MTB Instructor sued for 4 million Quid!

[Mojoman]

Ja, think twice about passing your knowledge on! (of course it had to be a lawyer who took a spill....!)
 

t is being reported that solicitor Asif Ahmed is suing mountain bike instructor Leon MacLean for £4million in damages following an accident during a skills course which left Ahmed paralysed. Ahmed faces the rest of his life in a wheelchair following the accident on the trail ‘Barry Knows Best’ on Holmbury Hill, Surrey.

Mr Ahmed’s QC describes the 2012 crash as happening ‘during a descent described variously as a slope, gully, drop off or bombhole at part of the route known as Barry Knows Best’. The High Court heard that Ahmed went over the bars and landed on the front of his head, just above the forehead, after his front wheel jammed on ‘what looked like a clumpy, grassy piece of ground’.

Leon MacLean is accused of a ‘lazy form of teaching’, and that ‘his instruction on this occasion was woefully inadequate’, with Ahmed’s lawyers saying that ‘The accident occurred because of defective instruction and defective teaching’. MacLean denies this and his lawyers state that he put no pressure on his students to go beyond their safe limits. MacLean has also said that Ahmed rode down the ‘wrong part of the track’, and that on a second attempt ‘made exactly the same error’.

Ahmed’s QC claims that the instructor had ‘progressed the group too fast’, while MacLean says that Mr Ahmed ‘knew that he could walk when he wanted to’ and that ‘he was under no pressure to undertake anything which he thought was beyond him’, and that MacLean had ‘satisfied himself by the time they got to Barry Knows Best that they were ready for it’. The £79 course was aimed at riders wanted to tackle ‘technically demanding terrain in a safe and controlled manner’.

As Cedric Gracia’s crash video shows, life threatening and terrible accidents can happen on the most innocuous of trails. And as Red Bull Rampage shows us, they can also happen on insane trails. The risk is there, no matter what the trail, and when you get on your bike you accept it. You might mitigate it by wearing protection, or choosing trails within your capability, but the risk is there. The whole point of going on a skills course is to extend that capability – the instructor is there to help you learn the handling skills required, and to judge when you’re ready to push your limits. While we’re not going to comment on where fault may or may not lie in the case above, this does raise some interesting questions about responsibility and liability when it comes to mountain bike tuition.

 

http://singletrackworld.com/2016/10/mtb-instructor-sued-for-4m/

 

 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Said it on a FB group that I'm a part of. 

 

That's what indemnities and personal injury waivers are for. 

 

Also - the instructor can't control the bike on the instructee's behalf. They cannot be held responsible for falls or errors of judgement on the part of the rider. 

[EmptyB]

Ja Mr Ahmed....whatever!

 

The instructor put a gun to your head to jam your wheel on a clumpy grassy piece of ground....seriously, this is insane!

[henningvr]

What a load of malarkey.

 

"The High Court heard that Ahmed went over the bars and landed on the front of his head, just above the forehead, after his front wheel jammed on ‘what looked like a clumpy, grassy piece of ground’."

 

So the guy is expecting an instructor to prevent him from going OTB. Talk about unrealistic expectations.

 

Just another case of PBRAB (Problem Between Rider And Bike).

[The expat cyclist]

Mother father! That video...Iesh...

[bikebloke]

with the "health and safety "mentality of England today he will probably win

 

that bunch where safety goggles to clean their teeth .....  

[IceCreamMan]

We don't really know all the facts so difficult, nay impossible, to make a call. Signing waivers and the like do not protect a defendant from being negligent. If in this case negligence is proved, an award will be made and that's how it should be.

 

Service providers have a duty towards their clients.

 

I reiterate, we have been given scanty facts, impossible to make a call.

[Heppy]

with the "health and safety "mentality of England today he will probably win

 

that bunch where safety goggles to clean their teeth .....  

They clean their teeth?

[Grebel]

with the "health and safety "mentality of England today he will probably win

 

that bunch where safety goggles to clean their teeth .....  

 

Jissi bru! Have you ever had tooth paste in your eye?!?!?     

[Eldron]

Right Niner - you gonna pay and you gonna pay large - I have crashed several times on your JET RDO. I think your bicycles are way more fun than they should be and it forces me to try my luck at things that are well beyind my skill lever. You even put a shock on the back - what in gods name were you thinking? That's like swimming in blood then hugging a hyena.

[TheJ]

Mr. Ahmed is full of K A K.

[RocknRolla]

Next thing you know, your buddy sues your ass because "the line you showed me was treacherous and dangerous"

 

Sometimes I roll my eyes so far back, I can see my Brain...

[ChUkKy]

What a plonker!!

 

Barry knows best, why didnt that prick just ask Barry????

[EmptyB]

Next thing you know, your buddy sues your ass because "the line you showed me was treacherous and dangerous"

 

Sometimes I roll my eyes so far back, I can see my Brain...

 

That's what Mr Ahmed did in mid-air.....

[Rocket-Boy]

It amazes me what people try to sue for these days.

Im pretty sure that indemnity forms dont really count though, from what I have heard you cannot sign your rights away. Still I dont think mr OTB will be winning that case.

[henningvr]

So if Barry Knows Best, I don't see any problem with this. Barry thought it would be best for Mr. Ahmed to take a tumble. MTFU and take responsibility, Asif.