MCIA hails new chapter for powered light vehicles and their role in the future of our cities’ transport systems

MCIA yesterday welcomed the Government’s announcement it will deliver an action plan to build new UK opportunities for Zero Emission Powered Light Vehicles (PLVs), including Motorcycles and Scooters as part of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.

The landmark announcement, which comes off the back of three years of intensive MCIA engagement with Government ministers and officials, is welcomed by MCIA and testament to the innovative and flexible approach members have adopted towards their business models and manufacturing strategies.

We foresaw two years ago via our Route to Tomorrow’s Journey document, launched in June 2019, the rise in urban and sub-urban mobility solutions. The research detailed helped paint a picture of the transport and environmental issues we are now facing and has resulted in the recognition of PLVs in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.

Whereas previously, PLVs and other powered two wheelers were thought about exclusively through the prism of safety and pollution, through positioning our industry as part of the solution to many of the Government’s public policy challenges, we find ourselves in a far better position than when we first embarked on this journey three years ago.

We are proud to be included in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan and chosen by the Government to jointly lead the conception and delivery of the action plan along with Zemo Partnership.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Tony Campbell, Chief Executive of MCIA, said:

The government has today laid down a long overdue marker, signalling not the end but the start of our next chapter. We will as an association continue to hold the government to account on its promises during this vitally important next phase of implementation.

From being a clean and efficient way of getting around to generating industrial opportunities for the UK, we are thrilled to be working with Zemo Partnership in conceiving and delivering an action plan for PLVs fit for the future of our cities’ transport systems.

We remain steadfast in our continuing to be a constructive partner to government in ensuring the many benefits our sector brings to society are fully realised, at a local and national level, whilst doing everything in our power to ensure our fleets remain as green and clean as possible. Motorcycles, Scooters and other forms of Powered Light Vehicles will play a key role and we are extremely happy this has now been recognised

Andy Eastlake, CEO of Zemo Partnership, said:

We welcome the clear focus in the Government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan on the Motorcycle and Scooter sector, which includes all forms of Powered Light Vehicles. We think this provides a large and, as yet, largely unexploited opportunity to change the way we commute in urban and sub-urban environments, leading to reduced congestion and emissions. The benefits to UK PLC are also enormous and offer great opportunities for British investment.

Zemo Partnership will be developing an action plan in collaboration with MCIA to maximise the opportunities for the UK in both building and using these vehicles to best effect.

The MCIA is the body that represents the UK Powered Light Vehicle (PLV) industry. PLVs can be defined as lightweight scooters, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles, typically with zero or low-emission power.

SorryMate have pledged over £1,000 per year to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to help keep them saving lives of motorcyclists across the region.

Last year the Yorkshire Air Ambulance responded to 1,523 incidents, 113 of which were motorcycle accidents.

As you may know, SorryMate offers free legal advice to bikers in need of assistance on a no win, no fee basis. Our firm is run by qualified solicitors who are also bikers themselves.

Here at SorryMate, we pride ourselves on giving back to charities, particularly air ambulances who serve many of their clients. We have decided this year to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance by handing them a cheque for an initial £1,000 and pledging £100 a month to help the life-saving service.

Fergus Dalgarno, founder of SorryMate, said:

“The air ambulance save many lives each month, many of whom are bikers. Over the years their skills have grown so that now they are considered in many areas to be a mobile Accident and Emergency Unit, able to perform many life-saving skills at the scene of an accident”

Speaking of why we have chosen to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Fergus said:

“People should support the air ambulance for the same reason they support the NHS, because they are an integral part of healthcare, looking after everyone. The only difference is air ambulances are not government funded.”

Rob Scott, East Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said:

“We would like to thank SorryMate for their support over the years and for their very generous donation.  It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and donations from companies such as SorryMate are the lifeblood of our charity.”

Full Yorkshire Air Ambulance Press Release here – https://www.yorkshireairambulance.org.uk/news-patient-stories/news/sorrymate-pledge-over-1000-a-year-to-yorkshire-air-ambulance/

So, what does a  Solicitor from SorryMate do with her annual leave?

Sun and sand in the tropics?  Gondolas and fine food in Venice?

NO. 

Spanners and mud in Derbyshire?   That’s more like it!

This was a no-messing-about, five-day motorcycle maintenance and off-roading course.

The ‘bikes we were using were Royal Enfield Himalayas, a great “what you get is what you see” sort of machine, which was easy to strip down to get to the workings.

I then spent a very enjoyable day, taking wheels off and putting them back on again, learning how to repair both tubeless and tubed tyre punctures, sorting out the battery and air filter. Finally, and for me most satisfying of all, a full oil and filter change.  Magic!

Days Two to Four we were taken to the off-road venue, which is a superb site in the Derbyshire countryside. It is set out for various outdoor activities including paintballing, quad-biking and orienteering. The motorcycle off-road section had forested areas, rough tracks, hills and a huge tractor-rutted long-grassed field.  Every single area was  smothered in several days’ worth of wet, wet rainwater.  Muddy or what?

I’d never ridden an adventure ‘bike before so the first thing for me was to get used to the controls, starting on the car park – about the most gravelly surface I’ve ever seen, but flat.  So, after sliding round there a few terrifying times I was off into the field to go and explore the tractor ruts and puddles. The Husband, who was in his absolute element, had already gone off to see what mischief he could get into and came back, covered in mud, already having discovered every hazard, before I’d even left the car park!

Our instructor is an experienced off-roader and green-laner, who has completed the Scottish Six Day Trial no less than 24 times.  First things first, out come the dreaded cones, placed ridiculously close together (to my mind at least) on the slippery grass.  Slow speed throttle and clutch control is the key here, but it didn’t take long to get the hang of that, by which time I was really enjoying the ‘bike, and the new experience.

Over the next couple of days, we were treated to brilliant instruction around all the different aspects of the site.  The most difficult were the steep muddy hills, made worse by the deep tractor ruts.

The terrain became more and more challenging as the days went on, the ruts deeper and the water wetter, but all the time we were learning new skills and losing our fear.

Did I fall off?   OF COURSE I FELL OFF!  Apparently all part of the experience!

The final day – how to wash down your motorcycle properly after off-roading! This might sound basic but, in reality, gave very useful information about how to do the job thoroughly and safely.

All in all it was a great week and I would heartily recommend it for improving riding skills and simply gaining more confidence.

The timing of our trip to Derbyshire was perfect, as we were able to take part in the annual Ride To The Wall (RTTW).  This is an event when thousands of motorcycles make their way to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, from various start points.

Once there, a service of remembrance is held with an opportunity for all to pay their respects to those fallen service men and women at The Wall. This is a stone structure, engraved with the names of those who have given their lives in the service of the country since the end of the Second World War.

What a great event. We rode in, picking up more and more ‘bikers along the way. Eventually over 7000 motorcycles turned up. This is quite a spectacle in itself and the military precision with which they were parked up is testament to the work of the – voluntary – organisers.

So you can keep your sun, sea and sangria!

Liz Hoskin is a solicitor and Accredited Senior Litigator with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.  She rides a Triumph America and a 1995 Ducati Monster.  SorryMate is a firm of solicitors working exclusively to help bikers get the compensation they deserve after an accident.

The Court has now established that seriously injured claimants should receive compensation to purchase accommodation, on top of any damages.

The Court of Appeal has handed down a significant judgement for all personal injury claimants. The much-awaited decision of Swift v Carpenter went in favour of the claimant, Charlotte Swift, who was required to purchase larger accommodation as a result of her life-changing injuries due to an accident that was not her fault.

Swift, who lost her leg in a road traffic accident seven years ago, was awarded more than £4m by the High Court in 2018. She was, however, told in 2018 she would not receive an extra £900,000 needed to fund a purchase of a larger home which was required due to the loss of her leg.

Swift will now receive more than £800,000, rather than the zero which was set in 2018 as a result of guidance by the Court of Appeal in Roberts v Johnstone in 1989. At the time, Mrs Justice Lambert assessed the required additional capital needed for a new property, but awarded no extra damages. An appeal was launched by Swift’s legal team and first arrived at the Court of Appeal in June of this year.

 

What does this ruling mean for claimants?

The particular issue of accommodation being needed after injuries has been a subject of much debate in the personal injury sector for many years. The outcome of this landmark ruling is good news for claimants and could potentially be worth millions when future lump sums are awarded.

One of the biggest difficulties of the case was centred around the discount rate for personal injury awards. This discount rate is used to adjust any lump sum awards for future losses, costs, and expenses by victims of life-changing injuries. The rate tries to account for the amount victims can expect to earn by investing their compensation.

However, when the Roberts v Johnstone decision was handed down in 1989, the discount rate was set at 2.5%. The rate was then lowered in 2017 to -0.75% and later to -0.25%, leading for calls for an alternative approach to be considered. The example of the rate moving from -0.75% to -0.25% can be seen below:

• 30 year-old male with annual financial costs of £50,000 with life-changing injuries
• Under the -0.75% rate, he would be awarded £2,935,500
• Under the -0.25% rate, he would be awarded £2,565,250

With the discount rate changes, many personal injury lawyers had called for adjustments to be made in the way compensation is calculated, particularly for life-changing injuries.

With this ruling, victims of serious, life-changing accidents are now much more likely to receive extra compensation should they need a change of accommodation as a result of their injuries. Having said this, in his ruling Lord Justice Irwin did accept that his guidance should ‘not be regarded as a straitjacket to be applied universally and rigidly’ but on a case by case basis.

 

The reaction to the case

Charlotte Swift said that the court case had been “both incredibly stressful and upsetting” but expressed her relief and thanks for the court’s decision. She added:

The insurance company fought me every step of the way while attempting to avoid both themselves, and their fellow insurers, from having to pay the proper compensation that thousands of claimants are legally entitled to every year.

Her legal representatives stated that their client can now “get on with the rest of her life in an environment best suited to her, after a seven-year battle.” They said of the case:

This was an overwhelming triumph for somebody who deserved nothing less after everything she has been through. Charlotte’s tenacity and ability to trust her legal team in the face of overbearing pressure from a truly David v Goliath situation, and the threat of crushing legal costs consequences, was astonishing.

The decision itself is the best and most thorough examination of a problem that has vexed legal practitioners for decades, and so enormous credit must go to the judges in the Court of Appeal for taking it by the horns in the way that they did.

 

How can SorryMate help you?

If you have been knocked off your bike, it can often feel like there is no one to turn to, to help you get back on. SorryMate are there for bikers who need legal advice when they have been knocked off their bike by a car, injured themselves due to potholes or poor road surfaces, or when they have been involved in an accident with other road users or pedestrians.

We are bikers, just like you, and understand the distress an accident can have. We want to make our roads safer, and we go after those who don’t.

SorryMate deal exclusively with motorbike accident compensation claims. We are made up of a team of specialist personal injury motorcycling lawyers, registered with the SRA, that can help you recover your deserved compensation.

Find out today if you have a claim for compensation by completing an enquiry form or by calling 0800 6 300 301.

 

Key Links

Swift v Carpenter 2020 – https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2020/1295.html

SorryMate have supported Oliver’s Mount and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance for a few years now and when we heard that the Race Marshals Association needed overalls and jackets it seemed only right that we step up and help.

• SorryMate’s Statement
• Marshal Association’s Statement
• Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s Statement

We are pleased to announce today that SorryMate have pledged support to the 1946 Marshals Association. It is great to have the chance to support the marshals that are such an essential part of every race weekend.

 

The sponsorship has provided Chief Sector Marshals with overalls and hi vis jackets for the upcoming racing season. The overalls themselves are top of the range, AWS probans, and look exceptional.

We are happy to support the marshals as we believe wholeheartedly in what they do. We first met the team in 2019, with our relationship being created through their main charity, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. That relationship has grown through meetings at Oliver’s Mount into the strong partnership we see today.

[ps2id id=’sorrymate’ target=”/]With the partnership, our two teams will be looking to raise as much funds as possible for Yorkshire Air Ambulance throughout this season and beyond.
Fergus Dalgarno, Solicitor at SorryMate, said of the partnership with the Marshals Association:

This is a great opportunity to five something back by providing this sponsorship to such a fantastic team. The marshals ensure each race weekend runs smoothly, while also doing vital fundraising for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

We can’t wait to see the marshals in their overalls this weekend at Oliver’s Mount.

Phil Paxton, Events Manager at SorryMate, also commented on the sponsorship:

We are really happy to be supporting the Marshals Association, because what they do is an integral part of the racing community.

The racing could not go forward without the volunteers at 1946 and all the vital work that the marshals do to keep the racing circuit open.

What better time to announce this partnership than the week of Oliver’s Mount Spring Cup, the first even in the calendar for a long, long time. We truly feel as though this is the end of the storm. We cannot wait to see you all there this weekend – and we can’t wait to see the marshals in their overalls.

From One Nine Four Six:

One Nine Four Six Marshals Association and SorryMate Partnership

SorryMate have generously provided independent Marshal association One Nine Four Six Marshals with lead sponsorship for the 2021 season.

The sponsorship has provided the Chief Sector Marshals with much needed Proban Overalls, along with Hi Vis Jackets for the Paddock and Holding Bay team, with the hope that the partnership will continue for years to come, eventually all-trackside marshals will be in the sponsored overalls.

[ps2id id=’marshals’ target=”/]One Nine Four Six Marshals Association and SorryMate will be working together to continue their support of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, by holding fundraisers throughout the year to help with vital funds.

Shaun Dalton Chairman and Chief Marshal said:

“SorryMate offering us the sponsorship was very overwhelming and generous and with the offer that this would hopefully be a long-term sponsorship, I knew that I needed to start by kitting out my Chief and Deputy Sector Marshals along with Startline Officials with good quality overalls, which we have.

The overalls are AWS probans and they do not get much better than that. We also had enough to provide the paddock and holding bay team with Hi Vis Jackets and a number of Hi Vis Vests to go to the circuit marshals. The whole team consists of volunteers, so I think it is vital to give them something back for their hard work, and ensuring they are safe trackside is my number priority, so this felt like a good place to start with the sponsorship. As time goes on, I am hoping that the whole team will be in the sponsored PPE.

Our partnership with SorryMate is unique and the first time an independent marshals association has been given the opportunity to work with such a notable sponsor. For me, I feel this is a massive positive step in the right direction to help secure the future of motorsport and generations to come.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance has always been the Associations main charity and now with our partnership with SorryMate we will be working together to raise as much money as we can for them. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has been and always will be an integral part of road racing at Oliver’s Mount and we, obviously, always hope to never need them, but when we do, knowing they are there is reassuring and the work that they do is nothing but incredible, so anything we can do to help we will.”

One Nine Four Six Marshals would also like to Thank Oliver Dean Charlesworth of OC Graphics and Nick Wray from AWS for all their help.

[ps2id id=’yaa’ target=”/]From Yorkshire Air Ambulance:

Yorkshire Air Ambulance Talk About The Partnership

Rob Scott of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance said of the partnership:

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance flew its first patient in October 2000

From very humble beginnings operating with a 20-year-old leased helicopter from a portacabin in the corner of the airfield at Leeds-Bradford airport, fast forward to 2021. The Charity and the people of Yorkshire are the proud owners of two state of the art Airbus 145 helicopters fitted out with all the latest lifesaving technology that is available. The Charity now operates from its two dedicated airbases, one at the Nostell Priory Estate near Wakefield and RAF Topcliffe near Thirsk.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance Charity receives no government funding, so all of this has been made possible with the help and support the charity receives from the people of Yorkshire and from the regular support we receive from companies including SorryMate, The 1946 Marshall’s Association and Oliver’s Mount Racing.

I am looking forward to working alongside Fergus, Phil and the team at SorryMate, Shaun, Hayley and the 1946 Marshals Association, Andy & Wendy Hayes at Oliver’s Mount Racing for many more racing seasons.

The continued support that we receive really is the lifeblood of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Charity.

 

 

Visit One Nine Four Six Twitter Here.

Visit Yorkshire Air Ambulance Website Here.