Ice causing crash. Who is liable?

Hoenir

DullGreyGuy said:

Hoenir said:

If weather conditions are poor best to main routes. Go off piste so to speak and the risk is entirely yours. That's why we have insurance. Accidents happened. Not always a case of someone to blame. 

But in this case their is, its the friend... their insurers will be payout to the fence owner

If the friend had posed the question then there'd be far more information to digest. 3rd party stories often omit key facts. 

DullGreyGuy

Hoenir said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Hoenir said:

If weather conditions are poor best to main routes. Go off piste so to speak and the risk is entirely yours. That's why we have insurance. Accidents happened. Not always a case of someone to blame. 

But in this case their is, its the friend... their insurers will be payout to the fence owner

If the friend had posed the question then there'd be far more information to digest. 3rd party stories often omit key facts. 

First party stories also often omit key facts... clearly opinions expressed are solely based on the facts as presented... if someone else comes along and says they've video that the fence jumped out from behind a hedge into the path of the OP's friend's correctly proceeding vehicle then we'll reassess. 

sheramber

How many grittesr do think the council would need to get round all the roads in their area at the same time?

Some roads have to be firsrt and some have to be last.

Iceweasel

Sorry - but this is very simple - driver lost control of the vehicle.
Sorry if that sounds harsh.
No way are the council responsible.

stuhse

Was there a huge pile of crashed cars by this fence post, or had all the other cars that used that road that morning negotiated it successfully ?

photome

Can’t believe this is even a question

I crashed on ice back in about 1980.. I had no thoughts at all of blaming anyone else other than myself

times have changed

boxosox

It's clearly the fault of the person who put the fence post there. 

Find out who owns it and take them to court.  They need to learn that installing a fence post next to an icy road is just asking for trouble.

prowla

Well, councils are responsible for the roads; however, I don't know if they are under any obligation to grit them in case of icy conditions.

They certainly have toact in places where there have been accidents (Road Traffic Actm section 39).

However, it might be difficult to ascertain the particular circumstances of this particular incident.

And it is always incumbent upon the driver to adjust their driving to the road conditions.

Most likely (IMHO), it'll be an at-fault insurance claim.

Stubod

..it's everybody's fault but mine...

I blame the car makers. If they didn't make them then nobody would have any accidents...

Car_54

prowla said:

Well, councils are responsible for the roads; however, I don't know if they are under any obligation to grit them in case of icy conditions.

They certainly have toact in places where there have been accidents (Road Traffic Actm section 39).

However, it might be difficult to ascertain the particular circumstances of this particular incident.

And it is always incumbent upon the driver to adjust their driving to the road conditions.

Most likely (IMHO), it'll be an at-fault insurance claim.

The law you quote actually only requires the council to "take such measures as appear to the authority to be appropriate", which is a long way from saying they "have to act".