Triumphrat

RMcShami

Hi All

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience in trying to get the local council or RTA to cover the insurance excess because of crash that was caused by an unsafe road?

My 1 month old Triple and I went for a slide this morning. Lost traction in my rear wheel on an inclined, slightly cueved road, while changing lanes. It happened as my rear wheel went over those metal plates that allow the road to expand (about 20cm wide). Conditions were wet but i was under the speed limit and was accelerating to compensate for the incline and get up to the marked speed limit.

Happy to pay the excess if I was being irresponsible but I think I should be able to chage the lanes without losing my back wheel.

If anyone has had a similar accident (pot holes, grates etc..) and knows what, if anything, I can do it would be great.

72TIGER-X

yes you can. i have known people to claim new tyres plus damage to cars from pot holes. they pay the lot so you dont loose your no claim bonus. a witness would probably be handy, but get onto whoever owns the road, local council, main roads

boofhead

I know of a lady who rode her sporty over some wet tar and main roads dept paid to have it cleaned off

__________________
what goes round comes round

hotwheelsaust

It's worth trying, but will probably come back with "you must ride to the conditions of the road". Yes, I know, you don't know the conditions until you have ridden it.
Firstly, take photo's of the offending section of road, including close ups and distance shots.
Secondly, is there any signage advising you of this part of the road? Take distance photos to show no sign, in case signs are put up.
Thirdly, write to the council and argue that a two wheeled vehicle is in danger with the road in this condition and no signs have been used to advise the rider of this danger.
It's a bit like how the roads get graded now, causing lines in the road that take control of your bike , years ago we used to have signs advising when the roads are graded so you don't all of a sudden lose control. Now we don't have signs, why not?

DTONA

Back in the 90s people were suing the councils for damages over various minor items. One particular case of a person suing a local council over tripping on a raised expansion line in the footpath was escalated to the Supreme court were a ruling was made in favour of the council. Without going into detail the court ruled that as a pedestrian, the public take a responsibilty to tread carefully. The court found that it is reasonable to expect some distortions in council maintained surfaces and it is unreasonable to expect the council to correct these matters immeadiately. This is not to say that this precedence can be used against you in your case, however, it can be expected that the council or RTA will try to draw on this precedence to get a ruling in their favour. The issue you have in your favour is that the Council or RTA intentionally installed the metal expansion lines and failed to errect warning signs (as you would see if a metal plate was covering a manhole around road works). The argument will probably be that it is the safest alternative to allowing the bridge to safely expand (as opposed to leaving a big hole in the road that could grab hold of your front wheel) and therefore you should have riden to the conditions and slowed down in the wet. With the majority of small bridges utilising these metal expansion joint covers, it is reasonable to expect that a motorist would be aware to take caution when riding or driving over a bridge. Just as you would take caution on a corner with white paint (i.e. pedestrian crossing on a bend in the rain can be very slippery).

I say send them a bill with photos as suggested above, but don't take it too far, because if you lose the Council or RTA will hit you with their legal bill, and it won't be cheap. It is unlikely they will pay your excess, because agreeing to pay your excess is admission to liability and then your insurance company could come back and make the council or RTA pay full damages cost.

Good luck