Police warning on cost of help

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POLICE have been warned that they could be sued if they help accident victims.

An internal briefing note was circulated among officers in London after an incident in which a man suffered a suspected spinal injury in a car crash.

The vehicle’s roof had to be cut off and police were warned in the note of possible legal action over the damage caused to the car.

Whatever next !!
P
 
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why would the police be sued? I thought it was the fire brigade that cuts roofs off cars?
The car is probably a write off anyway so i doubt there would be a case, insurance normally covers you for an accident involving another vehicle or person, but there is no precedence in law that would allow someone to sue the rescue services for doing their job and if a case was brought to court i doubt it would succeed.
I think this may be an elaboration on the fact that a lot of company doctors/nurses will not take the risk of dishing out even headache tablets in the fear of being sued. Now i can understand their concerns as they don't normally know the employees medical history but a simple signing of a non-liability form should be enough to cover themselves as it is the responsibility of the person seeking help to disclose anything they believe may be of relevance.
If this was taken to extremes then you would receive no assistance in an A&E unit but if able to do so you normally sign a form.
If unable to do so, and if complications arise from the decision to treat that ends up in litigation then it is the job of the judge to determine negligence, after all that is what a court is there for, to decide who if any are to blame.
You see cases brought claiming negligence towards hospitals occasionally but these cases are each brought on their own merits, judged accordingly and the party bringing the case to court would do so with evidence to back up their claims otherwise they stand to lose.
Point being made is that although people believe that we are becoming a society of Suers(for want of a better word) and the growth of companies willing to take on cases as advertised regularly on the box certainly fuels this belief, the truth is that these companies only take on cases that they feel they can win and it is merely a tool they use to gain more work for themselves.
 
Blimey ! I asked whatever next -- and got old Kendor's spleen all over me screen ;)
 
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pipme said:
Blimey ! I asked whatever next -- and got old Kendor's spleen all over me screen ;)
well you'll know better than to ask those sort of questions next time! ;)
 
kendor said:
And i thought Basil Brush had retired :LOL:

that's right, he's re-tyred :rolleyes: and now he has a full set of michelin fat boys (on his 'spleen machine' nova) and is out looking for a quick way to get an open top on the cheap.

[GROAN!!!!!!]


(actually BB is back on tv and is truly awful :( )
 
Wasn't too good the first time round.[/quote]

yeah the first round is always the sticker... but once your past the first drink there's no stopping...... opps wrong subject :oops:
 
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