Police pay out road traffic accident compensation to two drivers
Police chiefs have been ordered to pay £35,000 in road traffic accident compensation to two drivers injured in separate car accidents involving police vehicles.
One of the drivers involved was awarded £22,500 in damages after a police van hit her car during an emergency callout in Pumpherston, West Lothian. The incident left the 37-year-old driver with significant facial lacerations resulting in permanent and disfiguring scars needing surgery, as well as whiplash. The driver claims that the van's siren had not been activated at the time of the accident.
Police have also been forced to pay compensation to a woman whose Peugeot was struck by a police car on Gilmerton Road in 24 February 2009. The 33-year-old required physiotherapy for a whiplash injury sustained in the crash and was forced to take four weeks off work. Following a case at Edinburgh Court of Session the woman was awarded £12,500 in car accident compensation.
A police spokesman commented, "Unfortunately, there are occasions when the public suffer injury or sustain damage to their property as a result of police action and in these cases the force recognises the importance of providing road traffic accident compensation."
*Where replacement vehicle costs can be recovered from the insurance company of the person who caused the accident.
Where this person is untraceable or uninsured, or where there is a dispute over liability, a replacement vehicle cannot
be provided.
