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Last Updated 17th March 2026. An accident caused by faulty traffic lights occurs when signals fail to operate properly, often resulting in high-impact car collisions. Traffic lights are vital for road safety, as they ensure that drivers and pedestrians know when to stop. Accidents can happen when a traffic light shows green at the wrong time, remains red permanently, or turns off completely. Depending on the nature of the incident, you could make a claim against a negligent local authority or another road user for the harm they caused you to suffer. For instance, a local council may be at fault if it was aware of a defective traffic light but failed to take action within the required time frame. To strengthen your claim, you can gather supportive evidence, such as dashcam footage, images of your physical injuries, and the contact details of witnesses.
There are several ways you can contact our claims team. The advice they provide is free, and there is no obligation to continue with any other services after you receive answers to your questions. So, to have your case reviewed with any evidence you have, contact our advisors using the methods that follow. Contact us by:
- Phone on 0161 509 2856 to speak to a claims advisor
- Use our online accident claims form
- Speaking with an advisor through live chat
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Select A Section
- Compensation For An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
- Responsibility For Accidents Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
- What To Do After An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
- Time Limit For Making A Road Traffic Accident Claim
- No Win No Fee Faulty Traffic Light Accident Claims
- Frequently Asked Questions About Accidents Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
- More Information
Compensation For An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
Rather than providing a personal injury compensation calculator, we have chosen to use a compensation table. While online tools such as calculators can be effective, they may not produce the overall picture. Instead, we have taken figures from the Judicial College Guidelines. The JCG is a publication that legal professionals may use to put amounts on injuries. Please note that the figures are guidelines only, and the top entry is not from the JCG. Additionally, the last 2 rows are from a separate, fixed whiplash tariff.
| Injury | Severity | Information | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and Special Damages | Very Serious | Settlements may compensate for multiple very serious injuries and related expenses, such as nursing and home help, plus lost earnings. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe | Full time nursing will be required to cope with symptoms caused by very severe brain damage. These include little to no environmental responses, double incontinence and no language functions. | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Arm Injuries | Severe | The claimant's injuries fall short of amputation but are still extremely serious and leave them little better off than had the arm been amputated. | £117,360 to £159,770 |
| Neck Injuries | Severe (ii) | The injured party will suffer considerably severe disabilities due to serious fractures or disc damage in the cervical spine. | £80,240 to £159,770 |
| Leg Injuries - Severe | Very Serious (ii) | These injuries result in permanent mobility problems. | £66,920 to £109,290 |
| Back Injuries | Severe (iii) | The claimant suffers disabilities, including continuing severe pain and discomfort, agility impairments, impaired sexual function, depression and personality changes, alcoholism, unemployability and arthritis risks from disc lesions, fractures or soft tissue injuries. | £47,320 to £85,100 |
| Shoulder Injuries | Severe | Significant disability occurs as a result of damage to the brachial plexus. | £23,430 to £58,610 |
| Knee Injuries | Severe (iii) | Continuing symptoms, such as pain and discomfort, movement limitations, instability or deformity and risks of degenerative changes due to damage to kneecap, ligamentous or meniscal injury or muscle wasting. | £31,960 to £53,030 |
| Whiplash Tariff | Whiplash and Minor Psychological Injuries | The claimant suffers symptoms associated with whiplash and minor psychological damage for longer than 18 months but less than two years. | £4,975 |
| Whiplash Tariff | Whiplash Without Psychological Injuries | The claimant suffers with the symptoms of whiplash for longer than 18 months but these symptoms resolve within two years. | £4,830 |
Special Damages
Injured people are also paid special damages. This is compensation to reimburse them for any expenses incurred because of your injuries. How do lawyers calculate compensation for special damages? The claimant’s lawyers will look at past expenses incurred and will predict future expenses. This could be the cost of ongoing medical care, for example.
Special damages are often paid out to cover the following:
- Medical expenses
- Loss of income expenses
- Travel expenses
- Care expenses
- Car repair and replacement vehicle expenses
If a disability was caused the claimant can receive funds to pay for mobility equipment and home adaptation expenses.
Whiplash Reforms
The Whiplash Reform Programme changed the way certain car accident compensation claims are made in England and Wales. The reforms apply to drivers or passengers injured in a motor vehicle who are aged 18 and over with injuries valued at £5,000 or less.
If you suffered whiplash in a faulty traffic light accident, your injury will be valued in accordance with the fixed tariff set out in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. Any additional injuries that are not covered by this tariff will be valued in the traditional manner.
If you would like to discuss how accidents caused by faulty traffic lights are valued, please get in touch with a member of our advisory team today.
Responsibility For Accidents Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
If you suffered an injury in a faulty traffic light accident, you might like to know whether or not you are eligible for compensation and, if so, who you make a claim against.
Road Users
While using the roads, all users, including drivers, pedestrians, motorbike riders and cyclists owe each other a duty of care. This means that they must use the roads in a way that prevents causing injury or damage to others as well as themselves. As part of upholding this duty, anyone who uses the roads must adhere to any relevant rules and regulations set out in the Highway Code as well as the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Rule 176 of the Highway Code sets out the specific regulations about what to do as a road user if you come across faulty traffic lights. It states that if they are not working, then you must treat the situation as you would with an unmarked junction and proceed with great care.
To make a faulty traffic accident claim against another road user, whether that’s a vehicle driver or a cyclist, you must be able to prove that they owed you a duty of care and when they breached this, you sustained an injury as a result.
Highway Authorities
However, a faulty traffic light accident may not have been caused by another road user. In these cases, the person who was responsible for the traffic light will be the one you claim compensation against.
The Highways Act 1980 states that the local highway authority is responsible for maintaining the roads to a standard that is reasonably safe. The type of road the traffic light is on decides who is responsible for maintaining it. For example, Highways England is responsible for ensuring A roads and highways are properly maintained, whereas the local council is responsible for B roads. If you would like to claim compensation for your injuries in this case, you must be able to prove that a breach in a duty of care that was owed to you caused these injuries.
In either case, you will need to be able to identify who was liable for the faulty traffic light accident because this is who you will launch your claim against.
What If I Was At Fault?
Sometimes our clients ask us, “Can I claim if the accident was my fault?” If you were injured in an accident at faulty traffic lights where you were also partially to blame, you may be able to make a split liability claim. If your claim is successful, you receive a smaller amount of compensation than you would otherwise have received. The amount of compensation paid out will be proportionate to how liable the other party is for your injuries.
If you have been injured in a broken or malfunctioning traffic light accident call Advice.co.uk today for free legal advice about claiming compensation.
What To Do After An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
After an accident caused by faulty traffic lights, you should prioritise your health, document what happened as soon as it is safe to do so, and explore your options for claiming by seeking legal advice. Below, you can learn about the process for making faulty traffic light claims and the evidence you might need.
Seek Medical Treatment
Depending on how severe your injuries are following the faulty traffic light accident, you may need to visit urgent care, a GP, or a specialist healthcare centre. Your well-being should come first, so it is important that you get treatment before looking into claiming.
Once you are in a better position to start the legal process, you may already have an advantage. This is because receiving medical treatment creates an official record of the care you received and the severity of your injuries, which provides extremely useful evidence for your case.
Gather Key Information
The process may be easier for you if you gather evidence as soon as possible. This may include the driver’s insurance, vehicle registration, and contact details. You can also take images of the defective traffic lights themselves, other relevant details from the accident scene, and any visible injuries you have suffered.
Additionally, if it is safe to do so, it is a good idea to ask other drivers and pedestrians who saw the scene for their contact information, as your solicitor could later contact them for a witness statement.
Report The Accident
This will involve writing to the relevant authority, typically a local council or national highways agency, to make them aware of the accident caused by faulty traffic lights. You will also want to make a police report. Keep copies of any correspondence you have in this regard, as you can use this in your evidence.
Maintain A Written Record
As the claim progresses, you may find it harder to recall the specifics of your road traffic accident. This is why keeping written notes throughout your recovery process can make things much easier. You can use your notes to refresh your memory and provide more personal evidence of your experience during and after the accident caused by faulty signals.
Key things to note down include your physical pain, emotional distress, disruption to your usual routine, time taken off work, medical treatments you underwent, costs associated with your injuries (alongside receipts and bank statements) and how your relationships have been affected.
Enquire With A Law Firm
Our advisors are available 24/7 to give you more information on how broken traffic light compensation claims work. Before making any legal commitments, you are welcome to ask them whether you meet the eligibility criteria to claim, what work our solicitors do to help claimants, and any other questions you may have.
Confirm The Time Limit You Need To Meet
For most faulty traffic light claims, it is necessary to start pursuing compensation within 3 years of the accident date. However, this time limit may vary depending on the claimant’s circumstances.
Enquire with an advisor today to confirm how the time limit applies in your case and what your evidence will need to cover. These aspects of the claims process can seem complicated, so don’t hesitate to contact them for free advice.
Time Limit For Making A Road Traffic Accident Claim
If you are eligible to claim for an injury sustained in a road traffic accident due to faulty traffic lights, you will need to be mindful of how long you have to file your claim. The time limit for making a personal injury claim is three years from the date of the accident, as stated under the Limitation Act 1980.
However, there are some exceptions to this. For example, if a minor were injured in an accident at traffic lights, they would not be able to claim for themselves until they turn 18. Therefore, the limitation period would be paused until this date. However, during the time in which the limitation period is paused, a litigation friend could make a claim on their behalf. If no claim is made for them by their 18th birthday, they will have three years from that date to start one.
To learn more about the other exceptions to the personal injury claim time limit or to see if you could be eligible to make a claim, you can contact an advisor at any time.
No Win No Fee Faulty Traffic Light Accident Claims
If you have been injured in an accident caused by traffic light malfunction, Advice.co.uk can offer you free legal advice. If our claims team can see that you have legitimate grounds to make a claim they could connect you with a personal injury solicitor. Importantly, in any case they take on will be conducted on a No Win No Fee basis. But what does this mean?
This means that you will sign a Conditional Fee Agreement that states that you will only have to pay a success fee if your solicitor wins your compensation claim. You will not be charged upfront or hourly legal fee. Therefore, this can be a more affordable way to hire a solicitor for many people.
What’s more, there is less financial risk involved. Moreover, in the unlikely event that you do not win your case, you will not have to pay a success fee. So, to see if a solicitor could be funded on a No Win No fee basis for your case call our claims team today.
To begin your compensation claim reach out to us for your free consultation using the contact details below:
- Use our Live Support widget to speak to a claims advisor.
- Use our accident claims form to contact us in writing and we will call you back.
- Call us on 0161 509 2856.
Frequently Asked Questions About Accidents Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
You can learn some more key information about broken traffic light compensation claims by reading the answers to some frequently asked questions below.
Who Is Responsible For An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights?
Local councils, highway authorities, or other road users may be responsible for an accident caused by faulty traffic lights, depending on the circumstances of the incident. Even when a signal is faulty, road users should still approach with due caution and may be liable for any injuries resulting from failing to navigate safely.
What Should You Do If Traffic Lights Are Not Working?
If traffic lights are not working, you should approach with caution and take extra care when checking your surroundings. You can also report the issue via the government’s website.
Can You Claim Compensation If Faulty Traffic Lights Caused A Crash?
Yes, on the condition that you suffered some form of harm, you can claim compensation if faulty traffic lights caused a crash.
What Evidence Helps Prove Faulty Traffic Lights Caused An Accident?
Common examples of evidence that help prove faulty traffic lights caused an accident include CCTV or dashcam recordings, photographs of the defective signals, and copies of reports made to local authorities and the police.
More Information
You may find these online resources helpful:
- NHS Whiplash Guide
- How Do I Know If I’ve Broken A Bone In My Leg, An NHS Guide
- Find out where to report a problem with a traffic light on the government website.
We hope that you have found this guide about accidents caused by faulty traffic lights helpful.
