Car damaged by roadworks sign jutting out into the road

prowla

The sign was clearly unsafe.

LightFlare

Unfortunately your pictures aren’t the most helpful to argue your position.

A better angle would have been from drivers eye level and approx 100ft away (more or less depending on the speed limit)

quartzz

Initially reading this thread, I was "sighing" at the number of replies you got which said "tough, it's your fault" - given that that's the purpose of this forum and you had to compensate for someone elses error. re reading the thread, quite a few were constructive

400ixl

Is the bodywork dented as well as scratched? If those are just scratches then you may be able to get a relatively cheap smart repair or just a proper machine polish to get it out.

May make the hassle of making a claim and declaring it not worthwhile.

If you are going to have to claim then you have little to lose by trying to go after the council and their contractors for it.

Mildly_Miffed

The pothole is a very good analogy here.

It's up to us as road users to take reasonable care to not drive into stationary objects. In the middle of roadwork signage, approaching traffic lights, around the time of high winds and a named storm, you should have been on high alert for things like signage that aren't necessarily where you expect them.

The local authority have a legal duty to ensure that the road is safe - and that duty is tempered by a reasonable response period to being made aware of issues.
This is clearly a major route, so the response period is short, but it's not ZERO time.

How long before your collision did the authority become aware of the sign having fallen?
Doesn't really matter if it was wind or vandalism - they have a period of time to respond. They only become liable if they fail to respond in a reasonable time.

Is it even the local authority, or is it a trunk road that's National Highways responsibility?

400ixl

Mildly_Miffed said:

Is it even the local authority, or is it a trunk road that's National Highways responsibility?

Already asked and answered.

Bigboppa

Hi all still awaiting responce from the council. Front scratch has polished out. The rear is a Dent and scratch I've contacted a company for a quote. If I've not had a reply from council early next week I'm going to give them a call to see where I stand but I'm not holding my breath.

Bigboppa

The council have forwarded on the details to the relevent contractor. I await a response from them. Fingers crossed. 

Bigboppa

After a long wait and not hearing from the contractor, I emailed the council again asking them to chase the contractor. Finally today the contractor emailed me asking me to send photo's and a quote for the repair for them to consider/investigate. I will keep this thread  updated as soon as I have any more news.

Grumpy_chap

The Contractor will pass the matter to their insurers.
The insurers will require evidence to the standard that allows them to assess the claim and make or decline a payout.