, concluding it satisfactorily so that I can move forward with my life and recovery. Thank you to Claire and her team for their amazing ongoing support and work with handling my case, in a time of great stress and uncertainty. Thank you so much for all you have done for me and my family.

 

Boyes Turner client