£450,000 for rider who suffered serious injury when lorry spooked horse

A rider who sustained a life-changing injury when her horse was spooked by a lorry has received £450,000 in compensation.

The rider was hacking with a friend, riding in front, when a lorry approached travelling at between 30 and 40mph.

Concerned by the lorry’s noise, size and speed, she repeatedly signalled to the driver to slow down but he failed to respond. As the lorry passed her horse, it reared, causing her to fall.

The lorry driver failed to stop and the police were unable to trace him but Hanna Campbell of law firm HorseSolicitor said they were able to file a claim with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) on the rider’s behalf.

The MIB exists to compensate people whohave been injured by negligent drivers who are either untraced or uninsured.

The organisation initially rejected the case but Ms Campbell said the law firm advised the client to instruct them to appeal.

“On appeal we argued that it was reasonably foreseeable that a large vehicle, travelling at 30 to 40mph past horses, would result in them spooking and the rider sustaining injury. The prudent driver would have slowed right down, particularly in light of the fact that our client had signalled for him to do so,” she said.

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It was also argued that the MIB had failed to take into account contemporaneous evidence of negligence within the police report and that it had failed to fully investigate the matter by not interviewing the other rider.

The appeal was successful and the matter settled for £450,000.

“I hope that this case will raise awareness that riders are entitled to compensation even if the driver responsible flees the scene and remains untraced,” Ms Campbell said. “My aim is to increase access to justice for injured riders and get them the compensation they deserve.”

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