I have just had the report about Hollie drawn to my attention and I would very much support her parent's campaign. Unfortunately it is not an unfamiliar matter.

This is exactly what happened to me after I was hit by a car in 1994. I was taken unconscious to the hospital having been tossed about 50 feet. For about two weeks they wondered if I would ever recover from my skull fracture and then I started getting to grips with my surroundings. By the grace of God I recovered and left hospital two months later.

A cracking good solicitor got a goodly sum in compensation plus all expenses which probably cost the other guy's insurers about £75,000. It helped to have inches thick of witness reports and medical surveys all of which I still keep.

Meanwhile my self-employed work disappeared and it took several years for my body to get back into some sort of reasonable order.

Driving a car gives me a migraine within a couple of hours but riding a motorbike is no problem.

It cost the other guy a fine of about £150!

Is it possible that the courts tend to think that the damages payable by insurance companies and the subsequent loss of no-claim' discount is part of the punishment' for such drivers? If yes', who is kidding who?

Peter Kyle

Barrowsfield

Sanderstead

November 14, 2001 15:30