Local Council Road Damaged my Van

NottinghamKnight

Hope the OP will exchange details with the hedge owner and offered to pay for the damage to the hedge.

Hasbeen

chalexricher said:

Hello everyone I’m hoping someone can help. 

I was driving in Surrey the other day and a brand was sticking out from the side of the road and destroyed my vans mirror - £400 + loss of earning for a day to replace. 

I took plenty of photos at the time and got in touch with Surrey council straight away. They have just got back to me and said the branch was on private property so nothing to do with them but the damage occurred on the highway which they have stated is under their control. The branch may well have started on private property but when the damage occurred I was on council property. 

Where do I stand? What are my next steps? I don’t really want to contact the land owner, they looked like they may be a traveller family. 

Hilarious first post and subsequent replies from OP. Obviously has a charismatic way to get others to agree with posting.

Has a lovely way with words which will obviously solicit informational reply's.

But perhaps posting on other sites such as  Mumsnet would get better, "more" sympathetic replies OP craves?

But then again perhaps not "Mumsnet"  

sweetsand

Dear OP
The way I post is, OP states it has happened and seeking help, I try to help.
I'm hoping my post helped.

ATB



x

George_Michael

Local Council Road Damaged my Van

How did the road damage your van?
Did it jump up and smash your mirror?
The simple fact is that you drove into a stationary object, an object that was not owned by the council, was not under the control of the council and was not the council's responsibility to cut back.
You may have some recourse against the land owner but only if you can prove that they knew the branch was protruding into the road and posed a risk to motorists and failed to act on this and even then you will have to show that you were driving to the conditions of the road and that you were totally unable to avoid hitting the branch.

Hasbeen

chalexricher said:

Christ. You lot are miserable gits! The branch was on a national speed limit, it was encroaching enough that on the narrowing lanes when oncoming traffic was coming and you have to move over slightly the branch stuck out enough to take out a mirror (several were on the side of the road so it’s not just me that’s been caught out). I didn’t see the branch until it was already hit, something about trying not to hit oncoming traffic may have something to do with it. 

Thank you very much for your advice but take your crappy attitudes and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine 

Around here with narrow country roads, considerate drivers tend to slow down, even stop if they think the road is not wide enough to let others past. To take a vans wing mirror off it must have been at speed? Perhaps the national speed limit there would be a guidance, subject to road conditions not an instruction to do the maximum?  

Belenus

Was the OP driving a white van?

sweetsand

Belenus said:

Was the OP driving a white van?

Hi
Will that make a difference to the outcome?
ATB

Scrapit

How did you hit that? And its shame to see you know who back.

macman

Branch doesn't even seem to be protruding very much from the hedge-line? 
I think the technical term is 'driving too close'. 

parking_question_chap

Why do people rarely accept an answer they dont want to hear?