A CYCLIST from Weymouth who suffered severe brain injury in a collision with a car has now launched a High Court claim for more than £200,000 against the driver.

Philip Smith, 46, of Weymouth, has issued a writ at the court in London blaming motorist, Jack Harris, of Hereford Road, Weymouth, for the incident on January 30 2019. The writ has just been made publicly available.

The crash happened at Chafeys roundabout, Weymouth. Mr Smith says in his writ that Mr Harris drove his Skoda Octavia on to the roundabout and collided with Mr Smith’s cycle, throwing him to the ground.

Dorset Echo: Chafeys Roundabout, Weymouth

It says that Mr Harris’ insurers admitted liability for the crash in August 2019, but the two sides are thought unable to agree how much compensation Mr Smith should receive.

After the collision Mr Smith spent two months in hospital but was discharged without any brain therapy follow up, and spent around three months sitting on the sofa, fatigued, irritable, and lacking focus.

He tried to go back to work as a care support worker, but became aware that he suffered from neurocognitive impairment which affected his ability to work, and heightened his anxiety, the writ says.

He was then given support, including occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, psychology, and physiotherapy for his shoulder, but he was not able to carry on with his career, and was retired on medical grounds in July 2019.

The writ says he still suffers from symptoms including global impairment of verbal comprehension, perceptual, working memory, processing speed, auditory memory, and delayed memory.

He has problems with attention, multi-tasking, decision making and organisation, fatigues easily, and suffers with headaches, as well as low mood and anxiety, the court will hear.

It is unlikely he will now make spontaneous improvements with his cognition, but neurorehabilitation and neuropsychiatric support could, the writ says.

Mr Smith says his head injury has triggered tinnitus and hyperacusis, and dizziness, and although he was listed for a joint reconstruction of his shoulder, doctors decided he was not in a position to provide informed consent to the operation.

Before the incident he had developed epilepsy and after the accident he is now at very significant risk of seizures reoccurring, it is alleged. He is also at risk of developing dementia.

He accuses Mr Harris of negligently failing to heed the presence of his cycle, failing to give way, entering the roundabout when it was unsafe because of the bicycle, and colliding with the machine.