Injuries, Slips or Trips on the Public Highway

If you have suffered an injury as a result of a slip or trip on the public highway you may be able to pursue a claim for compensation.

Under the Highway’s Act 1980, highways are “maintainable at public expense”. This means that, by law, the council is required to maintain its highways and keep them free from defects; this includes any tripping or slipping hazards to pedestrians.

If the council fails in this statutory obligation and you become injured or ill as a result, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. These types of injuries are very common and can often be very serious, so it is essential that you get advice from a highways personal injury claims expert.

The Defendants can defend a claim if they can show that they have in place a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance, but we have specialists in this area who are expert at finding holes in these “systems”.

To assist with your claim it would be useful if you can take photographs of the defect and particularly in tripping claims if you can take photographs and measurements. Generally as a rule of thumb we would expect a defect on a pathway to exceed 20mm and a defect on the road to be 40mm.

Recent successes:

• Individual recovered £3,375 for minor fracture to ankle following a fall when her foot went into a hole because the utility grid was missing.
• Individual was riding his bike on a cycleway when he went over a manhole that was not covered. He fell from his bike and sustained a soft tissue injury to his back. He recovered £3,114.
• Individual tripped on defective pavement and recovered £7,000 for fracture to ankle.

For immediate, compassionate and free advice contact our Personal Injury Team who are ready to help you. 01392 209209.

Roger Henderson - 01392 209218.
Email: roger.henderson@rundlewalker.com