Kerbstone Claim

LilElvis

kurbstone wrote: »

Yes that is the exact spot i hit the edge of the furthest corner stone away from the image showing.
this is the same ones that appear in instant street view from 2011 and google earth 2013 they were never ever repaired !!

It's also possible that they were repaired, then damaged again by vehicles and tractors driving over them as they took to the verge.

LilElvis

wealdroam wrote: »

But that gully isn't even on the road.
Those kerbstones do not protrude onto the tarmac.

I drove down that road about an hour ago looking for that gully and didn't see it - of course there are a few leaves around at the moment.

If you drove off the road without being able to see what you were going to drive over, then I feel that the risk is all yours.

Wealdroam, that really is going the extra mile in attempting to help answer a post! :T

peachyprice

kurbstone wrote: »

when you look at the road you can see the tarmac is worn away and that is the part i was driving on

You've mentioned this several times. From the images it doesn't look like the tarmac has worn away at all, it is the verge that has been destroyed by cars driving to far onto it it, thus exposing the gulleys/drains that would have been at one time firmly in the verge.

wealdroam

kurbstone wrote: »

if you had read and followed the whole thread

if you drove down there an hour ago you would have noticed that the kerbstones are now repaired they have realigned the stones and made them safe

I have read the whole thread.

I have made three posts, this is the fourth, and still the only conclusion I can come to is the same:

You drove off the road. As a direct result of you choosing to drive on the verge your vehicle was damaged.

I am finding it difficult to understand how you can even begin to think that this is anyone else's fault.

JimmyTheWig

wealdroam wrote: »

I am finding it difficult to understand how you can even begin to think that this is anyone else's fault.

The fact that the council have said that it would be their fault had they been aware of the issue suggests that they, at least, disagree with you.

kurbstone

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

The fact that the council have said that it would be their fault had they been aware of the issue suggests that they, at least, disagree with you.

Thank you ! I came to this website to find some support so far I have been met with the same defense as the highways, I am a very careful driver despite what some have tried to imply.
This accident could have easily happened to anyone I am £200 pound out of pocket because the kerbstones should have been repaired years ago which we have already established ,, so frustrating?
Once the highways finally realised which stones I hit they eventually made them safe??

Wow!! this took me over 8 months before they had realised this and finally got thier act together and fixed the protuding edges. I have many photos, close up ones that show how bad the corners are/ were... They are, I repeat now been repaired / made safe .. why would they repair them if they had been previously inspected and reported as being repaired and made safe and not an issue ? or a problem ?

As someone else mentioned that the verge/worn away tarmac road was indeed worn away in the first place regardless wether it was the road or the verge by many vehicles going I quote "off road" as so many have mentioned..

How many times I wonder have my fellow drivers moved over slightly on a narrow country lane to let a passing vehicle pass by? without the need to reverse or back up? don't tell me you would never do this?
( SLIGHTLY - meaning the width of one tyre width at the most) without splitting any more hairs here over going off road!!

Fosterdog

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

The fact that the council have said that it would be their fault had they been aware of the issue suggests that they, at least, disagree with you.

Maybe I misread but I didn't see where they admitted that they would be liable if they had prior knowledge. I just read that as they had no prior knowledge of it the are not liable, if they found that they had previously been made aware of it I'm sure they would put more time and effort into discovering exactly how it happened before actually admitting any liability.

I don't drive but am learning and my instructor has already told me that any impact with a stationary object is always the drivers fault, the kerb didn't just suddenly jump out, it was always there. Not seeing it is the drivers error only. It's not as if it was an unavoidable pothole, passing in that exact spot and driving on the verge was entirely avoidable.

Hintza

In the summer whilst towing the double axle horse trailer I met young girl (I suspect newly passed her test) who would not reverse 10-5 yards to a gate.

I went off road similar to you and the trailer sank in the mud collected a large lump of concrete and ripped the mud guard clean off the trailer. Cost over £100 to fix not once did it cross my mind that it was anyone else's fault but my own (although I did swear a bit about folk being unable to reverse).

OP this is a country road you were on I think you are damn luck to have working drains because they would be a luxury up here.

Suck it up and be more careful the next time. I'm sorry if that's not want you want to hear but it will save you a lot of stress if you do that.

JimmyTheWig

kurbstone wrote: »

Once the highways finally realised which stones I hit they eventually made them safe??
...
why would they repair them if they had been previously inspected and reported as being repaired and made safe and not an issue ? or a problem ?

Presumably the council are saying that they were made aware of the issue some time ago and repaired it. Then it got worse again and the first they knew of it getting worse was from you.
Once they knew that they were bad again they fixed them.

How you go about disproving this, I don't know.

It may be that they were aware of it, as they said, but didn't fix them - either they were lied to by their people who were supposed to fix it or you were lied to by them. As to how you go about proving this I don't know.

There is a further possibility. The section of road that they were aware of and fixed wasn't the section that you had a problem with. To me, given the confusion we've had on this thread, this seems more likely than the scenario where people are lying. Unfortunately for you, this means they wouldn't pay either.


As Fosterdog says, even if they did know about it and didn't fix it doesn't necessarily mean that they are liable in this case.

And as Hintza says, the path of least stress for you is to try to forget about it and move on.

kurbstone

Here is the response below;;; and i have moved on i have swallowed my pride and will in the future never ever pass an oncoming vehicle ever in a narrow country lane thank you to all for your input i have learned a valuable lesson here and on the road!!!

from the litigation and insurance people at highways agency

I am afraid the streetview link you have sent does not work on our systems, however I have sent the other images and the link to the Highway Authority. They were unable to see the image of the road in 2011 clearly, however the image of the road in 2013 was clearer. They have confirmed again that this is not a defect that had previously been picked up on inspection, nor had it been scheduled for repair before the report of your accident. I believe you are referring to the report for defect 14020583, as stated in previous correspondence, while this might be a similar issue in the area that was addressed in 2014 it is not relevant to your current claim.

Upon review of the defect in comparison to the Council’s policy for determining when to arrange repairs on grounds of safety I can see that the kerb channel does not meet the criteria. In order to require intervention as a kerb defect it would need to be a loose or dislodged stone that ingressed onto the carriageway, which is not the case here. In order to require intervention as a defect in the verge there would need to be a rut or override of at least 15cms in depth. From reviewing the streetview photos and the photos sent over previously the kerbstone would not be considered a dangerous defect and, indeed, was scheduled for repair as a maintenance issue rather than on grounds of safety.

I must maintain the Highway Authority’s position in this matter. The kerbstone you hit had not previously been reported or scheduled for repair prior to your accident, and in any event does not meet the criteria for a dangerous defect.