Low-impact collisions

Casey v Cartwright CA TLR 10 October

The potential for low-velocity impact to cause injury is controversial. Some experts believe that one could never say definitively that the sudden change in velocity (ΔV) of the struck vehicle caused by an impact was too small to cause injury, while others took the view that below a certain ΔV, injury was impossible. Pending authoritative guidance in some test cases before a High Court judge the Court of Appeal held that in low-impact traffic collisions, a defendant who wished to contend that the force of impact was not enough to cause injury should comply with the following formalities before being allowed to bring in expert evidence on the point: