Rural hazards..grass verges with rocks on
Discussion
I see many rural homeowners, who decide to adopt and mow the grass verge outside their boundary. Once they regard it as "theirs", they may decide it must be protected from people parking or driving on it, so they place some very large rocks at the edge of the road as a deterrent.
I see lots of houses, where this has been done on narrow country roads.
Problem is that these are often unlit narrow roads, so a driver drifting off course could have a very serious accident, that didn't need to happen.
This would be an unintended consequence, but hardly difficult to see the risk the homeowner has created.
So does the homeowner who created this hazard have some liability?
Or perhaps the local authority who actually owns the land.
I see lots of houses, where this has been done on narrow country roads.
Problem is that these are often unlit narrow roads, so a driver drifting off course could have a very serious accident, that didn't need to happen.
This would be an unintended consequence, but hardly difficult to see the risk the homeowner has created.
So does the homeowner who created this hazard have some liability?
Or perhaps the local authority who actually owns the land.
My grass verge is on my property, and runs alongside a stream.
Some people cannot be bothered to use the passing places and squeeze onto the verge rather than backing up a few feet.
This causes the bank of the stream to collapse over time & I have to rebuild it.
In that basis I have placed stones on the verge to protect the bank, as have most of my fellow villagers who have the same problem.
Regarding liability, IANAL but I would imagine that if your moving vehicle strays off the highway & contacts a rock which causes damage the land owner bears no responsibility as the vehicle had no business being there.
In the case you give it may not be private land, but ‘adopted’ and in that case it shouldn’t have stones added, however I’d imagine liability still lies with the person who strayed off the road.
Some people cannot be bothered to use the passing places and squeeze onto the verge rather than backing up a few feet.
This causes the bank of the stream to collapse over time & I have to rebuild it.
In that basis I have placed stones on the verge to protect the bank, as have most of my fellow villagers who have the same problem.
Regarding liability, IANAL but I would imagine that if your moving vehicle strays off the highway & contacts a rock which causes damage the land owner bears no responsibility as the vehicle had no business being there.
In the case you give it may not be private land, but ‘adopted’ and in that case it shouldn’t have stones added, however I’d imagine liability still lies with the person who strayed off the road.
Edited by Stick Legs on Sunday 4th September 00:36
roadsmash said:
Driving at night has no relevance.
If you can’t see the edge of the road clearly enough to avoid it, slow down.
Simple.
This.If you can’t see the edge of the road clearly enough to avoid it, slow down.
Simple.
If you're not clear where the edges of the road are, you're not driving at an appropriate speed for the conditions.
For what it's worth, I think they'd be accountable for having put the stones there... I can see why they would (rather people back up and create room for passes rather than lazily mounting a convenient verge) but they shouldn't really do it.
Stick Legs said:
My grass verge is on my property, and runs alongside a stream.
Some people cannot be bothered to use the passing places and squeeze onto the verge rather than backing up a few feet.
This causes the bank of the stream to collapse over time & I have to rebuild it.
In that basis I have placed stones on the verge to protect the bank, as have most of my fellow villagers who have the same problem.
Regarding liability, IANAL but I would imagine that if your moving vehicle strays off the highway & contacts a rock which causes damage the land owner bears no responsibility as the vehicle had no business being there.
In the case you give it may not be private land, but ‘adopted’ and in that case it shouldn’t have stones added, however I’d imagine liability still lies with the person who strayed off the road.
We also own the verge outside our house, as do the rest of the village. All have stones on the verge. My understanding is that they are illegal & should not be there. Some people cannot be bothered to use the passing places and squeeze onto the verge rather than backing up a few feet.
This causes the bank of the stream to collapse over time & I have to rebuild it.
In that basis I have placed stones on the verge to protect the bank, as have most of my fellow villagers who have the same problem.
Regarding liability, IANAL but I would imagine that if your moving vehicle strays off the highway & contacts a rock which causes damage the land owner bears no responsibility as the vehicle had no business being there.
In the case you give it may not be private land, but ‘adopted’ and in that case it shouldn’t have stones added, however I’d imagine liability still lies with the person who strayed off the road.
roadsmash said:
Driving at night has no relevance.
If you can’t see the edge of the road clearly enough to avoid it, slow down.
Simple.
The danger would be more difficult to see at night.If you can’t see the edge of the road clearly enough to avoid it, slow down.
Simple.
How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
https://lapworthpc.org.uk/guidance-about-placing-o...
If it's not theirs they should not be doing it.
If it's not theirs they should not be doing it.
911hope said:
The danger would be more difficult to see at night.
How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
Car headlights are aimed slightly to the nearside for precisely this reason - if you can't see them, you're almost certainly driving too quickly for your ability to process the scene at night.How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
Not to mention...
1) If the road is straight you'll see them (oncoming vehicles) LONG before evasives could ever be necessary.
2) If the road isn't straight (and is narrow) you shouldn't be approaching bends at the kind of speeds where that kind of last second evasive action is necessary - and in most cases you'll still see lights and be aware that something's coming a good distance before it reaches you (and both have slowed down).
Many I've seen with these rocks have painted them white.
More often than not, this situation isn't a last minute evasive dive off the road, it's a standoff with both vehicles hoping the other will reverse to a convenient passing place...
Or one might mount a seemingly convenient verge - in which case it clatters said rocks at relatively low speed (which can still do real damage without necessarily being dangerous).
Edited by Brassblaster on Sunday 4th September 00:39
Edited by Brassblaster on Sunday 4th September 00:40
jjones said:
https://lapworthpc.org.uk/guidance-about-placing-o...
If it's not theirs they should not be doing it.
At last, an actual answer to the question.If it's not theirs they should not be doing it.
911hope said:
The danger would be more difficult to see at night.
How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
Even better if the proud homeowner laid landmines. The reckless fool driver won't be driving on the verge again.How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
colin_p said:
911hope said:
The danger would be more difficult to see at night.
How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
Even better if the proud homeowner laid landmines. The reckless fool driver won't be driving on the verge again.How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
Or dig a trench, cover with taught astroturf.
Also protects against frozen sausage escalation
VSKeith said:
colin_p said:
911hope said:
The danger would be more difficult to see at night.
How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
Even better if the proud homeowner laid landmines. The reckless fool driver won't be driving on the verge again.How is that not relevant?
Consider the case, where an oncoming vehicle in a narrow road forces the victim to mount the verge to avoid the head on smash. But a proud homeowner has set a trap with his boulders.
Or dig a trench, cover with taught astroturf.
Also protects against frozen sausage escalation
Brassblaster said:
roadsmash said:
Driving at night has no relevance.
If you can’t see the edge of the road clearly enough to avoid it, slow down.
Simple.
This.If you can’t see the edge of the road clearly enough to avoid it, slow down.
Simple.
If you're not clear where the edges of the road are, you're not driving at an appropriate speed for the conditions.
For what it's worth, I think they'd be accountable for having put the stones there... I can see why they would (rather people back up and create room for passes rather than lazily mounting a convenient verge) but they shouldn't really do it.
Ahhh, a subject I can actually talk with some confidence on.
I built a house a couple of years ago on a piece of land on the edge of a village here in Cornwall. There was a narrow verge roughly a metre wide before the old boundary wall.
I rebuilt the wall and the verge needed tidying up, so I brought in top soil and seeded it.
My drive entrance crossed this verge and every delivery driver would mount the verge and drive along it for 20m before getting to and stopping across the the drive section which was laid to cobble stones. Every time, especially if it has been raining, they would track a ton of mud across the cobbles and leave big tracks though the grass… they would still be blocking the road for vehicles as it was such a narrow road, so it wasn’t just annoying, it was also pointless. Anyway… after cleaning the drive way and putting down more top soil and seed about 10 times I decided to get some large granite boulders.
I then had the council turn up and say that someone had driven into them and I was liable and had to remove them. So I think legally, if you place anything on the verge, you are liable for it. For clarity, the verge was owned by myself.
Anyway, I didn’t remove them, the road was very narrow and no one really drove past at more than 15mph so no one was gunna die and I took the view that if people couldn’t see them or drove into them, they probably shouldn’t behind the wheel of a car. I sold the house a year later and never heard from the council again.
I built a house a couple of years ago on a piece of land on the edge of a village here in Cornwall. There was a narrow verge roughly a metre wide before the old boundary wall.
I rebuilt the wall and the verge needed tidying up, so I brought in top soil and seeded it.
My drive entrance crossed this verge and every delivery driver would mount the verge and drive along it for 20m before getting to and stopping across the the drive section which was laid to cobble stones. Every time, especially if it has been raining, they would track a ton of mud across the cobbles and leave big tracks though the grass… they would still be blocking the road for vehicles as it was such a narrow road, so it wasn’t just annoying, it was also pointless. Anyway… after cleaning the drive way and putting down more top soil and seed about 10 times I decided to get some large granite boulders.
I then had the council turn up and say that someone had driven into them and I was liable and had to remove them. So I think legally, if you place anything on the verge, you are liable for it. For clarity, the verge was owned by myself.
Anyway, I didn’t remove them, the road was very narrow and no one really drove past at more than 15mph so no one was gunna die and I took the view that if people couldn’t see them or drove into them, they probably shouldn’t behind the wheel of a car. I sold the house a year later and never heard from the council again.
Stick Legs said:
Regarding liability, IANAL but I would imagine that if your moving vehicle strays off the highway & contacts a rock which causes damage the land owner bears no responsibility as the vehicle had no business being there.
In the case you give it may not be private land, but ‘adopted’ and in that case it shouldn’t have stones added, however I’d imagine liability still lies with the person who strayed off the road.
And you would be wrong.In the case you give it may not be private land, but ‘adopted’ and in that case it shouldn’t have stones added, however I’d imagine liability still lies with the person who strayed off the road.
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