accident due to council not maintaining the road?

cupid07

A few days ago I had an accident in my car. what happened is i was driving up a hill of a road, my tyre hit a pothole and punctured the tire, the road was covered in mud so i hit my breaks on and the car oversteered and went through a hedge (its a country road). Theres several issues at hand including the uneven surface and pothole that punctured my tyre, a nearby building site allows their workers to go down this road and deposit mud onto the road yet the council did not clear it up and the day before it had been snowing, the road was not gritted so potential black ice down the road as well. the adjacent road where the building site is has a sign up saying about the mud but this was put up after the accident and not on the road where i travelled either but on the road where they are working. Is the local authority at fault here? if so, whats my first point of call? do I write to them in the first instance or do i get a solicitor involved? no other cars were involved but i have damage to my car and minor injuries myself. whats my best bet?

maninthestreet

'Country road' - do you mean an unclassified road? If so, they are not required to be kept to the same standard as A and B roads.

McClane54

Get some pictures of the pot hole, get the tape measure out and take more pic's etc, it all boils down to the pot hole and i'm sure you stand in good stead to claim against the council for at least a tyre

keep fighting!

Aylesbury_Duck

I'm afraid to say it sounds as if you were driving too fast in the conditions. You've carefully listed all the hazards present so you were aware of them yet you managed to oversteer off the road going uphill?

However, you must report the accident because you were injured. If you have legal cover, get the insurance company to act on your behalf with dealing with the local authority.

ian103

I think I'd claim on your insurers and let them have the battle.

The pot hole is the councils responsibility (but I think it has to have been reported prior to the accident) the mud is the builders issue not the councils, the snow and black ice is no ones issue as all roads aren't gritted, you are to drive making due allowance for the weather conditions etc.

Probably but wrongly the easiest target is the builder but they have wised up to claims and are quite likely to defend their position (or their insurers will).

Good luck in what ever route you take but make sure you don't spend a small fortune on legal costs and still end up claiming on your own insurance.

cupid07

When I say country road I mean one with trees, i'm sure this road is still council maintained. Under the highway act the local council authority have to maintain the road fit for purpose in the case of ice and mud yet did not. I was not speeding either, I have been driving many years and never had a single point or speeding offence issued against me. I was also unaware of the mud and pothole since this was evening time and down a down a dark country road with minimal lighting.


EDIT to say: I cannot claim for anything from my insurers since i'm only third party, fire and theft. Hence they will not pay out anything to repair the car.

Aylesbury_Duck

I wasn't accusing you of speeding, but from your description it could be inferred that you were travelling too fast for the conditions. I would be careful in your description of the incident when you do report it because the police and insurers may draw the same conclusion I did.

I'm not sure the presence of trees determines whose responsibility the road is - it's worth checking with the local authority. If you are sure of the 'Highway Act' then you have a cast-iron case, don't you?

Aylesbury_Duck

The pressing thing is to report it to the police because of the injuries you sustained, and to your insurers. If you delay on those things, it will look strange if you then make a claim later on. You would presumably also invalidate your insurance by not reporting it?

ian103

Unfortunately you are going to have a battle on your hands then as I suspect that both the councils and the builders insurance companies will start by saying you were driving too fast in adverse weather conditions and you will end up having to discredit this defence.

If you can prove and win the pot hole arguement then you may be able to give this as the causdation of the accident and the accident was a direct result of the puncture and not the prevailing road and weather conditions. Very difficult I would presume unless you have a number of witnesses to your actions.

maninthestreet

cupid07 wrote: »

When I say country road I mean one with trees, i'm sure this road is still council maintained. Under the highway act the local council authority have to maintain the road fit for purpose in the case of ice and mud yet did not. I was not speeding either, I have been driving many years and never had a single point or speeding offence issued against me. I was also unaware of the mud and pothole since this was evening time and down a down a dark country road with minimal lighting.

....but is the road classified as an A or B road?

notanewuser

cupid07 wrote: »

A few days ago I had an accident in my car. what happened is i was driving up a hill of a road, my tyre hit a pothole and punctured the tire, the road was covered in mud so i hit my breaks on and the car oversteered and went through a hedge (its a country road). Theres several issues at hand including the uneven surface and pothole that punctured my tyre, a nearby building site allows their workers to go down this road and deposit mud onto the road yet the council did not clear it up and the day before it had been snowing, the road was not gritted so potential black ice down the road as well. the adjacent road where the building site is has a sign up saying about the mud but this was put up after the accident and not on the road where i travelled either but on the road where they are working. Is the local authority at fault here? if so, whats my first point of call? do I write to them in the first instance or do i get a solicitor involved? no other cars were involved but i have damage to my car and minor injuries myself. whats my best bet?

So you knew it had been snowing and feared black ice, but you braked anyway? I'd suggest you are 100% at fault (your car could have found some traction had the wheels been turning). The fact that you only have TPF&T doesn't come into it. I'd suggest some refresher/advanced driving lessons.