Bull hit: Rider wins

40-year-old oil rig worker Donaldson can now expect a six-figure payout.

His solicitor said :“Had the farmer applied his mind to the potential danger of allowing the gate to remain open, this terrible accident could have been prevented at a minimal cost.”

In the accident, late at night on the B1257 Helmesley to Stokesley road in October 2000, Donaldson who was riding his Yamaha R1 at the time of the collision, suffered a shattered forearm and head injuries when he collided with the calf.

BMF spokesman Jeff Stone: “This is excellent news for motorcycling and will help restore some faith in the legal system which is often assumed to discriminate against motorcyclists.”

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An R1 rider will now receive damages after a rambler forgot to close a farm gate and a bull calf escaped.

But it is the farmer who must pay. The Court of Appeal says he should have fitted a gate with a self-closing device or a ‘kissing gate’ to prevent the animal escaping into the path of rider Peter Donaldson, from Middlesbrough.

The BMF has welcomed the verdict. The organisation’s own Legal Line – in the form of solicitor Ed Fletcher – dealt with the case.

Fletcher says the decision has far-reaching consequences for road users and farmers across the country.

Last October farmer Alec Wilson, was found guilty of carelessness and was ordered to pay damages, but the National Farmers Union appealed.

At the hearing Lord Justice Potter upheld the earlier Middlesbrough County Court decision and said farmers whose land was crossed by public footpaths had to take “all reasonable precautions” to ensure their animals did not stray on to public roads.