Spinal Injury in Overseas Taxi Accident

Irwin Mitchell’s International Travel Litigation Team acted in a spinal injury overseas claim arising out of a road traffic accident which occurred in Melbourne, Australia, in 1998.

The Claimant, an English national, had travelled to Australia on business and he and a colleague hired a taxi to take them back to the airport for the return flight to the UK.

Whilst travelling on the Tullamarine Freeway in Melbourne the taxi driver lost control of the vehicle which came off the road, eventually colliding with a tree.  As a result of the accident the Claimant sustained severe injuries including multiple bilateral rib fractures, ruptured spleen, and dislocation through the T11/12 intra-vertebral disc with an associated spinal cord injury.

As a result of the injury to the spinal cord the Claimant sustained incomplete paraplegia. The Claimant required hospital treatment both in Australia and then on return to the UK and he remained an inpatient until June 1999. As a result of the injuries the Claimant required much specialist equipment and his two homes required extensive modifications.