the point is to differentiate between people who sue for accidents such as the example you have given, and people who sue successfully (en entirtely different matter) for injuries caused by genuine negligence. The 'ambulance chasers' who advertise their 'no win no fee' schemes work on a sliding scale - if they get offered one thousand opportunities, and 999 of them are rejected before they even get past the initial interview, the one remaining case they can take to court and win makes the operation worthwhile. It does encourage the 'compensation culture' but that is simmply a strand of modern society - everyone is very keen on their rights, but less keen on the responsibilities that go with those rights. If someone is injured through no fault of their own, and a case of negligence exists, then compensation is reasonable, but those cases are rare - unlike the attempts to fleece companies at the drop of a hat.