School Crossing Claims: How to claim compensation from the local authority for pedestrian injuries to children due to failings by lollipop men at patrolled road crossings

School crossing claims: UK solicitor explains why children can claim compensation for accidents at a crossing point on a road patrolled by a lollipop man, why the local authority is responsible for paying compensation for failings by a patrol man, how much compensation your child can claim for various different injuries and what you should do if you are contemplating school crossing claims for an injury to your child in the UK.

What are school crossing claims?

Local authorities in the UK have powers to arrange for crossings close to schools known to be used by children to be manned by a lollipop man or women (known as a patrol men) to ensure the safety of the children. Such patrolled crossings are known as school crossings.

School Crossing Claims

The patrol man might be stationed at a pelican crossing, a zebra crossing or might use a hand held stop sign to stop the flow of traffic and allow children to cross the road at the patrolled point.

A lollipop man should wear an appropriate uniform so that he is visible to children and traffic alike.

If a child is allowed to cross at a patrolled area when it is unsafe to do so resulting in an accident -the employers of the lollipop man (the local authority) could be held responsible for the accident so long as the motorist involved was driving appropriately given the road conditions.

As children are considered vulnerable members of society – the duty on a patrol person to ensure the safety of children at crossings is quite strict. Claims have been successful even when children run over the road at a patrolled point although deductions for contributory negligence are likely.

When an accident occurs at a patrolled crossing point your child will likely have a school crossing claim for compensation for his injuries.

It should be noted that if the accident was caused by the motorist’s lack of attention – the motorist will have a liability to the child separately from the local authority.

Why is the local authority responsible for your child’s school crossing claim?

The local authority is the employer of the lollipop man and as such is responsible for the negligence or errors of that employee under a principle known as “vicarious liability”.

The local authority will have all proper insurance policies should accidents occur and therefore any school crossing claims made by children for failure to correctly control a crossing point resulting in an injury to a child will be paid for by the local authority.

How much compensation can school crossing claims attract?

The amount of compensation that can be claimed for your child in a school crossings accident depends upon the nature of the injury suffered and how long any symptoms will last in to the future.

A medical expert will be instructed by your solicitor on behalf of your child to compile a report setting out the exact nature of the injuries suffered, how long your child will take to recover and if a recovery is not complete the likely disability your child will suffer.

Your child will be able to claim compensation for physical and psychological injuries together with financial losses incurred directly as a result of the accident which includes potential future lost income should earning capacity be hampered by an ongoing disability.

To see examples of the amounts of compensation you can claim for your child for various different injuries in school crossings claims click compensation amounts.

What should you do if your child is injured at a patrolled area and you are considering making school crossing claims?

You will need the help of a specialist solicitor to make school crossing claims for compensation. These types of claims can be complicated due to the fact that injuries to children can be quite significant and lead to substantial sums of compensation should there be on going disabilities.

I recommend that you click school crossing claims to contact me directly online free of charge or to arrange a call back to discuss your child’s school crossing claims.