Am I entitled to compensation for ungritted road / icy conditions / car accident?

[RyanB96]

Hi, 

 

Apologies - I wasn't quite sure which forum to place this topic in - please move as appropriate. 

 

On Friday 14th Jan, I was on my way to work and due to ice on the road, hit some ice, slid, spin & resulted in my car crashing into the ditch. The car is written off completely. I am lucky to be alive, and have suffered multiple injuries including whiplash. I will not suffer loss of income, as my work is happy for me to take the days off to recover. However, I will suffer financial and social inconvenience, particularly with regard to the settlement on my car from the insurance. 

 

The road is a common commuter route and I believe this road should be gritted. Locals living along the road state how dangerous the road is, and this kind of accident is not uncommon. 

 

The county is Lincolnshire county council. 

 

I'd like to know - am I entitled to any form of compensation from the council, due to the road not being gritted in icy conditions? 

If so, 

- How do I calculate how much (roughly?) 

- Is there any law that this falls in guideline with? 

- How should I structure my letter for compensation. 

 

Thank you. 

Edited January 17, 2022 by RyanB96

[theberengersniper]

I hope you don't find this comment insensitive, because that's not how I mean it, but I can imagine the first response you'll get from the council is: "if the road was icy, and you knew that, why weren't you driving at a speed that would have avoided such a severe accident?".

 

If you're lucky to be alive, you must have been driving in a manner similar to the way you would have been in warm, dry, conditions?

[dx100uk]

Most importantly, you needed to notify to police within 24 hours of such, esp the very bad conditions as they would do a report? did you?

that would be the best way of moving this fwd.

 

however you need to remember you state 

1 hour ago, RyanB96 said:

The road is a common commuter route and I believe this road should be gritted

 

this would point too other users and why they did not end up in the same situation.

 

have you a dashcam or maybe a GSP device or google tracking etc info via your phone that has speed and route information ?

that would support your 'claim' of 'not my fault'...?

 

dx

 

[Bazooka Boo]

I wouldn't imagine the LA would entertain such a claim no, as has been mentioned, you drive to the conditions of the road and as it is a road known for accidents that says it all really.

 

No harm in posing the question to the LA as to if it was gritted, and if not why not.

[BazzaS]

Following on from other respondents :

if you knew the road was a particular hazard : you should have been driving accordingly.

If you weren't aware the road was a particular hazard, but knew there was the risk of icy conditions: you should still have been driving accordingly.

 

I"m glad that the injuries you have suffered aren't so major that you cant recover from them, and that you can recover from them within a number of days and within paid leave.

However, where is your (rather than the council's) responsibility?

[RyanB96]

I was driving according to the conditions of the road. I think comments suggesting otherwise are a little obnoxious - I’m sure we all know that slipping on black ice is uncontrollable and unpredictable. 
 

My angle is surely, there is a law to state the councils must grit their highways in icy conditions? The road was not gritted. It should have been - is there no such law around this? 
 

The police did a report but I’m not sure they did a weather report, I’ll have to get in touch 

[BazzaS]

Accidents happen.

However, it isn’t obnoxious to suggest you accept some responsibility - and there is no sign of that yet.

 

You can try the council : nothing ventured nothing gained. Good luck.

[Tony P]

You think the "Local Council" (of other authority depending on the status of the road) had a responsibility to take winter weather precautions for your protection.

 

Before gaining my support, can you confirm that you did similarly by equipping your car with 'winter' tyres?

 

Most people 'south of the border' do not bother. In many countries/regions (including where I live) they are obligatory in winter months irrespective of daily weather conditions. 

They work, even on black ice, but adapting driving style is still required.

[dx100uk]

can we have the location?

 

then we can investigate if the road should be gritted.

 

there are numerous sources on line to investigate this and who should or not be doing it and might be responsible or not..

 

dx

 

 

[RyanB96]

@dx100uk the road was the B1515

 

Please can you share how to check that here too? 

Edited January 20, 2022 by RyanB96

[stu007]

Check the Councils website responsible for that road and look for Gritting.

 

My own Council under Gritting you can download PDFs which show their priority for Gritting Roads. 

[BazzaS]

Gritted, according to the council.

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/1963/winter-service-plan

(plan for that road at p.57)

 

Therefore, you'd have to show that they should have gritted it (and didn't).

 

You couldn't claim that they didn't grit it well enough, or frequently enough, unless their policy was irrational or the assessment negligent.

So, if their policy said, for example ('we don't have the resources to individually asses how many roads need re-gritting, so') "we grit B-roads x times, A-roads y times, and single and double digit road [if not covered by Highways England) z-times" ... you'd have to show that B-road wasn't gritted x times, rather than arguing that it should have been gritted more than x times.

 

They do include "according to historic accident data", but only on whether roads that aren't A or B-roads should be gritted : not on any assessment of amount of gritting (I'm basing that on a first 'skim read' of that policy - feel free to correct me if you find more detail within its 58 pages).

[dx100uk]

Most gritter lorries are covered by gps and you can look up their previous tracks.

 

Dx