Personal injury claims set to rise?

Personal injury claims may rise if new ways of compiling statistics reveal current numbers do not reflect a true picture of Britain's roads.

The Guardian reports causality statistics often do not tally, with the incidences of hospital admissions for vehicle accidents increasing, contrary to police data which shows the opposite trend.

Compensation claims by the government following traffic collisions rose by 37 per cent between 2003 and 2008, with the official number for 2007-08 standing at 537,000.

This indicates personal injury claims may rise, as some statistics imply the UK's roads are getting less safe and Britons might have more need of a compensation lawyer.

Nigel Hawkes, director of Straight Statistics, told the publication: "We have only the haziest idea of how many people are actually seriously injured on the roads."

One case that recently hit the headlines concerns Manny Helmot, who was awarded a record-breaking £14 million compensation after being knocked off his bike while training for international competitions.