Cyclists win compensation after road traffic accidents

Two cyclists have approved substantial compensation payouts after they were dealing in separate road traffic accidents.

Doris Barrea-Torrico, 31, has been awarded ?280,000 after beingwrecked between two lorries while on her bike, the London Evening Standard reported.

She wastrapped at a busy junction in Holloway Road in December 2007 and brought a claim against one of the drivers claiming he had been irresponsible. The case was settled out of court.

In the road traffic accident, Ms Barrera-Torrico suffered acute injuries to her leg and at one point doctors feared it would have to be amputated. She has beenleft permanently crippled and is no longer able to take part in triathlons, which she had previously competed in at national level in her native Chile.

“Sometimes I want to use my bike or go for a run and it’s difficult for me because I know that I can’t. My life has changed forever. I have to use crutches to walk now and my leg is deformed,” she said.

In a separate case, the Oxford Mail reported on Hamish McCullough who was involved in aroad traffic accident back in 2001.

He had been cycling near Kingston Lisle when he was clipped by the wing mirror of a Peugeot 205. As a result he was thrown from the burdened and injured his head, rupturing an artery which effected harsh brain damage.

The High Court heard how the car driver, Gordon Mitchell, only held a provisional licence and had been in the vehicle without supervision.

Through his father, Mr McCullough brought a claim despite the Motor Insurers Bureau, the organisation which compensates the victims of uninsured drivers. Now he has been awarded a lump sum of ?2,450,000 and will also accept monthly index-linked payments of ?120,000 to cover the cost of his care for as long has he lives.

The MIB had agreed to settle the case on the basis of 75 per cent of his full claim because liability was disputed and Mr McCullough was not wearing a helmet.