Taxi Driver Online

Brain damaged Bath man Kristopher Hicks in compensation fight after taxi fall


A Bath man who suffered brain damage when he jumped or fell from a moving taxi has issued High Court proceedings to claim hundreds of thousands of pounds against the cab’s driver who thought his passenger was trying to do a runner.

The claim, issued on behalf of 26-year-old Kristopher Hicks, from Weston, says that on November 2, 2010 he was in a taxi with his girlfriend Abigail Noad being driven from Orange Grove taxi rank to his then home in Foxhill.

It says that when the taxi reached its destination, she got out, but before she had a chance to pay, the driver pulled away.

High Court documents say that driver Michael Young, who lives in The Oval area, continued to drive the vehicle until Mr Hicks either fell or jumped from the moving cab in North Road in Combe Down, sustaining severe head injuries.

In a police interview, Mr Young said he had become suspicious after hearing Ms Noad joke that the couple weren’t going to do a runner.

James Davies, a serious injury expert at law firm Irwin Mitchell’s Bristol office, who is acting for Mr Hicks, said: “Kris suffered devastating brain injuries in the incident that were not only life-changing for him, but also his devoted family.

“Whilst he has undergone extensive treatment and rehabilitation, he has developed post-traumatic epilepsy, headaches, fatigue, suffers social and behavioural problems and has no sense of taste or smell.

“He is reliant on 24-hour care from his mum and is unable to work.”

He said they were looking for a lifetime settlement which took into account Mr Hicks’s future needs.

Mr Young, who the claim says was negligent because he failed to give the couple adequate opportunity to pay, declined to comment.


Read more: http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Brain-da ... z2tCWXcWG5

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

And all the above was self-inflicted, well, apart from the social and behavioural problems which he probably had in the first place, or why would he be jumping out of moving vehicles in a bid to escape payment.




Aye right, every taxi driver is in the habit of not giving people adequate opportunity to pay.

FU*K ME!

The title of this thread should be: What to expect when dealing with Schemies...

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

I think we probably all know of someone who has been left in such a traumatic state of Ill health after an accident....but fortunately some of them have gone on to make breathtakingly miraculous recoveries after the Compo comes through.

Though that'll never happen in this case, the poor chap seems in a truly poor way going by what his serious injury expert cites.

The taxi driver in this case probably has money in property or the like, or this ambulance chasing lawyer would be giving this scumbag a wide-birth.

This case amounts to legal extortion, but all of you should all take note, the next time it might be you.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

It won't be the driver that has to pay. It will be his insurance company. This is why we pay the premiums.

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Grandad,

Grandad writes:



You are kidding, right?

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Grandad writes:


A Bath man who suffered brain damage when he jumped or fell from a moving taxi has issued High Court proceedings to claim hundreds of thousands of pounds against the cab’s driver who thought his passenger was trying to do a runner.

Oh and I doubt his insurance company will accept any responsibility for what happened, under the circumstances. I could be wrong, but I don't think they are claiming this was an accident, and the insurance company should pay up. This is a civil suit for damages against the driver.

_________________
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

the insurance will be the ones footing the bill imo

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Insurance companies don't normally fight each other in court. They simply accept whatever losses come their way to avoid litigation and settle out of court. The legal bill for something like this can be a small fortune in itself.

Oh and I have personal experience of an insurance company refusing to fight my case in court. I ended up taking the case to court myself, and the opposing side, settled at the eleventh hour, where I was awarded 100% of the damages.

It would be interesting to find out if the insurance company is footing the bill? I doubt it.

_________________
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

We had a similar claim made against us a few years ago - a lad jumped out of a cab whilst moving - the insurance indemnified the driver and the claim was made against our insurance.......as you say, it cost a fortune in lawyers fees, the insurance paid for that, but they remembered they paid on our next renewal.

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Do you know if the driver in the above case was charged and convicted of an offence?

_________________
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

I don't - but I bet it was reported somewhere

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

CC writes:



Does this mean the lad you speak of was driving on your insurance as a self-employed, employee, if you catch my drift?

Once again, I could be wrong, but I get the impression the driver in this story was driving on his own insurance, and the lawyer from the opposing team is going after him, personally.

_________________
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

The lad I was speaking of was on our insurance - they came after us because presumably we had more money than the driver?

I found the original story to this incident;

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Taxi-dri ... story.html


Cabbie arrested after man fell out of moving taxi released without charge



Taxi driver arrested over North Road incident


​A taxi driver arrested over an incident where a man fell out of a moving vehicle in Bath has been released without charge.

Emergency crews were called to North Road in Combe Down at around 10.45pm on Tuesday night amid reports that a man had fallen or jumped out of a moving car and had suffered a head injury.

He was taken to the Royal United Hospital with what police call potentially life-changing injuries but was later transferred to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol with a suspected fractured skull.

He remains in a critical but stable condition.

The taxi driver was arrested on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm, false imprisonment and dangerous driving.

He has now been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Anyone who was in the area at the time and may have information to help the police with their enquiries should contact Bath CID on 0845 4567000.

Read more: http://legacy.thisisbath.co.uk/Taxi-dri ... z2tEAQLPuE

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

That's interesting. Oh and the bottom link doesn't work, but I take it. He got off with it, no conviction.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"