Child safety seats must be replaced following a car accident, it has been claimed.
Research by Direct Line found that a quarter of parents with children between the ages of three and 12 do not use a child seat at all.
A fifth of those surveyed said they did not believe that a child seat needed to be replaced after a low-speed collision.
By law, child seats are required until the child is either 135 centimetres tall or reaches the age of 12.
Every year, around 30 children aged 11 or under are killed while travelling in cars, while around 400 are injured.
Many deaths could be prevented simply by installing a child seat in the vehicle.
Maggie Game, head of car insurance at Direct Lines commented: "What might seem like a minor accident can undermine your child’s safety if you are involved in a subsequent collision."
According to the most recent findings by the department for transport, there were 258,404 casualties on British roads in 2006.
Child seats ‘must be replaced’ after accidents
June 30th, 2008
Maltese boy wins £4.25m payout for misdiagnosis at UK hospital
June 30th, 2008A 12-year-old boy from Malta has won £4.25 million compensation after a UK hospital failed to diagnose an inherited disorder when he was a baby.
The condition went undetected for a further 12 months and, as a result, Luke Attard suffered brain damage, reports the Observer.
At a High Court hearing, Dr Gwilym Hosking was accused of failing to carry a routine blood test on Luke which would have identified a rare form of a genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU).
Specialist staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital eventually diagnosed the condition.
According to NHS Direct, PKU is a metabolic disorder which manifests itself in an enzyme defect rendering the sufferer unable to produce the essential amino acid tyrosine.
Dr Hosking died in October 2006. In May that year, Luke’s parents reached a settlement on the basis that Dr Hosking was 90 per cent liable.
Luke now lives with his family in East Sussex. Two of his three brothers also have PKU.
Worker wins payout after cooling tower accident
June 27th, 2008A construction worker who fell from 18 feet from a cooling tower has won his claim for compensation, it has been reported.
Following the accident at Didcot Power Station in Oxfordshire, Stephen Deakes of Stainforth suffered serious head and chest injuries and requires around-the-clock care.
Mr Deakes was installing plastic packing inside the cooling tower when the accident occurred, according to the Thorne Gazette.
Judge Reddihough ruled at Sheffield Crown Court that employers Thermal Energy Construction Ltd would have to pay a sum large enough to cover Mr Deake’s life-long care and any future specialist equipment he requires.
Hi wife Amanda commented: "Without the settlement we would constantly be worrying about where the money was coming from for his physiotherapy, communication aids, wheelchairs and anything else that crops up in the future."
Recently, a worker in the US spent three hours bleeding after an accident involving the fan blades of a rooftop cooling tower, reports the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Woman ‘to sue’ GP for clinical negligence
June 27th, 2008A Yorkshire policewoman is to sue a GP for clinical negligence after she was kept waiting 24 hours for tests following a life-threatening heart attack.
The following day, Lyn Gillon rang another doctor who diagnosed the condition, however it was too late to administer clot-busting drugs.
Ms Gillon later collapsed and her heart stopped for 20 seconds, reports the Yorkshire Post.
She told the newspaper: "I’m bloody lucky to be alive – and I’ve got a lot to live for."
GP Bernd Schuster had diagnosed an acid reflux and recommended Ms Gillon see her GP for a heart scan the next day.
Ms Gillon commented: "The hospitals have been fantastic, but as far as Dr Schuster is concerned I think he was a waste of space. He completely and utterly let me down."
Among the common symptoms of a heart attack, according to the British Heart Foundation, are chest pains, pains in the arms, neck or jaw and a shortage of breath.
UK roads an ‘accident waiting to happen’
June 26th, 2008British roads are an accident waiting to happen, it has been claimed.
Research by Insurance.co.uk found that more than half (52 per cent) of UK motorists admit there is a significant possibility they would not pass a resit of their driving exam.
Steve Grainger, head of the comparison website, commented: "Even the most competent driver, after years on the road, can become complacent. Many drivers assume that passing their test is where the learning stops and the open road begins. However, our research shows that bad habits come all too easy."
The survey of 1,000 drivers found that only 27 per cent could identify a ‘No Waiting’ sign, while nearly one in ten could not recognise a ‘No Overtaking’ sign.
Other common errors made by drivers include turning without signalling (48 per cent) and turning without checking the mirror (28 per cent).
Lincolnshire police recently urged young drivers to slow down after a teenage girl was killed after she was hit by a careless driver, reports the Fenland Citizen.
