Council liability

bobthesod

I am willing to be proved wrong, but IIRC i read somewhere that a council had been successfully sued, because despite repeated complaints about a road layout that residents thought dangerous, and could be made 'safer', nothing was done, and then one day a serious accident occured, which in all probablity have not have happened if the alterations had taken place.
I Think this also applies to potholes, that the first guy to ruin a tyre cannot claim, but if reported, succesive motorists can claim the cost back.
Or are all these 'urban myths'

HappyMJ

Depends on the accident. If two or more parties are involved then it's unlikely that the council would be at fault. If the road layout really is to blame then it's llikely that you and the other driver will have to share the costs of repair so I'd try and shift the blame onto the one driver if you can.

bobthesod

Happy MJ

Luckily i am not either of the drivers. just a concerned resident. Situation is
small side road ,about 17ft wide. Road bends at 40 degrees to right. Parking is on the right hand side, and also opposite another side road junction at the apex of the 'bend'
I have measured the various distances involved and even if two cars were approaching each other at 20mph, which they rarely do, the 'stopping distance' as shown in the highway code, along with the forward vision the road/parking allows, means that there would be a head on. I have suggested that the council put DYL on the right hand side so parking can be on the left ,thus giving a better line of site for both incoming and outgoing vehicles, sent them pictures and yet they say they might re look at it IF the situatiion gets worse. As there is nowhere left for cars to park, it has reached to point where something needs to be done. Surely elfnsafty must come into this if they are aware of it. I realise that the bottom line is down to the drivers, but it could be made easier and SAFER!!!

Tilt

Have you thought of contacting the Department of Transport with your concerns?

Crabman

bobthesod wrote: »

I Think this also applies to potholes, that the first guy to ruin a tyre cannot claim, but if reported, succesive motorists can claim the cost back.
Or are all these 'urban myths'

Not quite an urban myth - if it can be proved that the local authority was aware of the issue but failed to repair it (and it subsequently caused loss/damage to occur) it would make a strong case for the small claims court.

The best way with potholes is to report on a third-party site (e.g. http://www.fillthathole.org.uk or http://www.fixmystreet.com/) but there are others out there if you want to use a smartphone app. If you have the time to use Facebook then there's little excuse for not doing your bit to report defects. They can be lethal to road users on two wheels.

RichardD1970

bobthesod wrote: »

Happy MJ

Luckily i am not either of the drivers. just a concerned resident. Situation is
small side road ,about 17ft wide. Road bends at 40 degrees to right. Parking is on the right hand side, and also opposite another side road junction at the apex of the 'bend'
I have measured the various distances involved and even if two cars were approaching each other at 20mph, which they rarely do, the 'stopping distance' as shown in the highway code, along with the forward vision the road/parking allows, means that there would be a head on. I have suggested that the council put DYL on the right hand side so parking can be on the left ,thus giving a better line of site for both incoming and outgoing vehicles, sent them pictures and yet they say they might re look at it IF the situatiion gets worse. As there is nowhere left for cars to park, it has reached to point where something needs to be done. Surely elfnsafty must come into this if they are aware of it. I realise that the bottom line is down to the drivers, but it could be made easier and SAFER!!!

You should only drive at a speed where you can stop within your field of vision. If the view in front is obscure by parked cars then the drivers should slow down.

richard734

We have an issue with a dangerous junction, council stated quite openly that despite numerous injury accidents, as there had not been a Fatal, they were not going to prioritise it for resolution.

Subtle way of saying it is cheeper to pay out for any claim on the council than to spend the money on repairs

So we are waiting for the first fatal to happen and for the family to take the council to court....