Driven over wet tarmac - who is at fault here?

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EVH said:
Pull the other one :D

If the cone was not there, she'd have driven straight on to the driveway.
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Lets see what the council make of it. If they pay out I get to be a mod for a week. If not I get a week ban :p

Dis86 said:
Wet tar. If she'd stopped and looked at the sign instead of driving over the raised kerb and grass she would have seen this.
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You can see "Wet Tar" through the back of the sign?
 
Kenai said:
Consequences of actions such as not bothering to put all your signage out until you get a rocket shot up your ass by your boss because someone just drove through your poorly signed workplace? :p
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Except in this case the signage worked as she had to make a conscious decision to completely avoid driving up the dropped kerb to avoid it.
 
RaohNS said:
Lets see what the council make of it. If they pay out I get to be a mod for a week. If not I get a week ban :p



You can see "Wet Tar" through the back of the sign?
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No but id stop get out of may car and read the ****ing sign.

Not go "hmm somien has blocked this drive for some reason....meh ill jjst drive over the grass"


And im a biker with a reputation of going..."hmmmm the road/car park i want is on tbe otherside of that pavement....up we go!"
 
What's funniest is comparing the first two photos.

One has a single set of tracks, consistent with driving on and off the driveway.

The other (first) photo has additional tracks, that looks like someone has driven onto it again (to turn around maybe?) since taking the first picture.

Why would you do that?
 
RaohNS said:
Lets see what the council make of it. If they pay out I get to be a mod for a week. If not I get a week ban :p



You can see "Wet Tar" through the back of the sign?
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Why are you trying to defend stupidity? Were you the driver?

If you see signs and cones all the way up the street blocking the driveways, you know something is up. Regardless of the sign facing away.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
Just out of interest, do you like playing devils advocate or you honestly believe that this is mostly the councils fault?

I mean, whether she could read the sign or not, she had to go out of her way and improperly drive over the grass and high curb to avoid it, so it was quite clearly seen.
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Councils fault. The only thing they may have a case against is her partially going up the kerb.

There are rules to signpost and warn the public BEFORE any action affecting the public commences.

The Councils get out of jail free card... So to speak would be if the OPs gf has lied and there were more signs already there and not as he asserts added afterwards.
 
RaohNS said:
Lets see what the council make of it. If they pay out I get to be a mod for a week. If not I get a week ban :p
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Knowing how local authorities operate, they'll no doubt crumble just to avoid any backlash... that said, the onus should be on the driver to prove the cones WEREN'T there. Anyone can make outrageous claims but I submit to you that given the fact she's driven on to the kerb and grass to avoid a sign which "wasn't there when I got there guv, scout's honour"... that's highly unlikely to go in her favour is it?
 
RaohNS said:
Lets see what the council make of it. If they pay out I get to be a mod for a week. If not I get a week ban :p



You can see "Wet Tar" through the back of the sign?
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No. But please tell me what restriction there was on her looking at the other side? Apart from her iq.
 
Tefal said:
No but id stop get out of may car and read the ****ing sign.

Not go "hmm somien has blocked this drive for some reason....meh ill jjst drive over the grass"


And im a biker with a reputation of going..."hmmmm the road/car park i want is on tbe otherside of that pavement....up we go!"
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If it was a single solitary cone placed how the pic suggests... Councils/contractors must give clear notice. They have not done so by account of the op.

MooMoo444 said:
Why are you trying to defend stupidity? Were you the driver?

If you see signs and cones all the way up the street blocking the driveways, you know something is up. Regardless of the sign facing away.
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You really have to ask if I was the driver?

OP said: The signs were added after, before that was a single cone.

The Council and its contractors have not made reasonable and adequate steps to inform the public. Like I say, lets see if the OP comes back and wins. If not I'm happy wager a week ban :p
 
EVH said:
Knowing how local authorities operate, they'll no doubt crumble just to avoid any backlash... that said, the onus should be on the driver to prove the cones WEREN'T there. Anyone can make outrageous claims but I submit to you that given the fact she's driven on to the kerb and grass to avoid a sign which "wasn't there when I got there guv, scout's honour"... that's highly unlikely to go in her favour is it?
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Maybe not but the Council hasn't made a reasonable attempt to inform. We just have the OP saying the road had a solitary cone with no sign. And no one should not have to drive around stop and read the sign. Imagine doing that on the M6 trying to find somewhere.

I take it that's a yes for mod for a week? :p

Dis86 said:
No. But please tell me what restriction there was on her looking at the other side? Apart from her iq.
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The restriction being stopping on a public highway? Signs have to be clear Dis. What we have on this cone is a flimsy piece of paper by the looks of it probably with Wet and Tar spelled incorrectly
 
It looks like a rigid plate sign to me. Going off the others they're very clear and clearly state 'wet tar'.
 
RaohNS said:
If it was a single solitary cone placed how the pic suggests... Councils/contractors must give clear notice. They have not done so by account of the op.
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Yeah, because her luck is that bad that hers was the only driveway that had a cone preventing access. A cone that she still completely ignored for some reason.

The picture suggests nothing, apart from that she avoided a cone and drove over a kerb/grass to get onto a drive. Everything else outside the image is in our own imagination.
 
Let's not forget though, they could easily have had a sign up the street stating "Road surfacing in progress". We can't verify that with the photos given, but knowing how religious the highway's department are with this.. I'd be surprised if they didn't.

Additionally, it would be common practice to advertise pending work in the local paper and / or post notices informing the public. The could also potentially produce countless pieces of evidence of past compliance, which, even if they did get a claim... would reduce damages.

Signage isn't the only way of providing notice.. in this instance, the cone itself should have been an indicator that access was restricted :p
 
From the OP:

op said:
Now this was the signage outside the house when she drove through the tarmac:

Picture #2
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Purely from that its not adequate. Hopefully no arguments there.

I personally don't think this is enough signage to indicate there is wet tarmac down. I mean the sign in the picture is facing the other way! From what my girlfriend has said there was not obvious signage leading up to the clients drive either. I think the simple fact that she drove over wet tarmac suggests that there was no adequate signage. I would expect wet tarmac that has been freshly laid to be sealed off? She has been driving for over 8 years without any incidents so I confident she was paying attention.
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This seems to back up that there were no signs as per picture 3. Unless she was really really really not paying attention aka had her eyes closed.

My girlfriend immediately called the client to inform her of the situation. The client noted what had happened and my girlfriend left to walk the dog. She came back an hour later after dropping the dog at a friend of the clients and the workers had placed a lot more signs down:

Picture #3
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Again seemingly corroborate the OPs gf assertions.

after this the client returned home, saw all the signs down, spoke with the workers and sent this message to my girlfriend in early evening:
Hi [Name],
Hope your ok?
I understand that this afternoon was a accident and probably upsetting. I have spoke with the guys that did the tarmacking and also spoke to the council this evening. A guy from the council has also been out to see it.
Although an accident, the men are saying (backed by there photos) that there is clear signage down the whole road and a cone was placed outside my drive. They said, they alternate the direction the sign on the cones face, to ensure people see them whilst driving up or down the road. I know the one outside my house was facing in the direction you weren't facing. However, the council are saying that because there was signing the whole way down the road and that you drove past the guys doing the work that they feel they couldn't have done anything else.
For me its not a matter of who did what but of a case of needing to have my drive sorted. The men doing the tarmacking said if petrol is poured on it and scrub with a wire brush it may come off but it will be difficult. We are going to get it professionally cleaned and hope that does the trick. Obviously we need this paid for and I hate being in this position but we will have to ask its paid for. I am so sorry as know it was a mistake but hopefully you can understand the position I am in. I don't know if your insurance may cover it or if you want to dispute it with the council?
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Here there may be more to it that we need to know. Its part of regulations that signs are put up before work commences. Their pictures may show a time stamp, they may not. Who knows.

I just find it difficult to believe that a driver of 8yrs with no problem would fail to see multiple signs. If the workmen have proof their signs are up because of the OPs assertions their issue is now proving they were up before tarmac was put down
 
Why are you even concentrating on whether there were other signs? There was a massive great cone with a sign attached (even if you could only see the back) blocking the drive access. So much so that she had to drive over a raised kerb and grass to avoid it. Has lack of personal responsibility and awareness really gotten to this level?
 
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