When Phil was aged 7 he was playing on the pavement opposite his London home at around 6.15pm. Cars were parked half on the pavement and half on the road, on both sides, leaving only room for one lane of traffic. A car driven by a local lad, came down the road at a speed (as later calculated by police and engineers from skid marks and throw distance) of 30 mph, the legal limit. He knew the area well. As the car passed, Phil crossed the road from behind a Transit van. Phil did not stand a chance. His head hit the car while it was still travelling at 30mph before the driver had a chance to react. His body travelled over 50 feet through the air. Phil suffered a devastating brain injury: he was in a coma for several weeks.
Six months later we were instructed by Phil's parents. Dozens of witnesses were interviewed including the parties in two identical local accidents where the kids had been uninjured because of the driver's low speed. We found the man who had warned the local lad about his speed before Phil's accident. We arranged an accident reconstruction, a survey of all the children in the local streets and their ages, interviewed all the local Road Safety Officers and got a plan of the Kill Your Speed Government campaign local poster sites that summer. We could prove that the driver knew about the Kill Your Speed campaign and that children do run out without warning, that he knew the area and the number of children likely to be about. The insurance company said they were going to fight and so we commenced proceedings. Top defence lawyers were assigned the case and they filed a Defence.
We got a trial date for 18 months after first being approached and served on the Defendant all the factual evidence: 39 statements substantiating the above. Shortly afterwards, the insurance company and the driver agreed he had been negligent and judgment has been entered in the High Court in London in Phil's favour for damages to be assessed at some later stage. Phil spent two years in hospital and compensation (estimated to exceed £2 Million) will be awarded when he is ready so that he can have the care that such a catastrophic brain injury demands.
This appears to be the first case where judgment has been entered against a driver in collision with a child where the driver's only fault had been to drive at the national speed limit much too fast in a residential setting. When interviewed by the Guardian Newspaper, a spokes-person for the Association of British Insurers said "even if drivers are within the speed limit, it does not mean they are not negligent". It is clear that there is real hope now for other children injured in similar circumstances, particularly since the first "Kill Your Speed" campaign.
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