Hits some diesel coming off a roundabout yesterday outside an industrial estate rolled for what seemed like miles, then blacked out finally got out of the road and managed to ride the bike home god knows how no front brake, limped off bike then mum bungled me in ambulance, i now know wet and diesel dont mix, anyway spent last night in hospital and aching like hell today. bike isn't going to take much repairing thanks to some now broken renntec crash bars. Should be back on for BMF on staurday. Shame about my gear leathers scratched amd helmet in completely knacked but thats what i bought it for, i wouldn't fancy falling off like that in anything else.
Sam
Full Version: Down and Out
Bloody hell sorry to hear it. Another one down to diesel, they'll never get the message though!
Really glad to hear you are ok though and glad the bike will mend easy.
Really glad to hear you are ok though and glad the bike will mend easy.
Bad, bad news coxhill
Hope you get back up and running real soon
Hope you get back up and running real soon
Sorry to hear it...
Hope you and the bike are mended soon.
Hope you and the bike are mended soon.
Go back to the scene and take some photo's of the diesel spill. Get a witness statement as to the condition of the road, preferably from a non-biker, then threaten to sue the County Council highways department for negligence in maintaining the road properly.
Worked for me. I had to sign a disclaimer and drop the case so I can't tell you where or what Council, but my bike repair and leathers were paid for. Councils cannot afford to lose a case in court and will most probably settle, but get your evidence in advance so they can't sort it out quickly.
Worked for me. I had to sign a disclaimer and drop the case so I can't tell you where or what Council, but my bike repair and leathers were paid for. Councils cannot afford to lose a case in court and will most probably settle, but get your evidence in advance so they can't sort it out quickly.
Sorry to hear that M8
Glad you are on the mend and nothing too serious....
Take care and speed recovery
I hope the Government really do something about it.....
Glad you are on the mend and nothing too serious....
Take care and speed recovery
I hope the Government really do something about it.....
Glad you're ok SamGive the council hell!!
Sh!t, sorry to hear it mate. Hope u mend quickly.
We're going up to Peterborough next weekend, but we'll be there Sunday. At least u can pick up some cheap replacement gear from there.
We're going up to Peterborough next weekend, but we'll be there Sunday. At least u can pick up some cheap replacement gear from there.
More importantly your ok, you can fix the bike. You always think it happens to other people dont you.
Cheers for the replies, people my step dad has been up there and took some photos and one of the people who stopped to help me gave me there number, so might be in luck on the witness part.
Feeling slightly better now, and itching to get out there and grab some gear from tail end show on saturday, nice ride over there too down the a606.
Sam
Feeling slightly better now, and itching to get out there and grab some gear from tail end show on saturday, nice ride over there too down the a606.
Sam
I don’t want to be rude but when is this country going to get out of this mindset of sueing for anything and everything!? Everyone is out for what they can get nowadays and I think that stinks - no one will accept that accidents happen, and sometimes they can’t reasonably be prevented either.
coxhill, I'm genuinely sorry to here about your accident and I hope you're on the mend soon. My issue here is that there are 101 ways that that diesel could have got there, and more or less none of them are the council's fault!
Yes, they should be monitoring the safety of our roads, but let's say that diesel was spilled an hour before you encountered it; they cant afford to be watching every 6" of tarmac every hour of the day. The can't afford it because they've already got a dozen scroungers sueing because they tripped over a loose paving stone when they weren't bloody looking where they were going!
Don't get me wrong - where there's a public safety hazard that has been reported and not acted upon, that's a whole different matter, but I just wish people would stop snatching at cash and accept their lot sometimes.
Rant over
coxhill, I'm genuinely sorry to here about your accident and I hope you're on the mend soon. My issue here is that there are 101 ways that that diesel could have got there, and more or less none of them are the council's fault!
Yes, they should be monitoring the safety of our roads, but let's say that diesel was spilled an hour before you encountered it; they cant afford to be watching every 6" of tarmac every hour of the day. The can't afford it because they've already got a dozen scroungers sueing because they tripped over a loose paving stone when they weren't bloody looking where they were going!
Don't get me wrong - where there's a public safety hazard that has been reported and not acted upon, that's a whole different matter, but I just wish people would stop snatching at cash and accept their lot sometimes.
Rant over
your views might change a bit there if it ever happens to you.
I'm sueing the dateless twonk that knocked me off earlier this year, 3 months of work bust my foot good style, blood clot as a result of being imobile the list could go on, Do I want some payback? You bet i do, and while they're at it I hope she never gets insurance again, dozy "didn't see you mate" plonker
I'm sueing the dateless twonk that knocked me off earlier this year, 3 months of work bust my foot good style, blood clot as a result of being imobile the list could go on, Do I want some payback? You bet i do, and while they're at it I hope she never gets insurance again, dozy "didn't see you mate" plonker
I had the same accident on Christmas eve 2004. I didn't follow it up with the council for a number of reasons.
1) I rode over the diesel. If I hadn't allowed myself to become hypothermic while crossing the Pennines I might have seen and avoided it in time.
2) I sent all the witnesses away because I was OK enough to wheel the bike off the dual carriageway myself. I hadn't examined the extent of the damage to the bike at that point.
3) I was two weeks away from moving to the US then, and I thought I didn't need the hassle.
Regardless, I lost a lot of money because of the damage to the bike. And the broken wrist is never going to heal properly. My gear held up well, and I wouldn't have taken the helmet to the US with me anyway, so it could have been worse.
It's an interesting question though - do we sue people who are technically responsible, even if our common sense tells us that it wasn't really their fault, and there wasn't a lot they could have done to prevent it? I don't know the answer to that one.
I wouldn't blame anyone in my position (or yours) for trying to get some kind of recompense. Who knows, if it starts costing them money, maybe councils will start fining bus companies and hauliers over diesel spills? But I do think you need to make an honest assessment of whose fault you really think it was. Just in your own head, so that whatever you do you know it's "the right thing".
I tend to err on the side of taking ownership of whatever happens to me on a bike. As in point (1) above. I rode over the diesel, and being honest with myself I had to admit that it was a hazard I should have been expecting - on a roundabout on a busy bus and haulage route in the rain. If the slick was so ridiculously big that there was no way of avoiding it or staying upright, I'd probably have felt differently.
Anyway, after all that, I'm glad you're OK. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, and enjoy gear shopping. Just be honest with yourself before you embark on trying to apportion blame to someone other than yourself - if you're going to do it, do it for the right reasons...
EDIT: If you haven't already done so, visit this site, sign the petition (if it's still running), sign the guest book, and tell them your story. Every little helps.
1) I rode over the diesel. If I hadn't allowed myself to become hypothermic while crossing the Pennines I might have seen and avoided it in time.
2) I sent all the witnesses away because I was OK enough to wheel the bike off the dual carriageway myself. I hadn't examined the extent of the damage to the bike at that point.
3) I was two weeks away from moving to the US then, and I thought I didn't need the hassle.
Regardless, I lost a lot of money because of the damage to the bike. And the broken wrist is never going to heal properly. My gear held up well, and I wouldn't have taken the helmet to the US with me anyway, so it could have been worse.
It's an interesting question though - do we sue people who are technically responsible, even if our common sense tells us that it wasn't really their fault, and there wasn't a lot they could have done to prevent it? I don't know the answer to that one.
I wouldn't blame anyone in my position (or yours) for trying to get some kind of recompense. Who knows, if it starts costing them money, maybe councils will start fining bus companies and hauliers over diesel spills? But I do think you need to make an honest assessment of whose fault you really think it was. Just in your own head, so that whatever you do you know it's "the right thing".
I tend to err on the side of taking ownership of whatever happens to me on a bike. As in point (1) above. I rode over the diesel, and being honest with myself I had to admit that it was a hazard I should have been expecting - on a roundabout on a busy bus and haulage route in the rain. If the slick was so ridiculously big that there was no way of avoiding it or staying upright, I'd probably have felt differently.
Anyway, after all that, I'm glad you're OK. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, and enjoy gear shopping. Just be honest with yourself before you embark on trying to apportion blame to someone other than yourself - if you're going to do it, do it for the right reasons...
EDIT: If you haven't already done so, visit this site, sign the petition (if it's still running), sign the guest book, and tell them your story. Every little helps.
QUOTE(ima @ Sep 11 2005, 09:36 PM)
your views might change a bit there if it ever happens to you.
- it has happened to me, twice; both times because of road surface contamination, but pointing the finger at my local authority when it was almost certainly not their fault seems selfish to me.
I will re-iterate though that I dont see any problem with claiming where liability/negligence can be proved, but I am objecting to the current trend of trying to make a 'quick buck' out of every misfortune we encounter
QUOTE(guinness @ Sep 11 2005, 10:23 PM)
- it has happened to me, twice; both times because of road surface contamination, but pointing the finger at my local authority when it was almost certainly not their fault seems selfish to me.
In that case i stand corrected.
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