black ice and consequently damaged car. who's responsible?

Black ice can hardly be blamed on the council now can it? I'd suggest booking yourself some time on a skidpan ;-)

Mike P

Around over a week ago when it was really cold and icy I drove a car in the morning and I lost control as black ice was on a very bendy road. My car skid and hit a curb. I didn't drive more than 10 mph and initially I thought all is ok, but later I noticed wired sound in my car. I went to a garage and found out 'the pleasure' of skidding cost me over £900. Later I heard that someone else also skid at the same place.

In some EU countries you can seek compensation from councils responsible for specified areas, so I wonder if there's the same rule in the UK. If so, would you be able to advice me what to do? Do I need to send a letter to some authority? Where to start?

Any advice would be very appreciated.

Best Regards, Richard

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The only chance you have is if it was a road that the council are liable to grit in bad weather and the forecast for that night was for ice. That said the chances of receiving compo are almost bugger all.

Sometimes things are just our fault and we have to take responsibility and deal with them without looking to blame someone else - an alien concept to many in UK 2008

As a famous philosopher once said - S*it Happens!

MattF

Fairly easy to reach £900, smack a front wheel square against a kerb & often the first thing to crumple's the subframe or the chassis.

Wow, think i will leave the car parked up when its snowing!!

MattF

Take more care when icy!

Is the road classed as a primary or secondary gritting route by the council? If neither of those, then the road is unlikely to be gritted at any time.

Forget it and learn the lesson that when the weather is around freezing, then the possibilty of 'black ice' is always there - remember, you have to

As a matter if interest, when you skidded at this low speed, did you apply your brakes?

Claiming off your own insurance. You can't claim off the LA.

--=20 Conor

I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't=20 looking good either. - Scott Adams

Odds on I'd reckon.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Richard saying something like:

Troll. In the event you're not a troll, suck it up, it was your own silly fault.

Yeh I know what you mean, the trouble nowadays is that nobody knows how to drive on ice/snow. Everybody thinks that all roads are salted.

I think in this economic climate the councils should stop gritting any roads.

It will save council tax money, also help the environment by forcing people to drive slower, or not at all, and then take local transport.

Also by helping to create jobs in garages for guys to repair cars, and also in the showrooms selling new eco friendly cars.

There you are solved the crisis all in one go.

And mostly the thick idiots will be the ones who kill themselves, thereby improving the UK's gene pool!

Julian.

I visited Canada this spring. Over the winter they have temperatures down to -30 and snowfalls of two feet are not uncommon.

They only salt the highways. Other roads get ploughed and some grit (not salt) to help grip.

Life goes on. Nobody stops driving. They don't rush about like the idiots here (because they don't have to!) I didn't see anyone get stuck or have an accident due to the weather.

It's only in this stupid country where everything grinds to a halt for a few white flakes. Or where people slide off the road because they expect the council to have salted it (listen to the radio commercial about it!)

I've highlighted it info you need. Your fault. End of story.

Tough. You drove too quickly for the conditions. Your fault, why should we pay for your ineptitude? You're not a Banker are you?

I remember a minibus (Caravelle) ride from a hotel in Helsinki to the airport on snow covered roads. The driver had the power down on the bends and the arse end hardly ever followed the front wheels, he simultaneously managed to chat to us and also hold a phone conversation. No wonder the Fins produce such good rally drivers...

-1 degree in the UK and all the fsuck wits are belting the curbs and looking for compo!

Julian.

We all drive around on summer tyres in winter U.K., I bet they don't in Finland.

An example of kerbs being your friend........I had to stop on a hill about

Well, I've driven and been driven in Scandinavia's Arctic Circle in winter, and most drivers there are pretty adept at driving sideways on ice - it's part of the driving test. They do not salt the roads, just take off the upper layer of ice with snowploughs. We had 5 British drivers in a Mercedes Van and crashed 5 times. We were totally crap and knew it, and nearly died. 5 times. The only one who didn't nearly take the van off the road and down a 5000 metre mountainside was the ex-professional Motor Mechanic, who instead drove it into a ditch to avoid being sideswiped by a train at Gothenburg Harbour. Unfortunately the rear of the van swung onto the tracks and the train hit us anyway, pushing us into a post and bursting the radiator.

I also had the pleasure to meet Black Ice (freezing rain?) at 5am one morning in Britain on the way back from Gatwick, doing maybe 50mph on a B road. I thought I'd a puncture at first cos the car started wandering in a straight line. (There was no sign of ice, snow, etc.) Then I realised the steering wheel wasn't doing anything at all, and I had totally lost control. Eventually the left front wheel hit the curb and spun the car round 4 times, bouncing each time on the curb because of the camber. When I got out I could not keep from falling down, it was that slippery. It was not possible to walk on that road.

Britons are just not trained for icy roads.

Gareth.

Assuming they don't mainly kill other people.

gb gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

If the cold snap returns/had hung about a bit longer, I could easily see stocks running low/out.

"Steve" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

They definitely don't...

There's two grades of winter tyre - "European" and "Nordic". On top of that, the "Nordic" ones are studdable...

(Oh, and what's this "we"? I've chucked some Vredestein SnowTracs on the Saab this year - a big improvement over the "summer" Michelin Pilot Primacies when it comes to (UK-)cold grip.)