road damages car - not potholes...

little_miss_messiah

Not sure where to go with this - last night I was driving through a local town which has been having roadwarks to part pedestrianise it when there was an allmighty bump.

I pulled over and my 200 mile old £130 tyre was flat as a pancake - so I was all efficient and managed to change my own tyre at the roadside in the dark (ISTILL daren't look too close at the alloy that was on)

Anyways - I was wondering who i speak to about this - they have extended the pavement to cover 1/2 of the road, there are no warning signs stating new road layout ahead (I'd been in town only 2 weeks ago and the road was still straight but you were guided round a chicane by fluoro orange barriers) no such barriers and no lines white yellow or otherwise to denote the edge of the road.

Luckily I was doing 25mph if that as I had a 5 yr old in the back and think if I'd hit the 6 inch kerb full on much faster there would have been a worse accident

Any advice gratefully accepted :S

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mikey72

I know I'm not the OP, but how does that help. (and nobody pointed out you should have noticed your own dashboard melting before it caused the damage if I remember, so how about helpful posts)

Bowdyjan18

mikey72 wrote: »

I know I'm not the OP, but how does that help. (and nobody pointed out you should have noticed your own dashboard melting before it caused the damage if I remember, so how about helpful posts)

How can you notice something that happened over night ? lmao

mikey72

Bowdyjan18 wrote: »

How can you notice something that happened over night ? lmao

lmao? I'd be upset if it was my dashboard, but each to his own I suppose

Bowdyjan18

mikey72 wrote: »

lmao? I'd be upset if it was my dashboard, but each to his own I suppose

Not worth crying over spilt milk

Volcano

Putting the 'oh-so-predictable' and 'holier-than-thou' posts aside.....

I think that you'll struggle to get any joy with this. Apart from unlit skips in the road, I can't think of any other situation where the driver hitting a stationary obstacle would not be at fault.

I visit (once a year) a town I had previously lived in and drove around for 20 years and I can appreciate how new roundabouts seemingly 'pop up', changes in road priority, junctions etc. I'm also pretty sure that if I was involved in an accident because of my assumption for the road layout ahead, then it'd definitely be my fault.

A flat tyre with no other damage/injuries etc is getting off lightly I reckon.

Obukit

You might have a chance if the kerb build out doesn't meet DfT guidelines - this site has some good links to appropriate DfT guidance. If the new road layout does meet guidelines then it might be something you have to take on the chin I'm afraid - as others have said be thankful it wasn't a zebra crossing/cyclist/etc. that you missed, which could have landed you in jail rather than with a repair bill.

surreysaver

little_miss_messiah wrote: »

Luckily I was doing 25mph if that as I had a 5 yr old in the back and think if I'd hit the 6 inch kerb full on much faster there would have been a worse accident

You might want to have your car checked out to make sure it hasn't received any hidden damage. You don't want a wheel falling off when you're going down the motorway at 70mph. That worse accident you state might just not have happened yet.

Throbbe

What surreysaver said. I'd get the alignment checked at the very least. A friend had a car written off after hitting a kerb at that speed (admittedly, it was a complete shed).

Crazy_Jamie

There is a balance here in terms of who is at fault, but I think you're on the wrong side of it unfortunately. You've said that while the work was going on you were guided around the new section by orange barriers (unless I've read that wrong), so there was prior warning. Though irrespective of that you say you were driving through a town, which should have ample lighting, and even beyond that you would have had your headlights on. Taking all that into account I think the reason for the accident was more to do with your lack of awareness than any improper procedure used in the extending of that pavement. It does sound to me like you were probably on auto pilot to an extent, and had you been looking out properly you would have seen it.

Bowdyjan18

Ring and ask the highways if the can paint lines,put up bollards and road markings prior to each trip you take..