Karl Jones’ lorry hit by a car merging from the left

Karl Jones is a self-employed HGV driver with class 1 and 2 driving licences and around 9 years experience of driving lorries.  He works for a number of companies on as sub-contract basis and is always busy.

Karl’s lorry hit by car merging from left

On the day of the accident Karl was delivering goods from Tuxford to Newcastle (a route he had used several times before) in a lorry that he had been driving for a few months, and so knew well.  It was around 6.30am and Karl still had his headlights on.  He was travelling along a duel carriageway in the left hand of the two lanes. He knew that a lane would merge just ahead and the road become three lanes.  As Karl wanted to go straight on, he continued in the same lane (which became the middle lane as the road merged).  The traffic was free flowing and as Karl approached the spot where the roads merge and a car moved safely in front of him into his lane.  Just after that Karl’s lorry came to a sudden stop and he was thrown forward into the steering wheel before his seatbelt restrained him.  He thought his brakes had locked.  He applied his handbrake and looked around but couldn’t see anything.  He took off his seatbeld and leaned over to the passenger side of his cab, when he saw a car had collided with the front of his lorry.  The car had been in his blind spot and had tried to force its way into the lane in which Karl was driving as it merged from the left.   The road markings were clear and the driver should have given way to Karl, who was already on the road.

Back injury and 2 weeks off work

Karl took photographs of the scene in which his lorry was in his lane fully and the car was across the inner two lanes.  He went to speak to the young driver of the car, who was trying to move his car out of the way, further damaging the lorry (and the car), and Karl had to explain to him how to move the car without causing further damage.   They moved to a street where details were exchanged and the young driver, who said it was him mum’s car, appeared shocked.  Karl made sure the lad was OK before leaving to make his delivery.

Melanie Stringer

As the damage to the lorry was dealt with by its owner, Karl did not have to make a claim for this damage, but he was injured when the lorry came to a stop and suffered with lower and upper back pain for around 6 weeks.  He had to take 2 weeks off work, which, being self-employed meant he didn’t get paid, and was unable to attend the gym, which, as a body builder, he did regularly.  Karl also suffered travel anxiety for about a month when he returned to work.  He contacted Graysons to see if he could claim compensation and Melanie took up his case.

Melanie contacted the car driver’s insurer, but it denied liability, saying that Karl had driven into the stationary car.  Melanie issued court proceedings but in the meantime was able to collect evidence disproving the insurer’s claim and she negotiated a settlement of £2,000.

Karl was delighted with the result and with the service that Melanie provided, saying: “Graysons’ service was outstanding.  Melanie dealt with my case brilliantly, returning every call promptly and explaining everything that I didn’t understand clearly.”

Is there any point having insurance if government change whiplash rules?

Commenting on the (now shelved for the time being) government’s proposals to move whiplash injury claims of less than £5,000 to the small claims court and pay out on a tariff basis (which would mean that Karl would receive £225 if he proved his case), Karl said:

“That is totally unacceptable.  We pay insurance to cover incidents such as these, when we get injured.  I suffered for six weeks and lost weight, which as a body builder is difficult.  The payment wouldn’t even cover most people’s loss of earnings.  Would there be any point having insurance if injury in accidents isn’t covered?.  I would probably not have bothered making a claim – which seems very unfair to me”.

If you have had a road traffic accident and would like to make a claim, please contact one of our experts.  You can also find out more on our web pages.