Whiplash compensation news
09/09/2008

Judge says couple will have to claim with solicitor

An 18-year-old driver who has admitted to a charge of dangerous driving over a car crash he caused in October 2007 has managed to escape being forced to pay whiplash compensation to the two occupants of the car he collided with.

However, the judge hearing the case at Teesside Crown Court expressed his frustration that, because the defendant was insured when his speeding and reckless driving caused the accident, he could not order him to pay whiplash compensation. He commented, "I would like to have ordered you to pay compensation but for reasons I don't fully understand Parliament says I can't do that.

"It is said that the journey was because of some crisis involving your mother.I'm surprised that you didn't mention that to the police. And I'm surprised that in those circumstances you had loud music playing in your car.

"It does seem to me that this is a typical example of a young man, otherwise of good character, driving far too fast not long after having qualified to be a driver."

The judge also said that the two people injured in the car accident, a young couple, would now have to contact a personal injury solicitor in order to claim whiplash compensation. "I find that extraordinary that the people who were injured should be put to the trouble of having to claim, with all the difficulties that causes," he said.