After an excellent lunch at the Beverley Arms Hotel, members of Beverley Westwood Probus Club, at their meeting on the 4th July, were entertained to an interesting and informative talk on Accident Investigation given by Brian Nettleship, a retired actuary.
He recounted incidents ranging from sad mishaps during birth to road traffic accidents, major and minor.
The purpose of the investigation each time had been to examine the cause and effect of the actions by the parties involved and so establish who was to blame and to what extent they should be held liable. An important consideration in all cases was to establish how “reasonable” or otherwise these actions had been in the circumstances. Particularly, in civil actions “reasonableness” had to be taken into account in assessing whether actions had been “negligent.”
He drew distinctions between cases involving law breaking, such as driving dangerously and failures of care or service delivery by professionals or other experts giving rise to losses or injuries suffered by the other party and described how the latter were dealt with as civil actions.
The importance of considering, whether by act or omission, the injured party had contributed to his or her misfortune was emphasised and the concept of “no fault compensation” was touched upon. Lastly, Brian described the various ways in which evidence was gathered, from witness statements to examination of accident sites.
The Club President, Les McLaughlin proposed the vote of thanks and reminded members of the next coffee morning on 25th July and lunch meeting on the 1st August when the speaker would be Nichola Henderson, Lady Toast Master.
Membership of Beverley Westwood Probus Club is open to retired business or professional men. We meet at the Beverley Arms hotel for lunch on the 1st Wednesday of every month, 12.00 for 12.30 pm and for coffee every 4th Wednesday, 10.15 am.
Interested? Contact our Secretary, on 01482 888955 or any member for further information.”
