Claiming against a Council for bike damage
Discussion
Has anybody got any experience of claiming against a Council for damage to a bike and what process did you use? Did you use a specialist company or do it yourself? I was down on the south coast riding towards Weymouth when I hit a sunken drain (essentially the road had been resurfaced but the drain not raised to match the level of the road) at about 25mph, lost control of the bike, snapped the front forks, bent the front wheel (not sure which order these happened), popped the saddle off it's rails on one side, veered across the road narrowly missing a car coming up the hill (by about 1 meter) and binned it on the verge the other side of the road into a barbed wire fence sticking a whole into my helmet in the process (not sure what on though). Concussion and whiplash with bruising is as bad as it's got fortunately and I'm a very lucky guy, it could have been so much worse! I'll be replacing the bike bits anyway but I want the Council to foot the bill and more importantly, mend the dangerous drain cover before anybody else does the same!
Whilst you have my full sympathy as I have had a similar incident I'm going to say that even in todays' "where there is pain there is a claim" culture you will be lucky to get a penny!
If you are going to stand any chance of getting money you need:
1) Pictures of the drain
2) Pictures of the bike pre and post accident
3) letter from GP if you received medical attention
4) Perhaps request that the council provide you with information regarding the road eg when the resurfacing took place and if there have been any other incidents on the same stretch of road. Maybe the freedom of information act might allow you to find out how many complaints the council in question has received about the condition of the roads and you can use this to demonstrate negligence.
If you are going to stand any chance of getting money you need:
1) Pictures of the drain
2) Pictures of the bike pre and post accident
3) letter from GP if you received medical attention
4) Perhaps request that the council provide you with information regarding the road eg when the resurfacing took place and if there have been any other incidents on the same stretch of road. Maybe the freedom of information act might allow you to find out how many complaints the council in question has received about the condition of the roads and you can use this to demonstrate negligence.
aka_kerrly said:
Whilst you have my full sympathy as I have had a similar incident I'm going to say that even in todays' "where there is pain there is a claim" culture you will be lucky to get a penny!
If you are going to stand any chance of getting money you need:
1) Pictures of the drain
2) Pictures of the bike pre and post accident
3) letter from GP if you received medical attention
4) Perhaps request that the council provide you with information regarding the road eg when the resurfacing took place and if there have been any other incidents on the same stretch of road. Maybe the freedom of information act might allow you to find out how many complaints the council in question has received about the condition of the roads and you can use this to demonstrate negligence.
1, 2 and 3 are covered, not sure how 4 should be relevant though, isn't the fact that the drain cover hasn't been raised to match the road level when the new surface was put on evidence of negligence in itself?If you are going to stand any chance of getting money you need:
1) Pictures of the drain
2) Pictures of the bike pre and post accident
3) letter from GP if you received medical attention
4) Perhaps request that the council provide you with information regarding the road eg when the resurfacing took place and if there have been any other incidents on the same stretch of road. Maybe the freedom of information act might allow you to find out how many complaints the council in question has received about the condition of the roads and you can use this to demonstrate negligence.
I'm sorry to hear about your spill, but IMO if you're going to fast to adapt to the road coditions, then you should slow down - road or bike.
I'm obv not as strong as many on this forum, but to me 25mph is pretty brisk - I'd certainly be on top alert for road condition / obstacles etc - would it have been their fault if you hit a stick? IMO the only person who is in control of my safety on 2 wheels is myself.
Not wanting to be an arse, and I hope your bike insurance etc sorts out the bike / helmet damage. Also get well soon =)
I'm obv not as strong as many on this forum, but to me 25mph is pretty brisk - I'd certainly be on top alert for road condition / obstacles etc - would it have been their fault if you hit a stick? IMO the only person who is in control of my safety on 2 wheels is myself.
Not wanting to be an arse, and I hope your bike insurance etc sorts out the bike / helmet damage. Also get well soon =)
Some Gump said:
I'm sorry to hear about your spill, but IMO if you're going to fast to adapt to the road coditions, then you should slow down - road or bike.
I'm obv not as strong as many on this forum, but to me 25mph is pretty brisk - I'd certainly be on top alert for road condition / obstacles etc - would it have been their fault if you hit a stick? IMO the only person who is in control of my safety on 2 wheels is myself.
Not wanting to be an arse, and I hope your bike insurance etc sorts out the bike / helmet damage. Also get well soon =)
Appreciate all opinions but IMO I wasn't going too quickly for the conditions, sticks are a hazard that you look out for if there are trees etc about, there were no trees, traffic was light and my bike was in a good condition (pretty much new). Sometimes holes in the road are inavoidable and this was one of those times but IMO, the drain cover not being at road level is dangerous. No insurance so will just have to foot the bill if nothing comes of it.I'm obv not as strong as many on this forum, but to me 25mph is pretty brisk - I'd certainly be on top alert for road condition / obstacles etc - would it have been their fault if you hit a stick? IMO the only person who is in control of my safety on 2 wheels is myself.
Not wanting to be an arse, and I hope your bike insurance etc sorts out the bike / helmet damage. Also get well soon =)
AyBee said:
aka_kerrly said:
Whilst you have my full sympathy as I have had a similar incident I'm going to say that even in todays' "where there is pain there is a claim" culture you will be lucky to get a penny!
If you are going to stand any chance of getting money you need:
1) Pictures of the drain
2) Pictures of the bike pre and post accident
3) letter from GP if you received medical attention
4) Perhaps request that the council provide you with information regarding the road eg when the resurfacing took place and if there have been any other incidents on the same stretch of road. Maybe the freedom of information act might allow you to find out how many complaints the council in question has received about the condition of the roads and you can use this to demonstrate negligence.
1, 2 and 3 are covered, not sure how 4 should be relevant though, isn't the fact that the drain cover hasn't been raised to match the road level when the new surface was put on evidence of negligence in itself?If you are going to stand any chance of getting money you need:
1) Pictures of the drain
2) Pictures of the bike pre and post accident
3) letter from GP if you received medical attention
4) Perhaps request that the council provide you with information regarding the road eg when the resurfacing took place and if there have been any other incidents on the same stretch of road. Maybe the freedom of information act might allow you to find out how many complaints the council in question has received about the condition of the roads and you can use this to demonstrate negligence.
AyBee said:
IMO I wasn't going too quickly for the conditions
You obviously were.AyBee said:
Sometimes holes in the road are unavoidable
They really aren't.Sorry mate, but you failed to ride so you could stop in the distance that you could see was clear, and reasonably expect to remain clear.
It's one of the fundamentals of safe road use.
aka_kerrly said:
I was thinking along the lines of the first few people who complain about a road defect get pay outs then once the council are aware of the issue and put a tiny bit of white paint next to the hole no one else then gets a pay out.
Probably the exact opposite........ The first victim is not likely to get anything because the council claim ignorance. If any subsequent victims can get the council to admit they knew the defect existed/prove it existed via a report, then they may get a payout.The Council's obligation is to ensure that the roads are inspected at a frequency commensurate with the type of road and to ensure that dangerous defects spotted are put right appropriately.
There is a chance that the manhole has sunk. If the council can prove that the last time they inspected that road was within a reasonable time and that that manhole was not recorded as being a problem, that will be the end of it. Also, as people have said, if other people have reported it they will have to be seen to have taken appropriate action.
Its like when a pothole appears, the council isn't responsible if people damage their cars on it unless and until it becomes an issue that they should have sorted out. Some people are lucky enough to press the button on the right one and I would agree that if it has been marked up by the council in spray paint you are more likely to recover because they plainly were aware of it.
In the meantime we just have to accept the consequences of our actions and put it down to experience. I do symapthise with the o/p but I do wonder how such a major 'step' wasn't apparent to him in the road ahead, at 25mph my eyes are on stalks!
There is a chance that the manhole has sunk. If the council can prove that the last time they inspected that road was within a reasonable time and that that manhole was not recorded as being a problem, that will be the end of it. Also, as people have said, if other people have reported it they will have to be seen to have taken appropriate action.
Its like when a pothole appears, the council isn't responsible if people damage their cars on it unless and until it becomes an issue that they should have sorted out. Some people are lucky enough to press the button on the right one and I would agree that if it has been marked up by the council in spray paint you are more likely to recover because they plainly were aware of it.
In the meantime we just have to accept the consequences of our actions and put it down to experience. I do symapthise with the o/p but I do wonder how such a major 'step' wasn't apparent to him in the road ahead, at 25mph my eyes are on stalks!
Understand what you're saying, however, who defines what is and is not dangerous? They have replaced the road surface (i.e. stuck a new one on top) while quite obviously not raising the drain cover, they knew it was there, they just chose not to bother with the time/effort/expense of doing the work.
I know I missed it (and am kicking myself for it), I'd rather not ruin my bike and almost give myself serious injuries hitting a car head-on but somehow I missed it
but you also don't expect to have craters in the road which are quite obviously dangerous (IMO).
I know I missed it (and am kicking myself for it), I'd rather not ruin my bike and almost give myself serious injuries hitting a car head-on but somehow I missed it
but you also don't expect to have craters in the road which are quite obviously dangerous (IMO).the drain cover may have sunk after the works though, that is relatively common. If it hasn't and they just bunged a new surface down around it, then I would expect that the council would be able to recover any sums it had to pay you from the contractor who probably had a duty to ensure all levels were reinstated. Normally they scrape the old surface away before putting a new one on though, so I'd be surprised if it is as simple as you make out.
There are quite a few hurdles to claims in negligence and there is also the concept of 'contributory negligence', which can in some cases all but eradicate any damages you could get. At the end of the day, if there was a route around the problem (be it a fallen tree, pothole, sunken drain cover, rock etc) and you didn't take it, it will always be at least partly your fault. I am aware of a claim brought by the widow of a driver who hit standing water where a culvert was prone to blocking, the car rolled and he was killed. But the problem is that the culvert being blocked led to the flooding of the road, it didn't lead to the killing of the driver, that was down to inappropriate speed for the road conditions.
There are quite a few hurdles to claims in negligence and there is also the concept of 'contributory negligence', which can in some cases all but eradicate any damages you could get. At the end of the day, if there was a route around the problem (be it a fallen tree, pothole, sunken drain cover, rock etc) and you didn't take it, it will always be at least partly your fault. I am aware of a claim brought by the widow of a driver who hit standing water where a culvert was prone to blocking, the car rolled and he was killed. But the problem is that the culvert being blocked led to the flooding of the road, it didn't lead to the killing of the driver, that was down to inappropriate speed for the road conditions.
How little attention must someone be paying if they can't spot a sunken drain cover... If people insist on riding/driving vehicles so easily damaged by a normal road surface they should at least make some attempt to minimise the risk to themselves...
Without wanting to sound too blunt it sounds like the OP was either failing to pay attention or riding like a bit of a wally and now seeks to blame anybody but himself for his accident...
Without wanting to sound too blunt it sounds like the OP was either failing to pay attention or riding like a bit of a wally and now seeks to blame anybody but himself for his accident...
There may be other reasons why the rider may not see the pothole, e.g. if it it dark, or there are other distractions, traffic nearby, children on pavement etc. This (distraction) is why the daytime driving lights are such a poor idea (and indeed ROSPA opposed them. A rider may also see a hole, but be unable to avoid it because of a vehicle close behind them.
How many of those reasons would be valid for a car driver explaining why they failed to see a cyclist? Not paying attention is not paying attention, and failing to spot something big enough to take you out is a pretty big lack of attention...
As for not being able to avoid, can't you roadies bunny hop? I know my MTB can hop over obstacles easily... @25mph you should be able to clear it even in your skin tight lycra
As for not being able to avoid, can't you roadies bunny hop? I know my MTB can hop over obstacles easily... @25mph you should be able to clear it even in your skin tight lycra
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