Motorcyclist hit by driver indicating at junction awarded five-figure payout

A motorcyclist who was hit by a driver turning at a junction has been awarded a five-figure payout.

The woman, named Eve, was travelling on the A77 Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow in June 2024 when she came across slow-moving traffic.

The opposing lane was clear so Eve began to filter to the right of the stop-start traffic.

Eve didn’t notice a car with its indicator illuminated as it approached the junction with Cuthbertson Street.

But Eve’s lawyers said the driver failed to check his offside mirror for traffic behind him and turned right across her path.

The motorcyclist suffered a blunt head injury, soft tissue injuries, and a fractured toe. She also had to take time off work and was unable to exercise for several months, Motorcycle Law Scotland said.

Eve’s lawyers argued that the driver had not been paying proper attention before changing his position and turning right.

But his insurers denied liability, saying he had been indicating right and Eve had been travelling at speed. They revealed dashcam footage in support of their position.

The motorcyclist’s lawyers argued that the footage showed Eve had not been travelling at speed and that the driver had turned across her path while she was alongside him.

The footage shows that the driver was singing along to Teddy Swims’ Lose Control.

Eve’s lawyers said that indicating does not give you a right to proceed “at all costs”.

A spokesperson for Motorcycle Law Scotland said: “When this was pointed out, the insurers back-pedalled slightly and offered settlement of Eve’s claim on the basis that she was as much to blame as the driver.

“Even though Eve was owed a heightened duty of care by the driver, the insurers remained adamant that liability should be split evenly.

“We believed that Eve was there to be seen, and had the driver paid attention to her, the collision would never have occurred. As a result, we began preparing Eve’s case for court.

“As the court date neared, the case settled for a five-figure sum which represented more than three times what had originally been proposed. No formal breakdown of fault was ever agreed, but the sum agreed reflected Eve being far less to blame than the driver.”