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Unusual car accidents

A video compilation of unusual car accidents, difficult to see if anyone suffered serious injury. Its also difficult to imagine how some of these came about!

Barra Dancers Perform at Disneyland Paris

This photo of Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Paris is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Dancers from the Jane Douglas School of Dance performed a 30 minute program to a 3000 strong crowd on the Videopolis stage at Disneyland Paris, as part of the International Festival of Highland Dancing.

Organiser Billy Forsythe MBE congratulated all the dancers taking part and said,” For those who had travelled furthest, be it in time (that was definitely from the Western Isles) or in distance ( that might have been from Alberta/Saskatchewan) I can only say well done for putting on a show that was incredibly polished and professional and would have been a WOW in any location around the world. And the sight of that Pre-Parade was simply stupendous. The whole of Disneyland’s Main Street, USA, was a tartan carpet constantly moving and changing - and the lines of the dancers were wonderful, straight as a die down the full length of the street. The Disney Artistic Director, who is responsible for all the shows and Parades at Disneyland, and her colleague, who is responsible for all the Cultural Development programme were Mega-Impressed by the Pre-Parade and said it was the best rehearsed and performed Pre-Parade they had ever had, and it had drawn more visitors to the Pre-Parade than any other they had put on. Well done Everyone ! “

The dancers and thir families also got to spend time in the park as well as embarking on a tour of Paris before heading home. The article doesn't mention where they stayed, but the Radisson Blu Disneyland Paris hotel is situated just minutes from the park.

BBC Alba’s De a Nis followed the dancers through rehearsals, excitement and preparation back stage and on the park rides, The programme will be shown on their Christmas special on 23rd December at 18:00.

Janice Anne from Radio nan Gaidheal’s Aileag also accompanied the dancers and captured an hour long programme which will be broadcast on the 16th of December at 4pm, which will be repeated on the 17th. You can also listen again for a week after the broadcast date.

Call to crack the whip on compensation claims

Car and van drivers are paying higher insurance costs because of a sharp rise in fraudulent whiplash claims, which cost the insuarance industry nearly £2 billion a year.

Insurers are now calling for a clampdown on the fraud after it was revealed that one in every 140 people claims for a whiplash injury every year – the highest figure compared to the rest of Europe.

The NHS spends around £8 million a year treating injuries of this kind but insurers have been forced to pay out nearly £2 billion to claimants, according to The Association of British Insurers.

This drives up the cost of motor insurance premiums for honest consumers by 20 per cent, or £74, at a time when motor cover has soared by 40 per cent in the past year.

Around 1,200 whiplash claims are made in the UK every day, six times more than the number of people who claim for work-place related injuries each year. Three-quarters of personal injury claims in the UK are for whiplash, the highest level in Europe.

Speaking at this year’s Whiplash Conference in Leeds, James Dalton, the ABI’s assistant director of motor and liability, said: “Despite the statistics I doubt that that the UK has some of the weakest necks in Europe.

“Often difficult to diagnose, easy to fake and exaggerate, whiplash is a fraudster’s dream.”

The number of claims is rising thanks to ambulance chasing lawyers and claims management firms, as well as “cash for crash” incidents, whereby drivers stage an accident to make a claim, the ABI said. Last month a “cash for crash” gang was jailed for a £5.3 million insurance scam.

The ABI is now calling on insurers, doctors and lawyers to create a partnership, which aims to prevent whiplash, improve treatment and crackdown on fake claims.

Expert medical guidance is required on how genuine injuries can be diagnosed and treated. The association also wants to raise awareness among consumers about safe breaking distances, as tailgating is the main cause of the injury.

“We seem ill-equipped to effectively identify and treat whiplash, our compensation system is too slow in offering rehabilitation and paying fair compensation for whiplash injury to genuine claimants, and our compensation culture encourages fraud. All this must change.”

The ABI is also encouraging implementation of the Government’s proposals on civil justice reform, which would ensure genuine claimants get the compensation they deserve and access to rehabilitation more quickly.