Car accident on 29 November 2011 on the tram line at Shudehill in Manchester city centre kills driver and seriously injuries front seat passenger
On Tuesday 29 November 2011 just before a torrential downpour of rain in Manchester city centre an elderly male car driver after leaving the Arndale market car park lost control of his vehicle crashing over the central divide on High St onto the tram line. He attempted to gain control of his vehicle, but was unsuccessful and he collided head on at speed into a tram power cable support on Shudehill.
An ambulance attended at the scene and the male driver – an elderly man, was freed from the car but was later pronounced dead. The front seat passenger, an elderly lady, was cut from the car and found to have multiple injuries including broken bones.
The reasons that the driver lost control are at this time not known.
Eye witnesses described a sterling effort by the emergency services in attempting the revive the driver and cutting the female passenger from the car, which had to take place working from the back of the vehicle due to the severe damage to the front. The police cordoned off the area to compile a police report of the accident scene noting any skid markings on the road, interviewing witnesses in local businesses and taking photographs of the accident scene.
Road traffic accident solicitor comments
This type of road traffic accident is both tragic and unusual.
The effective system of the emergency services is clearly demonstrated in assisting accident victims as quickly as possible – but also in compiling evidence which can be used at a later time to determine how the accident occurred.
The police report contains evidence of the scene – skid marks can illustrate the path of the vehicle and the speed the car was travelling at; independent witness evidence taken immediately after an accident can establish what was seen at the time; CCTV evidence can be used to show the exact route taken by the car and photographic evidence will illustrate the point of impact and damage caused to the car.
High speed head on collisions will inevitably cause the driver and passenger to suffer significant injury – hospital & GP notes will illustrate the exact nature of those injuries.
If a car accident compensation claim is made by the passenger from the driver’s motor insurers – the police report can be obtained by paying a small fee and the information within will largely determine who was at fault for the accident and so liability can be determined.
To determine how much compensation can be claimed a specialist road traffic accident solicitor will access GP and hospital records and instruct an independent medical expert to complete a report setting out the exact nature of the injuries and he likely symptoms to be experienced into the future including the likelihood of any disabilities.
