Car damaged by roadworks sign jutting out into the road

facade

Put the claim in, but be prepared for a rebuttal and a long fight.

You couldn't see it because it was edge on to you, and you have a reasonable expectation of being able to drive down a dual carriageway without hitting something that is virtually impossible to see in the dark.

However, for the council to be liable they (or their contractor) need to be negligent.

It looks like the sign was weighted down, and it was blown over by Storm Ashley, with it's 80MPH winds.

So, was it negligent to only weight it down against "normal" winds, when the Met office have been saying "There's going to be A Great Disaster!!!" for days?

Or was it simply an Act of God, in which case you can try and claim against God's Earthly Representatives, but even Billy Connolly lost that one...

It may be better to just claim on your insurance and let your insurer chase the council.

Baldytyke88

Bigboppa said:

Hi I was driving along a dual carriageway and hit the sign (see photo) causing damage to my vehicle as I could not see it in the dark. Are the council liable. Can i claim off them for cost of repair?  Any help or advice would be much appreciate.

Is it a council or Highways England sign?

Grumpy_chap

Bigboppa said:

another closer picture 

Is that photo from before or after your car collided with the sign?

I assume after, in which case, the before relationship of the sign to the carriageway may well have been less prominent.

Out of interest, after stopping to take these photos, did you then move the sign so it was fully laid down between the two barriers, thus avoiding the risk to other road users?

DullGreyGuy

Grumpy_chap said:

Bigboppa said:

another closer picture 

Is that photo from before or after your car collided with the sign?

I assume after, in which case, the before relationship of the sign to the carriageway may well have been less prominent.

Out of interest, after stopping to take these photos, did you then move the sign so it was fully laid down between the two barriers, thus avoiding the risk to other road users?

If they photographed it before hitting it any claim they couldn't see it will won't work

quartzz

comeandgo said:

Why can all the other cars see it?  

how do we know they did...?

Grumpy_chap

DullGreyGuy said:

If they photographed it before hitting it any claim they couldn't see it will won't work

Well, obviously I suppose.

I did wonder whether the first image shared was a still from dashcam.
It is just, in that first image, the shadow from the sign is only about 4" into the carriageway (as can be seen from the kerb stone). 
The light is in the central reservation, so the shadow will be further into the carriageway than the sign.
There is a clear skid mark from the kerbstone of the central reservation into the carriageway.  Was that created by the OP's car?  
If so, it could well be that the OP was very close to the kerb, possibly clipped the kerb.  If the OP had bounced up the kerb, then the sign is a secondary obstacle.

Bigboppa

The pictures were taken after the incident. The sign was moved and I do not have a dash cam all images are from my phone camera. I most certainly did not hit the kerb. The sign was stuck out way more than 4inches. Also those are not skid marks, if you look closely at the photos you can see black marks on both lanes which are older white lines that have been burnt off, the roadworks have been in this stop for well over a year now and the layout has changed at one stage cars crossed onto the other carriageway and it was single file both ways on the opposite side of the barrier whilst a new bridge was being built up ahead to the left. 

Arunmor

Did you knock the sign over?  The sandbag suggests it was weighted down and the kerb looks to be at least a foot wide plus there is then a non tarmac gutter.

Bigboppa

Arunmor said:

Did you knock the sign over?  The sandbag suggests it was weighted down and the kerb looks to be at least a foot wide plus there is then a non tarmac gutter.

No the sign was already on its side which is why I couldn't se it. So my view of the sign was the side profile the thin edge approx 1inch width, hopefully that makes sense 

Bigboppa

Baldytyke88 said:

Bigboppa said:

Hi I was driving along a dual carriageway and hit the sign (see photo) causing damage to my vehicle as I could not see it in the dark. Are the council liable. Can i claim off them for cost of repair?  Any help or advice would be much appreciate.

Is it a council or Highways England sign?

I'm not sure if it's a council or highways sign. How can I find out are they marked up if they are highways or council signs ?