Woman claims damages as parked car rolls towards her and crushes leg

A WOMAN is claiming damages from a car manufacturer after her parked vehicle rolled towards her and crushed her leg against a bollard.

Lesley McGlinchey, 49, blames a “defective” handbrake on her Vauxhall Signum for the accident which has left her with a slight limp and disfiguring scars.

General Motors insists that the handbrake worked, so long as it was applied in the correct way, but Mrs McGlinchey had not done it properly.

If Mrs McGlinchey wins her case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, she will receive an agreed sum of £85,300.

The court heard that Mrs McGlinchey, a warden and tour guide at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, was visiting her sister when the accident occurred on 13 August, 2007.

Mrs McGlinchey, of Ferniehill Road, Edinburgh, said she parked on a slope at her sister’s home in Guardwell Crescent, off Gilmerton Road, Edinburgh, and applied the handbrake and switched off the engine. But when she got out, the car rolled backwards and trapped her against a bollard.

She was in hospital for ten days and off work for almost six months.

The judge was told that General Motors had recalled Vauxhall Vectra and Signum cars in 2008 for modification after, what the company described as, “a small number of instances of vehicles rolling away due to allegedly ineffective handbrakes.” General Motors insisted that the problem arose only if the handbrake had been applied incorrectly.

The hearing continues.