Car crash - need help!

[Moomin_Man]

Ok, so the other night, me and a few friends were going for a pub meal out of town.
Ten minutes after discussing what a crash would feel like at 30mph...we crashed...at 30mph....through a lovely couples garden fence!!!

(Not my car btw)

Anyway, the crash happened becuase the farmers field is eroding into the road, blocking drains and then allowing the road to gather silt/mud and water. We literally glided over it with no brakes or steering.

Police were called, but didn't come out as nobody was injured.

Damage to car - £0 - gaffa tape

Damage to fence - £400!!!!!!

We have been told by the highway agency to claim form the farmer.

I'm wondering how to go about this.

I have a feeling the farmer might prefer to pay for the fence, rather than have the hassle of going to court about the condition of the road (caused by him).

The owners of the fence are great (turned out to be customers of mine). They also think we should claim from the farmer.


I really don't know how to go about it. Face to face? Write a letter?

Not to sure.

Any help is much appreciated guys and gals
Thanks in advance!

 

[funky_d]

Well I had my Business Law exam just this afternoon, so if my reckoning is anything to go by... That farmer technically owes road users a duty of care, due to his farm being next to the road and it being his fault and through the law of delict, he should be liable for his negligence...

 

[Ollie133cup]

Well I had my Business Law exam just this afternoon, so if my reckoning is anything to go by... That farmer technically owes road users a duty of care, due to his farm being next to the road and it being his fault and through the law of delict, he should be liable for his negligence...

Okay thats the law side. But he asks Letter or Face to Face.

Just go by letter as you have something to refer to if it goes further. Any letter sent make sure its sent recorded signed for , so that you know its been received.

1st letter , stating whats happend. And that you feel its there responsibility to keep the road in a condition that's acceptable for road users.

No response to that letter, then another letter proposing you will take Legal action on them.

No response to that letter then Legal action.

 

[Moomin_Man]

You have both really helped! Thank you so much!!!

 

[Araf]

There must have been carnage there, as every other car must have done the same. If not, then your driver should not be trying to blame others for his error - and should also be paying for the fence that he has wrecked.

The sooner people take responsibility for their actions, the sooner this country can pull itself out of the mire.

 

[Moomin_Man]

Just called my mate.
The Highway agency (who apparently refused 3 times to clean the road) have now been out and cleaned away everything!!!
No evidence left now. I'd say they are covering their own backsides!
I'm hoping the dark pictures we have and a incident reference number from the police, plus 4 witness statements should be enough.
Probably be viewed as biased witness statements as we are all friends in the car, but still. At least the locals can vouch for the road condition.

 

[Moomin_Man]

There must have been carnage there, as every other car must have done the same. If not, then your driver should not be trying to blame others for his error - and should also be paying for the fence that he has wrecked.

The sooner people take responsibility for their actions, the sooner this country can pull itself out of the mire.

You would have to see the state of the road, whilst we were there 2 cars nearly hit us loosing it on the corner and one car turned back after failing to get up the hill.
The couple have moved all the kids play area back about 5 meters since it got worse.
The only thing that's stopped people going through the fence is the high curb. Unfortunatley for us, 24 hours of rainfall had flooded the already blocked drainage system. So the silt and mud felt like ice.

If it was ice, then yeh, nobody to blame, but in this instance, the farmer has been warned, and done nothing about it.

 

[Araf]

There must have been carnage there, as every other car must have done the same. If not, then your driver should not be trying to blame others for his error - and should also be paying for the fence that he has wrecked.

The sooner people take responsibility for their actions, the sooner this country can pull itself out of the mire.

You would have to see the state of the road, whilst we were there 2 cars nearly hit us loosing it on the corner and one car turned back after failing to get up the hill.
The couple have moved all the kids play area back about 5 meters since it got worse.
The only thing that's stopped people going through the fence is the high curb. Unfortunatley for us, 24 hours of rainfall had flooded the already blocked drainage system. So the silt and mud felt like ice.

If it was ice, then yeh, nobody to blame, but in this instance, the farmer has been warned, and done nothing about it.

If others didn't go through the fence as well, then your driver cannot pass the blame. Even if there were ice, it's then a case of not taking account of the conditions, rather than being blameless.

 

[Ollie133cup]

Araf, if it was at night. Of course there is some blame , may well of been driving too fast which wouldn't of helped the issue. But still these ******* Farmer also need to clean the roads after they leave **** allover them, Living in the country every season its the same.

You could say that about oil spills on roads. Its a matter of time before one car hits the oil and slide into a ditch.

Your mate should of got photos of the road at the time, as now you have no chance if its been cleaned. Just gonna have to pay up for the fence.

 

[singlespeed]

You have kerbs The majority of the roads up here don't have kerbs, so eroded banks and mud on the road are a fact or life.

 

[jra3d]

Please can we keep to the questions asked not "your mate can't drive"

You can ask but who knows the response you will get. In my opinion it seems a multiple of people to blame.

Highways not cleaning if cause through natural causes

Farmer not cleaning if its him pulling mud into road

Your driver for specific reasons

It could rumble on for a while. But for what ever you do letters an as Ollie says on record delivery.

 

[Munson001]

I work for the highways agency as a highways inspector & I would say 80% of the blame is the farmer.. It happens on my roads now & again & if it's that bad I tell the famer to clean it ASAP or we will charge for us to do it..
It amazing how quick they clean up there mess...

 

[Moomin_Man]

To go onto detail, it is the farmer, it happens every year apparantly. 20mph in 30 zone isn't excessive, no street lighting, on a hill.
The field is a potato field and has a very high content of what can only be described as sand, so the earth shifts whenever he ploughs.
He then gets told to clean it up but doesn't, the highway agency don't do anything as it's the farmers responsibility by law, but he leaves it for weeks. They only cleaned up as propert was damaged. Many cars have came off and hit the curb but not gone all the way through.
My friend might not be a an amazing driver, but he didn't do anything wrong. Went from tarmac country road to 2 inches of sludge in an instant. Even i, as a passenger, didn't spot the change as wet tarmac and smooth wet sludge just blended in with the headlight light.
Everyone we know keeps asking, "was he speeding". I can vouch for him that he was being very cautious driving through the local area. It's a very quiet road (back entrance to the village) that normally just sees resident use. Probably only 20-30 houses in the village. So, no, he doesn't have cars through his fence every day.
Bad combination of rain, farmers negligence, poor lighting and road gradient. BUT the farmer should start giving a damn about safety. I live in Cumbria, and it's a ridiculous problem. Even on 70mph dual carriage ways. MUD everywhere and they don't clean it up or clean the tread before leaving the farm. I have a lot of friends who live on farms, and even they share the attitude of other farmers, not really caring. So it's not just a small minority of them.

Edit: to get an idea of just how muddy it was, look at the side of the car! We couldn't find one of the rims, buried in muck!

 

[Moomin_Man]

Araf, if it was at night. Of course there is some blame , may well of been driving too fast which wouldn't of helped the issue. But still these f*****g Farmer also need to clean the roads after they leave s**t allover them, Living in the country every season its the same.

You could say that about oil spills on roads. Its a matter of time before one car hits the oil and slide into a ditch.

Your mate should of got photos of the road at the time, as now you have no chance if its been cleaned. Just gonna have to pay up for the fence.

We have lots of photos, but it's VERY dark and an iphone flash is only so good. We got about 20 shots though. Dark but you can see the extent of all the issues.

 

[jra3d]

Answers have been found from a few members.

As they are little things people can pick holes with I shall lock this thread or this will turn into a you should blah blah l, don't do this blah blah

Any issues with me locking this moomin let me know