Safety failure of Company Cars

[woozer]

If an employee is seriously injured because of the failure of the safety appliances in a vehicle supplied by the company can the employee sue the employer.

My husbands back and sternum were fractured leaving him with numb fingers and feet and he received a head injury. At the time of the accident there was torrential rain and his vehicle aqua planed into an on coming lorry. Technically the accident was his fault for motor insurance purposes as his vehicle crossed into the lane of oncoming trafic (very very low speeds and police saw no reason to prosecutethey said it was just very bad weather and bad luck)but does this then mean that he has no case against the employers for supplying a vehicle which did not perform effectively ? His consultant said that the severity of his injuries was made much worse by the failure of the safe appliances in the vehicle.
His income has been affected by his injuries so we need to knwo if we stand a chance before commiting to pay a solicitor

[pauln90]

I think you need to explain what you mean by "failure of safety appliances" are you saying that he was allowed to drive a defective vehicle ?

[Buenchico]

To sue the employer, your husband would need to show that the employer had been negligent.

If, for example, the vehicle air bag failed to operate (and there was no reason for the employer to suspect that it might be faulty), the employer could not be held to be guilty of negligence.

On the other hand, if the employer was aware of safety defects with the vehicle, and failed to rectify them, they were negligent in requiring your husband to drive the vehicle. (However, if your husband was also aware of the safety defects, a court would probably rule that part of the negligence was his own, as he should have refused to drive it. Indeed, if he agreed to drive a vehicle which he knew had insufficient safety provision, he was committing a criminal offence under the Health & Safety at Work Act, by endangering his own safety).

Chris

[woozer]

Thanks for your in put - he had no way of knowing there was a safety issue - the vehicle was only six weeks old. However, the company provided a vehicle that was not fit for purpose as neither the air bags nor the safety belt operated in properly in the crash - we cannot sue the manufatcurer but if we sued the employer then their insurers wold need to take it up with the manufacturer - ?

[Buenchico]

It's up to a retailer to ensure that anything he sells is 'fit for purpose' and safe. You might be able to sue the dealer who supplied the vehicle (with them then suing the manufacturer) but things could certainly get very complicated. Some solicitors offer a free (or flat fee) initial consultation, so you really ought to seek professional advice.

It's worth remembering that airbags are designed to operate only under certain conditions (usually involving a frontal collision). To avoid them going off when they shouldn't, they're designed not to go off under certain circumstances. (So the fact that the air bag didn't operate doesn't necessarily mean that it was faulty). Similarly, seat belts generally only operate when the vehicle suffers a longitudinal impact (e.g. from a frontal collision or from a rear shunt). If the vehicle was struck from the side, there might be nothing wrong with the seatbelt.

Chris

[woozer]

Thank you for your answers and your reasoned opinion - it was a head on collision main impact to the front drivers side - I will now see if I can have a chat with a legal chap and take this a bit further - initially when I spoke to someone they kept focusing on the fact that the motor insurers deemed him liable for the accident - but I just thought there must be someone somewhere who should have made sure the car was safe - its nice to get a second opinion - thank you for your time - Regards Annie