Councils & Gritting paths

they gritted one road round here

went out this morning on my daily trip to work on my scooter, to be greated by a large patch of black ice, thus reulting in a accident, a mangled scooter and a bed bound me till i recover :mad:
 
Meridian said:
Simple liability law: if you don't grit and someone falls, it's an accident. If you do grit and they fall, it's negligence.
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I was told the same thing after a friend saw me out gritting the pathway outside my house and the garden path so the postie and visitors could get to my door safely.
 
Very slippy here today and even though my area pays the biggest amount of Council Tax into local Labour coffers, no grit since last week. The *ahem* less well paying areas are flowing over with the stuff but none for us. Winter Socialism in effect - you can afford it, buy your own. :rolleyes:
 
hegemon said:
I was told the same thing after a friend saw me out gritting the pathway outside my house and the garden path so the postie and visitors could get to my door safely.
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Yeah, it's the same reason our local supermarket let the pavement out the front of the shop turn into an ice rink every morning.
 
Minstadave said:
The cost of gritting must be so much less than a hospital stay and a hip replacement for one old person, its a sound investment.
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The trouble is hospitable admissions aren't paid for out of the gritting budget.

My own feeling is there needs to be a major rethink of the way district councils operate. Central government needs to legislate forcing them to provide a core selection of services as a priority. They should have virtually no decisions making power over how to operate things like highway maintenance, gritting, waste collection. They should just get on and do it.
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
The trouble is hospitable admissions aren't paid for out of the gritting budget.

My own feeling is there needs to be a major rethink of the way district councils operate. Central government needs to legislate forcing them to provide a core selection of services as a priority.
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They already do, to the nth degree. To the point where the council really only has independent control over about 20% of its budget. Road gritting is obligatory, and I've already explained why they don't grit the pavement.


M
 
Meridian said:
Simple liability law: if you don't grit and someone falls, it's an accident. If you do grit and they fall, it's negligence.


M
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Yup, as pointed out to me by my Dad yesterday as I almost slipped on the path as i went into our shop. He enquired with the owners of the pubs about getting some grit for the paths and they said not to and pointed him in the direction of some council-woman-person who said he'd be liable for any injuries if we made any attempt to grit the path... WTF!

Makes absoloutely no sense tbh, we're getting more and more like America as the days go by...
 
And how on earth did humans ever survive before the councils started gritting stuff - Is it really their job to wrap us in cotton wool ?

Maybe we should get them to spray mists of cold water from buildings during our summer walks too, so that the 150 elderly and young folk don't collapse and die with heat stroke every year like they usually do.
;)
 
divosuk said:
And how on earth did humans ever survive before the councils started gritting stuff - Is it really their job to wrap us in cotton wool ?
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NO, but it is their job to avoid being sued. Partly because the bad publicity hurts, but mostly because hiring lawyers (or paying people off to STFU) hurts more. If councils were immune from prosecution in such circumstances, then they'd grit. But they aren't, so they don't.


M
 
i can not find the actual article but i think last year a man wrote off his BMW car cause the roads had not been gritted, He then took the council to court in a test case saying "cause it says on his council tax break down that he pays for gritting the council is liable cause they never gritted"
The judge said the council only have to grit there section of motorway and main routes to said motorway . Also he said just because it says gritting on your council tax bill the council have no obligation to grit any other places and can do what they want with your money.
Googleheads might try to find this case but i think im right ;)
 
Boo, Hoo, Hoo!

If you don't like snow and ice come and live in Plymouth, the closest we have got so far is some frost on car windscreens. :(
 
Today our local council decided to sand our nearby pavements today. Cue the shopkeepers moaning like hell as customers drag the stuff all over the shop floors and grind it into the carpetting.

And being Plymouth, the workmen waited till the sun had come out and melted the ice before they put it out so the sand just soaked up a load of water meaning they was a nice thick sludge to stick to your shoes :)
 
Amp34 said:
Boo, Hoo, Hoo!

If you don't like snow and ice come and live in Plymouth, the closest we have got so far is some frost on car windscreens. :(
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You must live on the warm side of town, my doors have been frozen shut a few times now. Always a nice surpise, halfway betwwen snapping the handle off (yay for flimsey plastic handles!) and a giving yourself a self inflicted headbutt when you pull yourself onto the car. :(
 
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