Grantcos

Guys Im wandering if you can give me some advice. On taking a car crash incident further against, either the council or a farmer.

Yesterday my girlfriend was on her way home on a road she has travelled everyday for years. There is several bad corners and she was taking the last one of them to proceed onto a straight at 20mph when the back end steped out on her peugeot 206, she corrected it but it went the other way then violently did a 180 degree turn sending her sideways into a ditch and small trees, completly writing off the car. (See pic) The reason the car went is a combination of two things, the corners are very badly designed and are off camber and there was a thin skim of mud that had been carried by traffic to that point from a field entrance several hundred yards away, it had been very lighty raining which made this skim of mud slidey.
She called the police and they werent intrested in coming out, they just said are you ok and is the car off the road - yeas, Well just call your insurance was thier answer
The reason I want to involve the council is I am absolutly fed up of people writing thier cars off on these corners, each time I pass there is usually new damage or a car lying in the one of the ditches, there is 4 bad corners in this area.
This is the final straw that the GF has sucome to this, what can I do about the council and farmer?



Not very visable in the picture but the doors are knackered, windows smashed and all ripped at the b pillars, the quarter is also ruined and the tailight,
Thank you

Saaamon

iTrader: (2)

I understand you must be fed up, but good driving is about judging the road conditions, amongest other things of course. Although it is illegal to leave mud on a highway i doubt there is much you can do about this in the way of legal action.

furry

You may have a claim against the farmer ( I assume it was a farmers field the mud came from ) He has a care of duty to take reasonable measures to make sure his actions don't cause an accident. Proving this might be VERY difficult!!

Iain Mac

Put it down to bitter experience and forget it because, if the engineering of the road was fundamentally wrong with a history of accidents even a fraction as bad as you suggest, it would have been re-engineered by now, and mud on the road is a hazard that a competent driver is expected to anticipate on country roads.
The government are running a big radio campaign right now warning about the dangers on country roads, in which they specifically warn about skidding, slow-moving vehicles and livestock on the road.

Saaamon

iTrader: (2)

+1

Harris.

Aslong as your gf is ok thats the main thing. Theres alsorts on the roads these days so guess all the above comments are true . im sure if you went to see this farmer he would either tell you to Piss off or prove it .

Grantcos

Yeah guys thats kinda what I thought, Its just so annoying all these poor people have to keep socoming (sp) to these corners, really unfair, I would understand if it was bad driving but its the back end that steps out on all these cars due to the camber and sometimes thin mud

Thank you for the replys

Oranoco

Have to say I agree with this man sorry mate. One to chalk down to experience. She isn't the first and she sure as Hell won't be the last, be thankful she's unhurt.

STAFFY OWNER

Don't think you will get anywhere with the council/highways agency as no matter how tight/sharp the bend is you should slow down and take it as slow as is necessary. However if the farmer continually leaves mud on the road (and this can be proved), which then leads to accidents then you may have some comeback.

Isaac.Hunt

Without meaning to sound harsh; your girlfriend needs to learn to drive properly (in particular appropriate speed for the road conditions), as do all the other "poor people" who succumb to those corners. To be frank, for her to induce oversteer in a front wheel drive car - a car which has an inherent handling characteristic of understeer, well she must have been going way too fast.

From what you have said, that accident is nothing more than driver error.

As for litigation against the council or the farmer; you're wasting both your time and money.

rich123

iTrader: (3)

i agree think you'll just have to put it down to experiance and if you did take it further with the council it may back fire on you,and end up having to pay for the damage to the trees,etc etc shiiiitttt i know

It's Czech Mate

Thats a lot of damage for 20mph

Deffo driver error tho, simply too fast for the conditions/skill level

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Hi mate

Hope the gf is ok.

I hate seeing farmers shite on the rd. My worst nightmare on my bike would be coming round a corner to find a pile of dubs

Did i see you say you were selling the cos?

Char1ie

iTrader: (6)

I think you'll struggle to prove in court that the council is negligent for leaving mud on a road. Snow that they hadn't cleared? Maybe. A huge hole that they hadn't fixed - probably. But mud and rain? Near a farm?

Charlie

Char1ie

iTrader: (6)

Or bad luck. But not the council's fault.

Grantcos

Thanks guys, I just wanted to see if something can be done. She is a VERY good driver and can handle a car well and know the road and corners like the back of her hand. The part that made it step out was the road is cambered the wrong way, so when you go round it makes the backend become light to the opposite direction of the way the front wheels are steering, that makes it light then the thin skim of mud and it was away. Im not arguing the case just setting the scene, i've told her that its a lost cause as there too big organisations to take on.
We are both very grateful for your help and advice

Chop, yeah its for sale

fuzzy

sounds to me like its her own fault for failing to take the conditions into account on what you say is a well known accident blackspot.

DaveZS

Bit more than a 20 mph bump.

Grantcos

Some of the side damage was made worse by moving it back oand forth against trees to get it out of the ditch.

ballin

iTrader: (1)

blatant case of you rose tinting ur bird. she lied about the 20mph mate lol.
and being fwd and she "corrected" it then im not surprised she ended up in a ditch.

need to send her on an advanced driving course me thinks!

Caprigirl

I had this issue with the farmer next to me , leave shit all over the road , I phoned the council and they told me he has till dusk that night to clean it up.

I went and saw the farmer , asked him if he planned to clean it up .......His reply , I will do what I like

My reply .... well I'm giving you your place and to do the right thing , however if I drop my bike cause of shit thats been left on the road by your farm , I will tie you to the tow bar of my Rangerover , and drag you up the road at 50 mph just so you know how it feels ..


He not spoke to me since but tbh does make a small effort to clean the road now.

In the 13 years of living where I do , I have seen 11 fatal accidents and plenty more on the road outside my house , , most due to local drivers been to complacent with the road but there has been a few where the state of the road has come into question

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Not good re the farmer above. Most will be stuck in their ways and not give a flying fuck

Caprigirl

Always said farmers are a breed of their own

cossiecrew

seems someone deleted my posts?

northerner

Can you trace the mud tracks back to a field? If so, then establishing negligence of the farmer is a bit easier.

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

well that statement is utter bollocks as i managed a 180 on a roundabout doing 15mph due to spilt diesel that i couldnt see. tried opposite lock but it done nothing...

anyway, if the mud had been carried for a few hundred yards to said corner, surely she would have seen it?

matts1

Sadly you are best putting this down as a lesson.

People tend to drive on roads they know well more quickly as they are familiar with what is coming next - or think they are, and so when it does go wrong they are going to fast to sort it in a tight country lane. So they tend to drive to fast for the conditions of the road at that particular time.

20mph? lets be honest, that would be a snails pace and it is unlikely that was the actual speed, and if your misses is agood a driver she would have easily brought it to a stop.

Yes the farmers shite all over the road and a dated country road design is not the best combination, but all the more reason for people to drive with caution, drop the speed to the conditions and expected the unexpected.

My mate lives on a similar type of road and the locals motor it down there all over the road cutting bends etc, and surprise surprise there are countless bumps and accidents on the bends.

Nobody likes to put their hands up and say yes, my fault, could have been avoided, but there is little point trying to prove a farmer shite or the councils road design is the cause of the bump. Better to just think 'bugger' and move on.

Roosie

iTrader: (8)

i havent read all the post but have you got pics of the scene or any notes saying about the mud.?

Caprigirl

[quote=matts1;4795246]Sadly you are best putting this down as a lesson.

People tend to drive on roads they know well more quickly as they are familiar with what is coming next - or think they are, and so when it does go wrong they are going to fast to sort it in a tight country lane. So they tend to drive to fast for the conditions of the road at that particular time.


quote]


Prime example of this is myself on sunday , out on the bike , came to a fovourite road , just a few miles from home , Know it very well , i know here all the drains and stanks are , i know here all the surface bad bits are , , there is a sign saying road closed , local access only , I made the assumption that the road was closed due to the bridge being renewed for the new rail way a few miles up the road thinking i would need to turn there, so i continued on , going at it harder than I usually would , comes over a blind hill to find the road closed where i didnt expect it ,, they are resurfacing the road , Braked really hard and stopped , turned round and went home.

It shows that i though i knew what was going to be over that hill but I was wrong , easily done but still wrong ,, lesson learned i guess but it shows how easily its done

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

What? I've had the back end out on a roundabout near me at less that 20mph, and that was only rain. Have you ever hit mud when you don't expect it on a corner? Because going by your reply, you haven't! And what you man about correcting? Ofcourse she corrected it, why wouldn't she, if she hadn't she'd have been going backwards into the side of the road.

Isaac.Hunt

Perhaps I'm missing something here but since when have mud and diesel even been remotely similar? If someone can't see mud on the road - in particular enough to cause a car to career off the road then they need their eyes testing.

Your statement is the equivalent of someone stabbing themself with a knife and then you saying something as stupid as "oh you couldn't have done as i've never managed to stab myself with a spoon".

Perhaps a bad example on my part as judging by your apparent level of reasoning, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you were dim enough to have stabbed yourself with a spoon at some point.

It would appear your argument is somewhat irrelevant and ill thought out, especially as you even state "spilt diesel that I couldn't see".

sparticus1

Grant, Under the roads scotland act 1984 sections 95 deposit of mud from vehicles on roads or section 99 prevention of flow of water dirt flith etc on to the road. The farmer has a duty of care to clean up mud he has left on the road. Usually we give them 2 hours to do so. although if he is still working i would give him till the end of the shift. The council can if needs be clear up at the farmers cost but i would persue the farmer in the first instance or at least put the insurance company onto him.

Also i work for a local authority so we are used to dealing with all this just glad the misses is ok cars can be replaced!!

gingerturbo

iTrader: (2)

if its due to a farmers fault you might have a case but trying to claim against the council/ government you dont gain much cos even if ya win the case youre end up paying most of it back, has your partner and anyone else in the car bin to the doctors to claim for wiplash etc

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

No one's mentionned whiplash. Why should they go and claim for it?

wirralphil

I'd just go to the doctors so there is some written feedback for a later date.

I wouldn't claim for whiplash for that crash to be honest.

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

And be another scumbag claiming for FUCK ALL

gingerturbo

iTrader: (2)

cos maybe if in a few weeks time there is something wrong(hopefully not) then they have got a background to fall on,

bust as always there has to be a mug on here.....zetec sam

Iain Mac

I agree with Zetec Sam.

Part of the problem nowadays is everyone looking for someone else to blame and then, just to make it worse, take some cash off of.

Sometimes shit just happens and sometimes it is even OUR OWN FAULT.

No-Win-No-Fee may have started out with noble intentions (I don't actually believe that but I'll give the ambulance-chasing lawyers and their fellow parasites the benefit of the doubt), but it is a development that has and will continue to harm the development of our society.

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

Oh, hi to that most common of things on here, the 'u-turn'. You first said go to the doctors to claim, now you're saying go 'so you have something to fall back on' should something arise in future. If she actually had whiplash, she'd know it, and she'd know it now!
Agreed there's always a mug on here, but concidering the dribble you wrote, and your u-turn, you, sir, are that mug

cossiejay

most roads are safe when used correctly it is drivers that cause accidents lot of damage there for 20 mph