London’s High Court has decided that the family of a man struck down and killed in 2007 will receive £362,500 in total accident compensation. Ninian Donald was survived by his partner Kate Evenden and his daughter Rosie, who was just nineteen months old at the time of the accident.
Ninian Donald, aged 33, had been cycling home from work when he was crushed underneath a skip lorry. Mr Donald was dragged under the wheels of the lorry which had failed to notice him as the lorry turned left, passing through both a bus and cycle lane. Donald, a set builder by trade, was fatally injured at the Kingsland Road and Whiston Road junction in Hackney, E2, on May 4th, 2007.

An initial inquest into Mr Donald’s death had concluded that Donald was at least partially at fault. CCTV footage revealed that Mr Donald had mounted the pavement just before the accident to move round a bus. Commenting after the inquest, Miss Evenden said:

“If cycling is being promoted then we need higher standards of driving. Everyone who knew Ninian knew he was a responsible cyclist. He drove a van and a car and had good road sense. He didn’t take risks.”

Even in the light of the inquest verdict, Mr Donald’s family decided to take a road traffic accident compensation claim to court. Personal injury Solicitor’s acting on behalf of the family proved that the wing mirror of the lorry was not correctly aligned and therefore the lorry had an obscured view of other road-users. The Solicitor did accept some responsibility on behalf of Mr Donald for his part in the accident.

The Court decided that both parties shared the responsibility for the accident. The lorry and its driver were found to be 75% at fault, with Mr Donald the remaining 25%. Mr Donald’s Solicitors successfully proved that the lorry was unable to safely negotiate the left turn.

Damages amounting to £362,500 in total were awarded. A total of £337,500 was awarded to Kate Evenden, the partner of Mr Donald, and also £25,000 to Rosie, his daughter, when she reaches the age of eighteen.