Industry News: Injured pedestrian wins compensation
A woman injured during a road traffic accident in East London has won the right to compensation from Newnham Council.
Mrs Pervin Yetkin, 54, from Dalston, was hit by a taxi while crossing Stratford High Street, and suffered a fractured neck and internal injuries.
Mrs Yetkin argued that, although the traffic lights were against her when she crossed the road, the local authority had failed in their duty of care towards her by not cutting back bushes which therefore obscured her view of oncoming traffic.
Three judges at the Court of Appeal ordered Newnham Council to pay her for 25% of the damage caused in the incident.
Mrs Yetkin’s accident claim had been dismissed at a previous hearing in October, by Judge Hegarty QC at the Manchester civil justice centre, who ruled that the local authority did not owe her a duty of care.
But appeal judges Lord Justice Laws, Lady Justice Smith and Lady Justice Black allowed her challenge and said the single judge had misunderstood the law. Lady Justice Smith ruled: "This highway authority owed a duty to all road users - whether careful or negligent...."
