Good Morning, just after some advice regarding a crash (non-collision) I had this morning on my pushbike. what liability does the local council have in maintaining safe cycle paths? am I able to claim for the damage to bike, lights and clothing caused by poor maintenance of a cycle path? basically, on my way in to work this morning and where the painted road type cycle path goes on to the shared footpath/cycle path I followed the prescribed route, but hit a pile of leaf mush and went A over T. a few cuts and bruises, torn clothing, broken front light, scratches, etc to the bike. not looking for compo, per se (i.e. not after incidental damage losses, phoney whiplash, etc), but replacement of the damaged/broken/torn stuff. at the very least, I would like for the council to clean up the cycle paths, given we are in January, and the autumn leaf mush is not yet cleared. any helpful thoughts welcome. Pete
Simple answer is yes but don't know the route to this claim. Other than document the locations with images & damage to your kit. To cheer you up; you best open up that foreign off-shore bank account quick the wheel-barrows of money coming your way need to be piled into some vault!
they don't maintain em as not many cyclists use em. They are usually tearing on/off foot paths and running red lights instead. sorry, can't resist a dig at a cyclist. Glad your ok. There may be some sort of liability on the councils behalf, I know of people that have been compensated for tripping on dodgy pavers and works.
was on the mountain bike this morning (Norco Charger 17" - is somewhere on the pushirons thread). switched over from roadbike to MTB at the turn of the new year to take account of the worsening weather, etc, and gave the bikes a coating of ACF50 to get them through the winter. thanks for the good wishes posted above, and @chizel , I can see your anger with cyclists, especially with you being London based. the cycle traffic up here seems to be much lighter, and much more civilised (as do the vast majority of other road users in their etiquette towards cyclists). it's ironic how councils and the like talk about being greener, encouraging cycling as an option, yet really only pay lip service to the concepts , but hey, they are politicians after all. Pete
I suspect that you would have to prove that the Council :- a) is the landowner b) has responsibility for maintaining the path (including in a "safe" condition) c) was aware that there was a potential hazard in an accumulation of dead leaves d) did not have any provision in place to deal with the aforementioned hazard Personally, I'd put it down to one of many hazards cycle riders face after inclement weather or the onset of autumn/winter, and that's life. No doubt legal representatives will be able to give you better advice in due course.
I agree with Ron ^^^^, maybe if it was a dirty great pot hole that had already been reported you'd be eligable to some sort of compo but how can the council reasonably be expected to ensure leaves are removed from a pathway/cycle path?
Every incident isn't always someone's fault. I fall off my bike too often but I don't try to get money for cycle repairs as I expect riding a bike is a risk and I accept that. I had one exactly like you and damaged a 5k bike. It's life. Can you imagine every time someone crashed trying to sue Cannock chase because of a bit of mud /leaves etc.
Indeed. It would be a tall order to prove that the council was aware of the hazard and was at fault in failing to deal with it. There is also the question of contributory negligence. Any rider is expected to look where they are going and ride with due care and attention; the council might well argue that Mr efcbluepete was mainly or entirely responsible for his own accident.
I had an event planning meeting attended by a guy from our local council today who I know quite well and I mentioned this too him over coffee having read it this morning. In general terms leaves are the council responsibility especially in areas of high usage but not exclusively. Essentially he said that the council have to remove leaves before they reach a level considered to be a hazard. They pay out claims, mainly to pedestrians who have slipped on leaves every year. Provided you have evidence and the leaves were of a level considered a hazard then you can make a claim. I assume most councils have a similar liability.
Leaf it out fellas. Mush you take the piss. Given it was at 0715, dark but with excellent lights on my bike, and following instructions painted on the road by the council to switch to the foot/cycle path, there isn't much more I could do. Councils seem to be obliged to prevent unreasonable surfaces on roads, so why not cycle paths that they have painted and signposted? Anyway, I'm in one piece, with a few hundred quids worth of damage and a few cuts and bruises, may just take it on the chin, but will definitely use it to get them to clear the pathways.
