Solicitors - recommendations appreciated

David Lloyd wrote:

Were there any signs warning of loose chippings/surface? They normally
put up "20mph" or caution signs? I assume not or you would have taken
more care and not crashed lol.

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which had judt
been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel chippings applied to
thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of these chippings had not adhered
to the road and had been washed into deep, wide piles.

Don't know about UK law, but here (Irish Republic) you'd only have a
case if there wasn't a sign informing you of said road works.

--
Membrane

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which
had judt been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel
chippings applied to thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of
these chippings had not adhered to the road and had been washed into
deep, wide piles.
I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck
shoulder first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle,
concussion, cut fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer)
and some damage to the bike.

To cut a long story short, I intend to sue the council over the state
that the road was left in. I'd like recommendations for the national
solicitors that deal effectively with cycle accidents. Thanks in
advance.

Not wishing to seem unsympathetic, but unless you came off very early in the
resurfaced area then you would have had time to assess the conditions and
adjust your speed accordingly. Were you travelling too fast for the
conditions?

I'd have no sympathy for a car driver who lost control on loose chippings on
a bend and took out another road user.

pk

"David Lloyd" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which had
judt been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel chippings applied
to thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of these chippings had not
adhered to the road and had been washed into deep, wide piles.

I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck shoulder
first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle, concussion, cut
fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer) and some damage to the
bike.

To cut a long story short, I intend to sue the council over the state that
the road was left in. I'd like recommendations for the national solicitors
that deal effectively with cycle accidents. Thanks in advance.

David Lloyd
(Typing this one handed) :-(

It's fairly standard to leave the loose chippings in situ to ensure that
they bed in bofore the surplus is removed a day to so later. A stretch of
road on my way to work had an identical treat ment and the mounds of loose
chippings were clear to see to all who took the time to look.

You might stand a chance of a claim if there were no warning signs placed
before the roadworks.

On 17 Jul,

Membrane said:

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which had
judt been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel chippings
applied to thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of these chippings
had not adhered to the road and had been washed into deep, wide piles.

Don't know about UK law, but here (Irish Republic) you'd only have a case
if there wasn't a sign informing you of said road works.

About 1971 I travelled south (by car) to Dundalk one Sunday evening and had
my windscreen break before I arrived, following a similar tar and chipping
job. Even though I was sticking (well nearly) to the posted limit. Cars in
the opposite direction weren't, and a ratatatat-tat after every passing car
ended up with the break. Customs man on my way back (southern side) said he
had been on shift for 20 minutes, and I was the 17th going past with cracked
screen. Chippings were very loose on the road surface and hadn't been swept
off. He recommended me claiming off the council, despite there being signs.
I didn't bother, my insurance covered it.

I wonder it he had suffered similar damage on his way to work?

--
BD
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

If you are a member of British Cycling or the CTC, get on to them, as your
membership covers legal assistance for such things. If not, take a look in
the ads in the back of the Comic, as several firms advertise there. IIRC,
there's one run by a woman who is a legal bod and a cyclist.. so I would
hope that she's good.

On 17 Jul,

vernon said:

It's fairly standard to leave the loose chippings in situ to ensure that
they bed in bofore the surplus is removed a day to so later. A stretch of
road on my way to work had an identical treat ment and the mounds of loose
chippings were clear to see to all who took the time to look.

Round here they usually sweep them up rather promptly. Until then they have
traffic control, and enforce low speeds by a convoy system, with the lead
vehicle being one of the contractors.

--
BD
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:10:57 +0100

vernon said:

It's fairly standard to leave the loose chippings in situ to ensure
that they bed in bofore the surplus is removed a day to so later.

They've been known to hang around for many weeks, even months.
A serious menace when they fly up into your face.

There's a short stretch of road locally where I used the
pavement for several weeks to minimise that risk.

--
not me guv

"p.k." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which
had judt been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel
chippings applied to thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of
these chippings had not adhered to the road and had been washed into
deep, wide piles.
I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck
shoulder first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle,
concussion, cut fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer)
and some damage to the bike.

To cut a long story short, I intend to sue the council over the state
that the road was left in. I'd like recommendations for the national
solicitors that deal effectively with cycle accidents. Thanks in
advance.

Not wishing to seem unsympathetic, but unless you came off very early in
the resurfaced area then you would have had time to assess the conditions
and adjust your speed accordingly. Were you travelling too fast for the
conditions?

I'd have no sympathy for a car driver who lost control on loose chippings
on a bend and took out another road user.

It was a dry bright evening. I do ride with the stones in mind, but these
piles should not be there. I'm not bad at handling my bike, so I think there
could be quite a few others who will come acropper.

"vernon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"David Lloyd" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which had
judt been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel chippings
applied to thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of these chippings
had not adhered to the road and had been washed into deep, wide piles.

I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck
shoulder first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle,
concussion, cut fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer) and
some damage to the bike.

To cut a long story short, I intend to sue the council over the state
that the road was left in. I'd like recommendations for the national
solicitors that deal effectively with cycle accidents. Thanks in advance.

David Lloyd
(Typing this one handed) :-(

It's fairly standard to leave the loose chippings in situ to ensure that
they bed in bofore the surplus is removed a day to so later. A stretch of
road on my way to work had an identical treat ment and the mounds of loose
chippings were clear to see to all who took the time to look.

You might stand a chance of a claim if there were no warning signs placed
before the roadworks.

It has been more than a day or so. All signs related to the road works have
long gone.

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

If you are a member of British Cycling or the CTC, get on to them, as your
membership covers legal assistance for such things. If not, take a look in
the ads in the back of the Comic, as several firms advertise there. IIRC,
there's one run by a woman who is a legal bod and a cyclist.. so I would
hope that she's good.

Thanks Wafflycat. I will look in the back of the comic, but I was hoping for
some personal recommendations to help me narrow down the adverts.

I was in BC last year. Should have got round to rejoining this year, since I
finally rejoined my club.

David Lloyd

"David Lloyd" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

If you are a member of British Cycling or the CTC, get on to them, as
your membership covers legal assistance for such things. If not, take a
look in the ads in the back of the Comic, as several firms advertise
there. IIRC, there's one run by a woman who is a legal bod and a
cyclist.. so I would hope that she's good.

Thanks Wafflycat. I will look in the back of the comic, but I was hoping
for some personal recommendations to help me narrow down the adverts.

I was in BC last year. Should have got round to rejoining this year, since
I finally rejoined my club.

David Lloyd

This is who I was thinking of: Alyson France at Bikeline

http://www.bikeline.co.uk/accident_claims/about_us.htm

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which had judt
been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel chippings applied to
thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of these chippings had not adhered
to the road and had been washed into deep, wide piles.

I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck shoulder
first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle, concussion, cut
fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer) and some damage to the
bike.

To cut a long story short, I intend to sue the council over the state that
the road was left in. I'd like recommendations for the national solicitors
that deal effectively with cycle accidents. Thanks in advance.

David Lloyd
(Typing this one handed) :-(

get some pictures of the road before the evidence is removed 😉

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

"M-gineering" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which had
judt been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel chippings
applied to thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of these chippings
had not adhered to the road and had been washed into deep, wide piles.

I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck
shoulder first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle,
concussion, cut fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer) and
some damage to the bike.

To cut a long story short, I intend to sue the council over the state
that the road was left in. I'd like recommendations for the national
solicitors that deal effectively with cycle accidents. Thanks in advance.

David Lloyd
(Typing this one handed) :-(

get some pictures of the road before the evidence is removed 😉

Thats what the solicitor said, but it will be difficult as the site is at
the other end of the journey, it's off the beaten track and I'll be
transportless for a while, whilst I can't drive or ride.

David Lloyd

David Lloyd said:

"p.k." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which
had judt been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel
chippings applied to thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of
these chippings had not adhered to the road and had been washed into
deep, wide piles.
I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck
shoulder first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle,
concussion, cut fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer)
and some damage to the bike.

[...]

Quoted message said:

It was a dry bright evening. I do ride with the stones in mind, but these
piles should not be there. I'm not bad at handling my bike, so I think there
could be quite a few others who will come acropper.

Sorry to hear about that.

I have fallen over on those kind of loose chippings before, also on a
bend, and got grazed a lot and received a concussion but fortunately
nothing broken that time. I'm now extra careful when I see that stuff
but it is very annoying, in particular because the gravel really spits
up at you from passing cars who never of course actually go at the
recommended 20.

I don't know why they have to do that at all. It looks like a cheapskate
ploy to use passing traffic as a steamroller.

In the interests of science, were you wearing a helmet? I was, it got
cracked a bit, and I was concussed but not too badly (out for about an
hour, out of hospital about 3 or 4 later).

David Lloyd said:

Came off my bike on Thursday evening, on a quiet country lane which had judt
been resurfaced by a loose coating off small gravel chippings applied to
thin liquid asphalt. A rediculous amount of these chippings had not adhered
to the road and had been washed into deep, wide piles.

I caught one off these piles just after a bend and I hit the deck shoulder
first, resulting in a double fracture of the clavicle, concussion, cut
fingers, grazing, two shreaded tops (inner & outer) and some damage to the
bike.

To cut a long story short, I intend to sue the council over the state that
the road was left in. I'd like recommendations for the national solicitors
that deal effectively with cycle accidents. Thanks in advance.

David Lloyd
(Typing this one handed) :-(

Russell Jones and Walker

Nick Kew said:

They've been known to hang around for many weeks, even months.
A serious menace when they fly up into your face.

I've known the last few chippings to hang around for several years
(after most have been swept up) on one particular single track road on
my commute.

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2

Quoted message said:

On 17 Jul,
"vernon" <[email hidden]> wrote:
Round here they usually sweep them up rather promptly. Until then they have
traffic control, and enforce low speeds by a convoy system, with the lead
vehicle being one of the contractors.

--
BD
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

Must either be very conscienscous (sp?) council/contractor or a not
very busy road - the only time I've seen a rolling roadblock like that
around here is when they opened up the motorway after a crash, in
order to limit people wazzing off like loonatics. If its an A road or
less you get signs and fend for yourself round here. We really must
stop this petty claim ridden society where if you make a mistake or
misjudge something you try your hardest to find someone else to
blame.
As mentioned by someone else, unless the OP crashed somewhere JUST
entering the gravelly section with no warning signs, surely it is
their fault for not slowing to match the conditions - its fairly easy,
on a bike, to spot gravelly ground. As for windscreens cracked by
stones flying - that happens all the time, however if signs were up
and people were breaking that limit it is the other drivers fault, not
the council.
The road surface in question, if i remember correctly, is one where a
thin layer of binder is thrown down and stones are pressed into the
surface - this is a cheap form of resurfacing, usually done when the
council intend to fully resurface properly at some fairly near future
point.

On 19 Jul,

CoyoteBoy said:

The road surface in question, if i remember correctly, is one where a
thin layer of binder is thrown down and stones are pressed into the
surface - this is a cheap form of resurfacing, usually done when the
council intend to fully resurface properly at some fairly near future
point.

Not with some councils round here. I've seen some roads treated in that
manner up to five times in the last thirty years, without any other
resurfacing, other than the filling in of larger potholes and strengthening
of edges.

--
BD