By Jo Caine. Last Updated 13th July 2023. If you have been injured because of an accident caused by faulty traffic lights, the party that was responsible for your injuries may owe you compensation. Claiming compensation for a car accident caused by traffic lights can be complicated. In order to make a personal injury claim for harm caused this way, you must be able to demonstrate the negligence of a third party that owed you a duty of care.
Fortunately, Advice.co.uk can help you by assessing your case for free in a no-obligation chat. Our advisors can offer you free legal advice on making a compensation claim for an accident caused by a faulty traffic light. If we can see that you have grounds to claim compensation, we can offer to connect you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel. If they agree to take on your case they will handle it on a No Win No Fee basis.
Accident caused by faulty traffic lights claims guide
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 received 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 on 0161 696 9685 to speak to a claims advisor. Alternatively, use our online accident claims form to contact us in writing.
Select A Section
- Compensation For An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
- Types Of Special Damages For Road Traffic Accidents
- What Is An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights?
- Responsibility For Accidents Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
- Who Is Responsible If A Cyclist Is Hit At Traffic Lights
- Time Limit For Making A Road Traffic Accident Claim
- Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights – No Win No Fee Claim
- 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 legal professional may use to put amounts on injuries. Please note that the figures are reflective of general damages. General damages are just one part of a compensation settlement.
| Injury Suffered | Degree Of Injury | Estimated Compensation | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back Injuries | Moderate 1 | £27,760 to £38,780 | Many injuries could be considered under this bracket, such as ligament disturbance and exacerbation of pre-existing injuries. |
| Neck Injuries | Moderate 1 | £24,990 to £38,490 | A fracture or dislocation of the neck area. |
| Neck Injuries | Moderate 2 | £13,740 to £24,990 | Wrenching injuries causing damage to the neck. May be consistent with whiplash. |
| Neck Injuries | Moderate 3 | £7,890 to £13,740 | Where existing injuries have been exacerbated. |
| Shoulder Injuries | Severe | £19,200 to £48,030 | Shoulder injuries which may be associated with or which may accompany shoulder injuries. |
| Shoulder Injuries | Serious | £12,770 to £19,200 | Dislocated shoulder injuries or other injuries affecting the joint and surrounding tissues. |
| Shoulder Injuries | Moderate | £7,890 to £12,770 | Similar to or including frozen shoulder injuries. |
| Facial Disfigurement | Less Severe Scarring | £17,960 to £48,420 | Significant and substantial scars which cause psychological and physical symptoms. |
| Facial Disfigurement | Significant Scarring | £9,110 to £30,090 | The most severe effects can be corrected by plastic surgery. |
Therefore, the table below does not include special damages compensation amounts. For a rough estimate of how much compensation you could be owed, call Advice.co.uk and we can calculate the compensation payout you could claim, depending on your personal circumstances.
Types Of Special Damages For Road Traffic Accidents
If you go on to make a successful claim you could be awarded two Heads of Loss. Therefore, these are as follows:
General Damages:
General damages are compensation for the pain and harmful effects of your injuries. They take into account the suffering, pain and loss of amenity caused by your injuries.
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.
What Is An Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights?
Traffic lights are coloured lights that direct traffic at road junctions, intersections, on dual carriageways and at controlled roundabouts. They are timed to stop one stream of traffic, allowing the other to pass safely. A computerised system usually controls the timing. Therefore, if there is a faulty traffic light, a driver may believe that they are supposed to drive forward when they are not. This could cause a collision between two or more road users. Or one vehicle could swerve to avoid the other, causing an accident. If there is a broken traffic light, a driver may become confused and not know what to do. The driver may drive forward when they are not supposed to and hit another vehicle.
Traffic lights are also used at pedestrian crossings to stop the traffic at timed intervals, allowing pedestrians to cross the road safely. Therefore, if the pedestrian believes that they can cross safely and a driver believes they don’t have to stop for pedestrians, an accident caused by a faulty traffic light or broken traffic light can happen. If this occurs a driver may hit a pedestrian, potentially causing life-changing injuries.
Responsibility For Accidents Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights
If a traffic light malfunction accident or an accident caused by broken traffic lights takes place who is at fault? Depending on who is responsible in that area for the maintenance of the traffic lights, they could be held liable for injuries caused when traffic lights malfunction.
Just because traffic lights are faulty and cause an accident resulting in injuries may not automatically mean a compensation claim will be valid. If those responsible for the functioning of traffic lights did not receive a report that there are broken traffic lights or faulty traffic lights, they may not be held liable for any accident that occurs. However, if they do receive reports of a broken traffic light and it cannot be repaired immediately they should put up signage to warn drivers of this hazard. Failure to do means that they may be held liable for any car accidents that occur as a result.
If you are not entirely sure if your accident caused by faulty traffic lights entitles you to claim for the injuries you have suffered call our claims team. Not only can they assess your case for free but they could also tell you who may be the liable party.
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.
Who Is Responsible If A Cyclist Is Hit At Traffic Lights?
If a cyclist is hit at traffic lights that are malfunctioning or broken, who is at fault? Fault will be determined by who made an error. The accident may have occurred because the traffic lights were faulty and the wrong signal was given to a driver, which means that they drove through a crossing or intersection at the wrong time and hit a cyclist. The driver may not be responsible as far as they were aware they had the right of way.
Therefore the same can be said if the cyclist hit a vehicle or pedestrian. They may not be responsible as they too may have thought they had the right of way. They may assume the way is clear and ride onwards into oncoming traffic. Such cases can be difficult to prove that is why we always advise seeking legal assistance. A solicitor could thoroughly investigate the case to ensure who the liable party is.
Call our advisors today. Through a no-obligation consultation with our claims team, they will review your case. When the consultation is ended they may be able to advise who was liable for that accident that caused your injures.
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.
Accident Caused By Faulty Traffic Lights – No Win No Fee Claim
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 from our panel. importantly 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 696 9685.
More Information
We hope that you have found this guide about accidents caused by faulty traffic lights helpful. If you want to know more about making a car accident compensation claim, please feel free to read these guides.
Advice On Mud On The Road Car Accident – No Win No Fee Claims
Snow And Ice Car Accidents – How To Claim Compensation
You may also find these online resources helpful.
How Do I Know If I’ve Broken A Bone, An NHS Guide
Find out where to report a problem with a traffic light on the government website.