Damage to car from road condition - do I have a case?

[anonymous-user]

SantaBarbara said:

The Higway authority shcould have erected signs saying. "Soft Verges"
Keep off

FTFY

[SantaBarbara]

Loose_Cannon said:

2 punctures simultaneously; front wheel dropped off the road into sunken verge, rear wheel followed, both inner sidewalls punctured by sharp protrusions, bang bang, slither to a halt!

Why didn't you try to change one of the wheels yourself

[yellowjack]

SantaBarbara said:

The Higway authority should have erected signs saying. "Soft Verges"
Keep off

See that green stuff in the photos? It's called grass.


It's often the only clue required to deduce that there might be a risk of "soft verges".

Alternately, accept that the grass verge is beyond the limits of the carriageway anyway, and keep off it. Seeing grass verges churned to mud by traffic is pretty unpleasant to look at. Pristine grass and wildflowers is far and away more preferable...

[yellowjack]

SantaBarbara said:

Loose_Cannon said:

2 punctures simultaneously; front wheel dropped off the road into sunken verge, rear wheel followed, both inner sidewalls punctured by sharp protrusions, bang bang, slither to a halt!

Why didn't you try to change one of the wheels yourself

Are you so determined to mark yourself out as being just a little bit 'special' that you'll really post a question like this?

Genuinely I cannot fathom your reasoning. If I had a single puncture in a car with a single spare wheel, I'd be deeply embarrassed by even the thought of calling a rescue service. If I had a double puncture in a car with only one spare wheel I would reason that there is nothing to be gained by changing one wheel when i would still be stranded due to the second damaged tyre. Therefore I would accept that I'd been the victim of some terrible luck and call a recovery service with no embarrassment whatsoever.

♫...you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run...♫

[Loose_Cannon]

Pica-Pica said:

What size tyres, incidentally?

205/50/16 Goodyears, so good quality and not rubber bands, but it never ceases to amaze me how thin sidewalls are on modern tyres, more like cycle inner tubes (OK with some reinforcement!). My daughter is learning to drive ATM, barely brushed a kerb at walking speed when manouvring and lost a brand new Pirelli.

The most annoying thing personally is that for years I have had piles of spare wheels and tyres for just such a "what if" situation, but thought I'd turn over a new leaf and have a tidy out. A quick call home to the missus to sling a pair in the boot with a trolley jack and could have saved £150. A salutory lesson to her that men should never, ever have to tidy the garage......

Edited by Loose_Cannon on Monday 11th September 16:27

[Red Devil]

yellowjack said:

?...you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run...?

Love those lyrics.

...if you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right ...the secret to surviving, is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.

It's his favourite hit btw.

Unfortunately it looks as if the OP managed to pick the only spot with a rough edge to the tarmac.
Had he steered further off road (there appears to be plenty of room on the grass verge) his tyres might have stayed unscathed.

[Garybee]

Loose_Cannon said:

The most annoying thing personally is that for years I have had piles of spare wheels and tyres for just such a "what if" situation, but thought I'd turn over a new leaf and have a tidy out. A quick call home to the missus to sling a pair in the boot with a trolley jack and could have saved £150. A salutory lesson to her that men should never, ever have to tidy the garage......

Not really, she's more than likely happy that you didn't have any spares. That would have meant her having to dig them out of the garage, get them in the boot and drive out to you. This way she never had to get off facebook.

Back on topic...I don't think it's fair to blame the local authorities for the consequences of driving off the edge of the road. It wouldn't even have occurred to me that it could be anyone else's fault, just one of life's frustrations. Full points for not just continuing to drive at the cyclist though. Many people are too arrogant/dim to see that a bike taking up far less than half the road width is not the obstruction.

[Alucidnation]

boyse7en said:

SantaBarbara said:

The Highway authority should have erected signs saying. "Soft Verges"
Keep off

If they had to that in Devon, they'd need about 100,000 signs! There are hundreds of miles of roads like that around here. They way you avoid problems is observation - either don't go down the edge of the carriageway or go down it at more of an angle so the sidewalls don't get touched

Must admit, drivers in Devon/Cornwall are much more 'forgiving', due to many of the roads similar to this.