The Highway Code & Personal Injury Claims

Introduction

Despite many years of external pressure, the road traffic accident based personal injury claims sector continues to thrive, and claims involving road collisions continue to be pursued in significant numbers.

It may come as a surprise, therefore, that the Highway Code is treated with a degree of ambivalence by practitioners in this area. For perhaps a majority of practitioners, it is seen as entirely informal guidance with little practical relevance to day-to-day claims, and certainly not something that should, for example, be included in pleadings.

Perhaps paradoxically, most practitioners also approach evidence of breach of the Highway Code as tantamount to evidence of negligence in and of itself. Few will consider that principles from the Highway Code would be directly relevant to the assessment of quantum.

That is an inconsistent attitude; and one that perhaps unsurprisingly is not wholly accurate. The reality is both much more nuanced, and significant, than is often appreciated. This virtual classroom seminar seeks to redress some of that balance and will suggest arguments that can be deployed both for and against reliance on provisions of the Highway Code at all stages of the litigation process.

This live session is aimed at practitioners with ongoing personal injury litigation practices with a view to improving their ability to predict findings of liability and quantum in RTA cases relating to the Highway Code. It assumes a pre-existing familiarity with the basics of PI litigation, and suggests additional tactics, and responses to those tactics, that could be deployed at a somewhat higher level.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive course will cover the following:

• Implications for Liability
• Statutory Framework
• How the Highway Code is used in practice
• Common examples
• Implications for Quantum
• Common practice areas
• Relevance and implications for quantum

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.