Safe Speed Forums

Last August I was knocked off my motorcycle by an impatient driver who pulled out from a "traffic calming" island. This driver never stopped even though I hit the ground pretty hard, shattering my knee.

Here is a video I shot of the same island while riding my bike and the exact thing happened to me. Only difference was that I was very cautious and was able to avoid an incident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvse4rIVgSA

My question is, what chance do I have with suing the council for negligence? I believe it is their fault that the accident happened. To the best of my knowledge there had never been any accidents on this stretch of road until this obstacle was put there. It is their negligence that has made otherwise normal drivers impatient and prone to take risks in overtaking the island.

Nice try, but you won't win with that one.

It is the drivers responsibility to deal with whatever is in his or her way without causing problems for other road users.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

yup it happens to me on the bike (proper one with pedals) often. .and occasionally even in the car.

the road you show looks like it has very clear visibility, no excuse for the oncoming cars not to see you and give way. but likewise no excuse for you not to see them and anticipate the hazard placed in your path.

I don't want to start a flame war here but seriously, we can look out for alot of hazards and take action. Some are just impossible to avoid, especially people being complete and utter idiots/twats/c***ts etc etc.

When you have the right of way, you don't expect people to do things like this. At the end of the day, the other car would never had done this had the council not made the road so unsafe.

My contention is that this is negligent in the same way as it would be if the council left a large pothole open and unfixed in the road. Though it is even worse in this case as they are the ones who put the pothole (traffic island) there!!!!

who's flaming here???

impossible to avoid, i dont want to be flippant here but most vehicles i've travelled in have brakes!
if there's one thing i always expect when i technically have right of way... its people not giving it!

it might not be a good idea.... but if it's legally marked & signed i doubt you'll manage negligence.

exactly. We all know that there are idiot drivers who don't bother looking out for bikes so it makes me wonder why you rode directly into a line of traffic on your side of the road? You'd think you'd learn something from having your knee shattered.

What you can't judge from that video is that my speed was greatly reduced and I was close to coming to a complete stop had another car pulled out. Before you start blaming me, remember that I had the right of way, they were in the wrong. You said it yourself, "a line of traffic on your side of the road".

Hmm, I wonder what the signs have to do with anything. Putting a sign up, does not remove the responsibility of the council. They have to be able to justify the installation and show why they felt it was needed. Surely that can't just do what they want with impunity?

If you're walking down the street and I hit you over the head with a baseball bat, I'm going to jail. But in my defense all I wanted to do was stop you from getting hit by a bus. Is that right? Of course not.

being right doesn't help when you're dead.


which you rode into... not smart. Think defensive and hang back. What does it cost you?

Who's side are you on anyway? Do you work for the council?

If you'd have read my post I said that I did hang back and was actually preparing to stop because of the idiots on my side of the road.

anarchy-inc,

I think your protest lies with the car driver rather than the council in this case, the traffic island is not pretty and may not be the best solution to the problem it intends to solve, however there is a clearly defined give way that the driver ignored.

cheers

Paul

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It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.

Upton Sinclair

I'm not on any side.


doesn't look like it on the video - it looks like you nearly got taken out by the 3rd car because you were more interested in trying to assert your right of way than thinking about your own safety. That's your right of course but it's not going to win you a negligence case against the council and it's not what would be considered "advanced" riding.
Again, what would it cost you to hold back until the road was clear? A few seconds at most?

Unfortunately the camera defaults to 50% zoom which is why everything appeared so close and I forgot to reset it before starting off.

That third car was no where near as close as the video suggests but he was still an idiot. Also, I was already moving to my far left and the camera is on the right side of the bike making it look like I'm in the middle.

Believe me, I was well aware of what was going on and was never in danger of being hit and this was as a direct result of my experience. I only showed this video because it was an almost exact replica of the situation at the same island as my accident. The car that caused my accident actually pulled out from a dead stop after other cars had gone through. There was a long gap between him and the car before. This gave me the feeling of security that the situation was ok. Stopping would not have helped.

No offence here dude, but that is possibly your first mistake.

You should NEVER expect or assume anything of anybody.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

True, but you can't live life in fear of idiots.

You don't need to live in fear, you simply expect the unexpected to start with.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

i seriously doubt they have to justify the installation but i suspect they easily can.

and i suspect yes indeed putting up correct signage does remove their responsibility and put it directly on the motorists using the installation.

i can see why your miffed, but i'm not sure what you're hoping to prove on this thread.

(welcome to SS by the way)

To me....... This is just one of the things that "European intregation" and Global standards has messed up!

Left to our own devices, these things, (if implemented [in the first place] ) would have had a: "Give way" sign to opposing traffic. The situation is like that of a parked car.........if it's on YOUR side of the road, it's YOUR responsibility to give way! Now how often does THAT happen eh?

P.S. I think they're stupid, The remaining half road gets worn to potholes very quickly, and they create more danger than the origional problem......

The cars that go around the island also throw up a bunch of stones to the other side. Hence why I went down, as I swerved left to avoid, I hit the gravel and went down.