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Monthly Archives: November 2013

Fatal Accident Statistics

Helpful Information

We have provided some information below which you may also find useful on Fatal Road Accidents, Fatal Accidents at work and/or Serious Injury Web sites. If you have any queries please call us on 0871 011 2757 or 0151 431 0548 or email: info@hutcheonlaw.co.uk

Health & Safety Commission Report (Fatal Accidents at Work)

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has provided a report for the number of fatal accidents for the years 2005/2006. The statistics reveal that there were 212 workers fatally killed in the United Kingdom the vast majority being in the construction industry. For further details click here.

ROSPRA

In this report for 2005 ROSPRA reported:

On the Road

There were in Great Britain – 3,201 fatal road accidents, 271,017 road casualties, of which there were 28,954 non-fatal serious road accidents.

Railway

There was a total of 5,172 train accidents, accidents through the movement of railway vehicles and accidents on the railway.

AIR

There were 105 casualties caused by aviation accidents in UK airspace. Of these there were 27 fatalities.

Work Related Accidents/Injuries

There were 212 Fatal accidents, 160 employees and 52 self employed. Non-fatal major injuries to employees were 28,605, self-employed 1,251.

Schools & Children

Under HSE under RIDDOR there were 4 fatal accidents, and 8,367 non-fatal injuries.

Home & Leisure

In England & Wales fatal accidents in and around the home was 3,892.

Water Sports

In 2002 there was an estimated 21,935 non-fatal accidents and in 2003, 381 drownings recorded.

Fire

In 2004, there was 509 fatal accidents and 14,600 non-fatal accidents.

Department of Transport

The number of fatal road accidents in Britain for 2007, according to the Department of Transport, fell by 7% from 3,172 in 2006 to 2,943. The number of non-fatal serious injuries on the road were 30,720. There were 247,780 road casualties. The number of fatal accidents among car users were 1,431 and non-fatal serious injury accidents 11,536. The number of fatal accidents and non-fatal serious accidents involving children was 3,090, of those 1,899 were pedestrians, 121 children died on the roads. There were 644 pedestrian fatal accidents. Pedal cyclists fatal accidents fell from 146 in 2006 to 136 in 2007, serious non-fatal accidents rose by 6% to 2,428. There were 588 motorcyclists fatally killed, the number of fatal and non-fatal but serious accidents rose on the previous year to to 6,737. All motorcycle accidents was 1% higher at 23,459.

Durham County Council

On a smaller scale, Durham Council in in 2006 reported that there were 22 fatal accidents on the public highway as opposed to 35 in the previous year. Car passenger accident and injuries 500, fatal passenger injuries 3. Car driver fatal accident injuries were 4, motor cycle fatal accidents 6 and pedestrian fatal accidents dropped from 8 to 1.

Fatal Accidents In The Construction Industry

This publication looks into detail fatal accident causes and statistics into the construction industry.

Aviation Safety Statistics

The Civil Aviation Authority, there are 2 million regulated flights in the UK per annum. They conclude that air travel is still the safest form of transport. Worldwide rate of fatal accidents for public transport operators is now only 0.2 per million flying hours and the UK is among the world leaders in terms of its national safety record.

Farming, Forestry & Horticulture

The Health and Safety Executive in their report 2004/2005 recorded a total number of 47 fatal accidents in this industry, mixed farming being the worse activity where there were 22 fatalities.

Dependency – Wife

The Dependency Claim for a Wife’s Death

The court following a fatal accident claim agreed that the child was dependent on the her mother’s income and in once case awarded £5074 pa with a multiplier of 7 = £35,520). It is the damage to the dependent herself resulting from the death which must be assessed for which damages are to be awarded and not to anyone else. The judge dismissed the defendant’s argument in the fatal accident claim, that the a discount should be made since the husband was better off as a result of his wife’s death as he did not have to support two households. The child had a dependency of 57.5% of the joint family purse. The father’s contribution continued following the fatal accident of his wife, she was entitled to be compensated for that part which originated from her mother and has ceased. To the extent that her father has made good the loss caused by the death of the mother, it was a benefit which had to be disregarded.

The Services Dependency

The child’s loss following a fatal accident of the mother, was to be measured by the loss of earnings incurred on behalf of the husband’s partner or a commercial cost of employing a housekeeper, which was assessed by a child expert. Damages under the Fatal Accidents Act is to be treated as a jury question. The judge considered that the jury in a fatal accident claim, would not assess damages on the basis that the commercial cost of employing a housekeeper had been incurred but they would “have had an eye to” to the cost.

If a husband gave up work to look after the children following the fatal accident of his wife, the value of the mother’s services may be that of the lost wage of the husband, where the husband’s wage was greater than the cost of employing a housekeeper) or in the case of Bailey v Barking & Havering Area HA [1979] Law Society Gazette, the actual loss which the husband incurred, (where his wage was less than the cost of employing a housekeeper).

Parents Dependency on Children

The emotional loss of a child to a parent is unmeasurable.  The loss so dramatic it hurts to even contemplate the loss of a child.  When it happens, your world falls apart, it will never be the same.

In law, however, we, at fatal accidents claims solicitors have to advise grieving parents regarding all legal matters.

Naturally one would expect, that if a child lost his or her parent, there would be a “financial” loss to the child for upkeep and generally looking after the child (setting aside the emotional needs).  However, can a parent ever claim for a financial dependency on a child?  The answer is, as one would expect in the law, “it depends.”

Factors for Parent Dependency

There has to be a reasonable expectation that at the time of death of the child the parent would be financially dependent (in some way).  This financial dependency does not have to be apparent from the death of the child, it could be a future dependency provided that the evidence produced on behalf of the parent is not too speculative.   Thus in one case the death of a child who was only 4 years old did not succeed.

However some examples of cases where the Parent was able to claim a Dependency award:

  • ‘Marchioness’ disaster – the 19 year old deceased was a talented dancer and there was evidence that he would have supported his family.  See quote below from the Judge which just sets the tone of family relationships perfectly in our view.
  • Parents were infirm – here in this case it was agreed by the Judge that the deceased son would have looked after his parents.
  • Child living with parents – the deceased child would have contributed to the family household.
  • 16 Year old child not working – the parents were able to prove that the young child would have when able to work financially contributed to the household following her completing her apprenticeship.

Marchioness’ disaster – Judge’s quote from the case:

‘I can … accept from her father that Francesca was impulsive, and generous. His evidence about her willingness to work with him during her holidays makes it clear that she was prepared to relieve her parents of as much expense as she could. I therefore have little doubt that if there was real financial need which her parents had been prepared to admit to her, she would have done her best to alleviate it. I also accept that she would have been proud to have offered to her parents either by way of presents or money something substantial from her first earnings, to represent the fruits of her parent’s investment in her. If she had been at home when working in the United Kingdom, I have no doubt that she would have contributed generously to the household expenses over and above that which was necessary for her own keep. Further, her parents present financial situation is such that she may well have wished to provide from time to time some financial assistance. And as her parents grow older, I can foresee situations arising in which her financial support could have been expected. But I cannot believe that before her death they had any real expectation that she would have provided them with, in effect, a pension. I am sure that they would have wanted her to secure her own financial position, and to have provided for her family, when, as I am satisfied she would have done, she had married and had children.’

Dependant Children – Death of Parent

Under a Fatal Accident Act the death of their parent(s) following a fatal accident will usually be assessed with the surviving parent’s claim but there can be occasions where separate assessments of the child’s claim is desirable. As the fact of remarriage does not appear to be relevant consideration .

Free Fatal Accident Claims Advice Available

As specialist fatal accident solicitors we can work for free win or lose so you have nothing to worry about. There is a limited time to make a claim so we make it easy for you to contact us. You can fill on our online form, call us free of charge on 0800 011 2757.

Parents

Parents who lose an adult child in a fatal accident who has contributed to the maintenance of his parents is relatively easy to calculate especially if the contribution was for a regular sum. When calculating the multiplier, the principal factor is the expected remarriage of the child. The rationale is that on remarriage the contribution will cease or be reduced.

For an infant child, in a fatal accident case, there might be a prospective loss to found a claim for parents, the expectation of which is an inference of fact; the parents of an infant child in a fatal accident claim do have a claim for bereavement.

Free Advice Available

As specialist fatal accident solicitors we can work for free win or lose so you have nothing to worry about. There is a limited time to make a claim so we make it easy for you to contact us. You can fill on our online form, for confidential advice.

We also specialise in fatal accident motorbike accident claim solicitors, again if you need more information please contact us.

Children’s Dependency on Parents

Naturally one would expect, that if a child lost his or her parent, there would be a “financial” loss to the child for upkeep and generally looking after the child (setting aside the emotional needs).  A surviving parent would take over the roll but would lose the support of the deceased spouse and as such the fatal accident solicitors would look to help the family by seeking monetary compensation for the loss of financial income and support the deceased spouse had contributed to the family.

Under a Fatal Accident Act the death of their parent(s) following a fatal accident will usually be assessed with the surviving parent’s claim but there can be occasions where separate assessments of the child’s claim is desirable. The Court may or may not take into account what happens to the family arrangements after the death of a parent.

The courts have the difficulty in valuing the cost of the mother’s services:-

  • In one case following the death of the father, it was found that the family were not financially worse off but the Judge found on the evidence that a money award was fair as the family would miss out on the potential of the late father earning more income for his family.
  • Thus were a single mother was killed following a fatal road accident leaving 3 children and subsequently looked after by her sister who gave up work to look after them, the value of the sister’s loss was only the starting point.  The court would look at the deceased mother’s earnings and the financial loss which mathematically was easy to compute.  It was more difficult to put a value on a mother’s care and services to the children however.  The mother worked full-time and thus whilst the sister had only earned what was said to be “modest earnings” the court considered a discount of 15% of the sister’s earning potential.
  • The Court is not barred from considering the prospects of re-marriage of the surviving parent and thus any dependency claim on behalf of the children.  This could reduce any award for dependency.
  • Can the loss of a mother’s services simply be valued at a commercial carer’s rate? In one famous case the answer is “no” especially when the child was young at the time of death.  As the child becomes older, the Court took the view that less time and devotion would be required by the mother.  The court summed up the situation as follows:

‘… as children get older they may also get more independent of their parents and less in need of being looked after. In the early years the services rendered by a mother
to her small child may be valued by the cost of a hired nanny. The requirements are to some degree comparable. As the child grows older, and reaches school age, the valuation by commercial standards becomes less and less appropriate, and to use them is again not comparing like with like. Once the child has begun school, at least by the age of six, the extent of the services decreases in amount. She needs, for a time, to be taken to and from school. Later on, she may go there by herself. Not only is the yardstick of a nanny’s wage less appropriate, but the services rendered by the mother change in nature.’

Croom Johnson LJ Spittle v Bunney

Compenstion for death of family member

You have read above the harsh and unjust nature of how the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 applies to the unlawful death of children in accidents in England and Wales.  The harshness continues when it comes to other family members.

The law is outdated and in need of urgent reform.  The law at the time it was passed was on the classical family unit of Husband and Wife, with 2 children; husband goes to work and wife looks after the children and household, and husband is involved in a fatal accident.  The wife and children will be compensation for their dependency upon the ‘bread winner.’   However if a typical family unit such as that illustrated is not involved, the Fatal Accident Act 1976 and case law that follows often makes compensation for a death of a family member for dependency more complicated, difficult and less compensation.

For more information on compensation for the death of a family member (called dependency claims) see are article by clicking on the link below.

Compensation for the death of a Family Member

Free Fatal Accident Claims Advice Available

As specialist fatal accident solicitors we can work for free win or lose so you have nothing to worry about. There is a limited time to make a claim so we make it easy for you to contact us. You can fill on our online form, call us free of charge or why not cal or chat live with us online.