Description
Damages - Solatium - Muscle strain in neck and backache - Whether appropriate to value Solatium on basis of whiplash injury
The Pursuer, a mechanical engineer aged 25 at Proof, was injured in a road traffic accident. Liability was admitted but quantum was in dispute. The Pursuer experienced immediate pain in his neck after the collision and was taken to A&E where he was diagnosed with muscle strain and given painkillers. He continued to experience neck pain for about 6 months and also had symptoms of backache. After that, the Pursuer made a full physical recovery. He had to take about a week off work after the accident and was given light duties for 4 or 5 weeks after his return. The Pursuer was unable to play football for about 6 months following the accident. He had to drive past the scene of the accident on his way to work every day and he experienced feelings of apprehension about this. Following a Proof, the Sheriff awarded solatium of £1,650. When addressing the Sheriff on solatuim, the Pursuer's Solicitor had referred to a number of cases in which the claimants had suffered whiplash injury. The Sheriff did not consider it appropriate to assume that the Pursuer had suffered a whiplash injury and proceeded on the basis that he had suffered a muscle strain associated with symptoms of backache. The expression “whiplash injury” referred to a specific type of injury and the Sheriff had not heard evidence to support that diagnosis. The medical report, the terms of which had been agreed, stated that the Pursuer had been diagnosed with a muscle strain. The Pursuer's reaction to passing the scene of the accident seemed to the Sheriff to be no more than a normal reaction and the Pursuer had not established a claim for psychological injury.
