Yep, I low sided the bike this morning on the way to work. My route to work now takes me through Ruislip, done it everyday now for three weeks, with no issues until this morning.
Half way down the high street there is a right hand turn that I take, except this morning I have slowed down, and before I know what is happening I on the ground. No warnings, no nothing, just slammed into the tarmac. It does take long to work out what has happened.
There is an anti skid/hi grip patch on the road that has just been resurfaced. There are no warnings signs up and the it is like ice. Even cars are loosing traction due to the excess amount of material there. The attending police had to call the council to get them to put warning signs up. I got carted off to hospital due to breathing difficulties.
No broken bones, just some very heavy bruising to the right side of the rib cage and muscles, and the calf muscle where the bike fell on it.
The bike was ridable, both brake levers bent, mirror damaged, bar end damaged, wind shield trashed, topbox damaged, and the crash bars have a nice flat section. Considering what happened not to bad.
The only problem at the moment, is the prescribed painkiller & anti-inflammatory has left me feeling, along with a couple more side effects. At least breathing easier.
Similar thing happened to me, my Solicitor said that it’s already been established in law that if the council creates an obstacle like this and fails to adequately mark it, they are liable for any damage caused as a result. I hate people who chase compensation if the wind blows the wrong way but it’s so easy for them to put a few signs up and avoid this, it’s just incompetance to not do so.
agree about the compensation thing…trouble is the council need to be responsible about these things…if they are going to fine us for having too much rubbish in our bins then they too should suffer if they dont adhere to their own rules.
sorry to hear of your off, hope the bruises heal quickly :ermm:
sounds like the local council have really let you down there, very dangerous
dont agree with using the law to get a quick buck but you have a legit claim and should make them learn a lesson
Bad luck on your off, Kev…glad to hear that you weren’t more seriously injured.
That being said, what is all this “claim against the Council” about? I mean, who is the Council? What are their powers and/or responsibilities? Where do they obtain funds to pay these types of claims?
Glad your o.k. and best wishes for a speedy making good.
Councils and roads. A lovely grey area but it come down to a “duty of care”. Negligence, such as not sweeping up the dross after road works (or making sure that it was done by the contractor) is a failure by the Council to exercise their duty of care for the road users.
Ironic that the problem was the laying of a new safety surface, but these things, together with some of the new road topping materials are well known to road engineers to be a hazard when first laid. Particularly if loose material is left on the carriage way or it rains on polymer bitumen before it’s thoroughly cured.
You have a cast iron case against the local highway authority (I just hope for your sake it’s not TfL) as you have police involvement and therefore records.
I too hate the compensation culture, but go for the throat on this one. It’s absolute negligence by the responsible authority.
How hard is it to sweep a road and then put out some signs?
Over a year ago I wrote to TFL about the huge amount of loose chippings that had been left by “non-slip” surface work on the A24. I had more than once seen bikes have the rear wheel spin out, and had many times had my foot skate out on the loose marbles. The small “non-slip” particles are extremely dangerous if not swept up after they are laid down, and the persist for months after the work is done collecting near islands and on central hash markings. As for how they are laid down, I have seen it done. One worker pours a molten sludge, a second spreads it around a bit, and third throws the non-slip stuff as a covering. It is not surprising there is tons of loose stuff left afterwards.
Sorry to hear about this Kev, hope you’re feeling better real soon.
Ditto on the council, if they have not acted responsibly then you should pursue them to cough up, it’s only by doing this kind of thing that they will improve their practices in these instances.
