Your tricky legal questions answered

‘Does blowout Q mean the car driver is liable?’

I was involved in an accident caused when a car coming the other way suffered a burst tyre. My insurer says because it was a blowout, I cannot claim from the other driver and the matter will go down as a fault claim on my insurance. Is this right?

Alex, email

Drivers have a duty to A ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy. If a vehicle is not roadworthy and this is the cause of an accident then the injured person can claim compensation subject to being able to prove it. A blowout is different to a puncture. A blowout is a sudden loss of pressure where the tyre is quickly destroyed, making a vehicle difficult to control. A puncture involves a tyre slowly losing pressure.

A frequent cause of blowouts is under-inflation, made worse if a vehicle is overladen. However, it

‘The driver has to ensure that the car is roadworthy’

is difficult to prove that a tyre was underinflated once it has burst. If the opposite tyre is grossly under inflated a court might accept, on the balance of probabilities, that the tyre which blew was also in the same state and thus the vehicle was not roadworthy. Alternatively if an examination of the tyre reveals a manufacturing defect then a defective product claim could be considered against the tyre manufacturer. I suggest you investigate this further by writing to the insurer of the car making a claim for compensation.