Can You Make A Personal Injury Claim If You Are Involved In An Accident When Cycling Under Influence Of Alcohol?
Right to Compensation
If you were involved in an accident while cycling under influence of alcohol, it is common to believe that you can’t make a personal injury claim; however, you may be surprised to hear you might be eligible to bring a personal injury claim.
All road users owe a duty of care to each other. They must take reasonable care to avoid causing damage to others using or present on the highway.
To be eligible to claim compensation for your cycling accident, you’ll need to prove that:
- The other road user was negligent in some way; and
- You were injured because of their actions (causation)
Contributory Negligence
While you may be eligible to claim compensation for your cycling accident, the compensation you receive may be reduced as a result of the principle of contributory negligence. If you contributed to the accident or your injury, the Court would assess the extent to which they believe your actions affected the accident and will reduce your compensation by that amount.
It is likely that a Defendant will argue that the extent of your injuries would have been less severe if you had not had a drink. Many Courts will agree with this reasoning and will reduce compensation awards by citing intoxication as contributory negligence. However, there is no law to state that cycling while under influence of alcohol amounts to automatic contributory negligence.
Medical Evidence
To be eligible to claim compensation for an injury, it is necessary to show that the injury was caused by the accident in question and not by something else. This is called causation. GP and Hospital records will be vital in terms of establishing causation. Therefore, it is essential you should seek medical attention as soon as possible, no matter how minor your injury appears initially. Equally, you must show that you took steps to mitigate your losses by seeking medical assistance at the earliest opportunity.
Whilst it might be possible to claim, we do, of course advise against cycling after consuming alcohol. Drinking can reduce your reaction times, coordination and impair your ability to cycle safety. Cyclists are inherently vulnerable; therefore we advise you to take all the necessary safety precautions.
If you have been involved in a cycling accident due to somebody’s else negligence and are seeking expert legal guidance, please contact our leading personal injury solicitors on 0808 271 9413 to find out how we can help, or request a call back online.