Case study: woman suffers whiplash in a taxi

A 19-year-old from Hampshire contacted us to make a no win no fee claim after she sustained passenger injuries in a taxi accident. She was on her way to an appointment at her local GP surgery when the road accident occurred.

Although the young woman had ordered the taxi, allowing plenty of time for her to make her appointment, the driver was still late to arrive. He said that he had got stuck waiting at the railway crossing and said that she needn't worry because they would arrive at the doctor's in plenty of time.

The driver pulled out of the street where the young woman lived onto a main road. At the end of this road was a junction but instead of slowing or stopping at the junction, he just continued forward, only checking for traffic out of the corner of his eye.

He did not see that there was another car approaching at speed until it was too late for him or the other driver to stop. The car ploughed into the side of the taxi and the young woman sustained passenger injuries. Surprisingly, the taxi did not sustain too much damage and after the taxi driver had swapped details with the driver of the other car and called the police to notify them of the car accident he continued to the doctor's surgery.

The young woman, who had originally made an appointment for a contraceptive pill check up, now had more pressing matters on her mind. She was pretty shaken up by the taxi accident and burst into tears as soon as she went in to see the doctor. He cleaned up her face, which was bleeding from where she had banged it on the window in the car crash, and asked her what had happened.

She told him about the accident and complained that her right wrist was hurting from where she had put it out in front of her and it had hit the dash board when she was thrown forwards in the collision. The young woman was also experiencing a dull neck and shoulder pain which worsened when she moved her neck.

The doctor examined her and said that she had a sprained wrist and that she was suffering mild whiplash symptoms. After prescribing her some painkillers and bandaging her wrist, he told her that she should rest her neck and wrist so as not to aggravate the passenger injuries further. She was signed off work as a temporary receptionist for two weeks and was told that she may need further time off, depending on the rate of her recovery.

When they had finished the consultation, the doctor advised that she make an appointment to return and see him in five days. She made her appointment and phoned her mum at work to come and collect her.

Her mum was obviously very concerned about the injuries that her daughter had sustained and contacted the taxi rank. The mother spoke to the manager of the taxi office and told him of the accident, which he didn't seem to be aware of. After speaking to the driver, he called her back to say that the driver was now off duty and the accident involving her daughter had been logged.

Not convinced that the taxi company would take the issue further, the mother decided to contact us to find out more about how her daughter could make a passenger injury claim. She explained the circumstances and told us how she felt the taxi driver, or the company that he works for, was accountable for her daughter's injuries.

We told her that she had a good case and our personal injury solicitors helped her to gain just over £1,000 in general and special damages from the insurers of the taxi company.

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