accident due to council not maintaining the road?

cupid07

How do i find out if the road is classed as an A or B road? and how do i find out if any complaints were made against the road by other road users?

notanewuser

Where is the road? Can you find it on googlemaps and post a link?

Chopper_Read

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

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.

Who to and why?

Chopper_Read

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

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?

There is no need to do this.

Chopper_Read

Definition of a road traffic collision

The law defines a reportable road traffic collision as an accident involving a mechanically-propelled vehicle on a road or other public area which causes:

• Injury or damage to anybody - other than the driver of that vehicle,
• Injury or damage to an animal- other than one being carried on that vehicle (an animal is classes as a horse, cattle, !!!, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog).
• Damage to a vehicle - other than the vehicle which caused the accident.
• Damage to property constructed on, affixed to, growing in, or otherwise forming part of the land where the road is.

Aylesbury_Duck

cupid07 wrote: »

How do i find out if the road is classed as an A or B road? and how do i find out if any complaints were made against the road by other road users?

1. Check how the road is labelled on a map.
2. Once you've established who is the responsible authority, write to them to ask.

But be mindful of the other question a third party might have in their mind: How many drivers travelled down that road in those conditions but didn't crash?

I think your priorities should be:

1. report the accident to your insurer
2. ask their advice as to your next course of action

If you don't tell your insurers, you may invalidate your insurance. It doesn't matter if you're not claiming, you still have to tell them.

I don't think you're going to get any joy from pursuing this and I suspect any legal advice you receive will tell you the same thing. As others have suggested, your driving will be called into question by anyone you try and claim against.

Aylesbury_Duck

Chopper_Read wrote: »

Who to and why?

My mistake - it needs reporting to the insurance company but since the injury was only to the driver, no need to inform the police.

Johno100

Another reason to report to your insurers, the owner of the hedge may make a claim, I assume you have contacted the landowner and told them what happened?

arcon5

Worth noting there is a difference between speeding and driving at an appropriate speed for the conditions.

So it was night with limited lighting, it was a country road with potentially black ice and one where most would expect pot holes. And you didn't see the mud - possibly due to the style of driving? From what you say it sounds more like somebody who was probably unde the speed limit but driving too fast for the road & conditions and lost control of the car when presented with one of the many hazards

maninthestreet

I suppose the OP's claim is that the car went out of control due to a blow out caused by the pothole - a pothole that they think the council should have been aware of and repaired.