Responsibility for clearing spills from roads

[Jim Martin]

A few weeks ago, I came off my bike after hitting a patch of something - I suspect that it was diesel fuel, which had then been rained on - which had been spilled on the road. The road surface was extremely slippery: far worse than ice, in my opinion (in fact, this saved me from being cut-up too badly, because I slid along for several yards on a layer of oily gunk) and while waiting for my wife I watched several cars sliding on it to various degrees.

 

On the way to A&E, I rang the Police (this was about 8:00pm, so the council wasn't answering) and reported that something had been spilled at that location and that the road surface was dangerous.

 

At the time, I took the view that this was "one of those things"; that whoever had spilled the stuff was long gone, unidentifiable and I'd just have to suck it up and accept some inconvenience and expense arising from the damage to me and the bike.

 

As time goes by, though, and the costs keep mounting up, I'm becoming less keen on this idea. So far it's cost me about £300 in bike repairs, physio (for what now seems to be a torn rotator cuff), train fares (because I can't ride the bike without pain from my shoulder) and various other, lesser costs. It's currently costing me about £50 per week in physio and train fares.

 

What I'm wanting to find out is, who is responsible for cleaning spillages off the road and when do they become responsible for it? Obviously, it's unreasonable to expect the local council (this happened in Sefton, which is also where I live) to clear a spill the very second it happens, but presumably once they're informed that the spill has happened, they have a duty to deal with it within a certain time. I'm planning on contacting my local councillor and asking them to find out whether the council Highways Department was aware that the road was slippery and when they became aware of it. This is a busy road at most times of day (for those familiar with Liverpool, I was riding up Regent Road and the spillage was at the junction with Miller's Bridge: I came off when I tried to turn right onto Miller's Bridge) so I wouldn't be surprised if someone had phoned the council before I had my accident. If they hadn't been told, I guess it's back to "Plan A" and I'll just have to stump up myself, but if they didn't act on a notification within a reasonable time, I think I'd have a decent claim against them.

 

Does anyone have any experience in this sort of situation, and did they manage to claim compensation for a failure to make the road safe? 

 

Jim

 

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Sorry to read of this injury, and hope you recover fully soon. Have you looked at all insurance policies you hold to see if you have cover against which to make a claim for accidental injury? If there's nothing there then I would suggest just getting on with a claim against the relevant highway management authority and let them do the legwork of determining whether it is admissible.

 

Not that I would be too optimistic about the latter. The authority that manages the highways in your area can only know about the problem when first reported, and they will then have some time allowed to enable corrective action.

[Gwiwer]

My understanding of the matter, also gained from having been an avid cyclist though one who had the good fortune to have always stayed aboard, is as follows:

 

Primary routes (Motorways, most A-roads and some lesser roads) : The Highways Agency (but Transport for London within Greater London)
Most other roads : Local, district or regional council or unitary authority; London Borough Council in Greater London

Some private roads including most railway level crossings : The road owner - railway level crossings are mostly the responsibility of Network Rail for example.

Paths, tracks and other rights of way : The landowner unless responsibility is explicitly vested in another body.

 

https://www.cleanhighways.co.uk/legislation/whose-is-responsible

Edited October 25, 2018 by Gwiwer

[phil-b259]

 

Not that I would be too optimistic about the latter. The authority that manages the highways in your area can only know about the problem when first reported, and they will then have some time allowed to enable corrective action.

 

This is important - if nobody reported the mater to the highway authority which owns the piece of road concerned then they cannot be held liable. As such you cannot make a claim against them.

 

For most roads you can ride a cycle on, it will be the local county council / unitary authority which will be in charge.

 

If no action is taken after the authority is made aware (and some form of proof will be needed that the information has been communicated to them which is why e-mail is a good way of altering them) then the authority will be liable for any further damage / injury incurred by road users from that point on. If you manage to find evidence that the highways authority knew about the problem, but had taken no action (assuming there was enough time for them to do so) then you can make a claim against them.

 

In cases like Jim's, you would like to think that the police had passed the information on promptly - but human nature being what it is this may not happen, particularly if the Police are engaged on more pressing matters.

Edited October 25, 2018 by phil-b259

[hayfield]

Just a thought, if there was a spillage of oily substance it may have been caused by either an accident or breakdown. Might be worth contacting the police to ask if they can shed light on the spillage, if they can see if you can follow up with a claim owing to your accident being caused by the previous incident 

[Guius]

You my have some cover (especially the bike) on your house insurance, it would be worth checking.

 

Guy

[ejstubbs]

If no action is taken after the authority is made aware (and some form of proof will be needed that the information has been communicated to them which is why e-mail is a good way of altering them)

 

Generic e-mail sent over the 'net has no guarantee of delivery - just having a copy sitting in your sent items folder is no proof of receipt.  I'd suggest that the best way to get proof that the local authority has received the report would be to submit it through the appropriate portal on their web site (if they have one - most LAs do these days even if it's a generic one), and either keep screenshots of the submission process or (and better, assuming that they provide one) the acknowledgement e-mail they send back to you (although that might also get eaten by a bit-gobbler in the cloud on its way to you, of course!)

[cctransuk]

 

.... claim compensation for a failure to make the road safe? 

 

Jim

In my professional local government highways experience, the most common source of diesel spillage is the overfilling of HGV and PSV fuel tanks - the spill occurs when braking or negotiating roundabouts.

 

Ironically, the culprit for a long-standing occurence of diesel spillage turned out to be the local Fire Service - who had been called out on several occasions to clear up what turned out to be their own spillage !!

 

Unless you have personal accident insurance cover you are unlikely to be able to claim - how would you prove that the highway authority knew of the spillage and failed to act within a reasonable timescale; in fact, what is a reasonable timescale?

 

Not the answer that you wanted - but realistic, nonetheless.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited October 26, 2018 by cctransuk

[Jim Martin]

Firstly, thanks to everyone who's taken the time to respond. I've never thought of this as anything other than a long shot - as I said, my initial reaction was that "$___ happens" and that I'd just have to accept whatever costs came my way as a result. It's only now that those costs have reached an unseemly level (with the promise of more to come) that I've started considering whether there's any chance of claiming against someone. I do appreciate that the Council may well have done everything that they reasonably could have done (even if that was nothing at all) and if that's the case, then that's fine. If there's a possibility that they should have done something but didn't, though, I think it's reasonable to investigate that.

 

My home insurance does actually cover the bike (although the repairs were one of the smaller expenses so far) so there is that. I doubt that any of my insurance covers the damage to me, though. I will attempt to find out if the council had been notified, and see how we go from there. 

 

Thanks again

 

Jim