Mother crashed car this morning...

Atomic Pineapple

My mother crashed her clio this morning.

Car ended up on its side in a ditch.

Mother is ok, just shaken but the whole passenger side of the car is a mess, front wing completely torn off, headlight smashed, passenger window shattered and major dents and scratches the whole way down the side.

now here's why I'm posting....

The reason she crashed was because there was loose chippings, thats the stuff the council put onto freshly layed tar, it was not dirt or grit or sand or salt but loose chippings scattered all over the turn she crashed on.

This coupled with the frost this morning led the car to completeley loose grip and just slide into the ditch.

now there were no signs saying loose chippings ahead or anything and it has turned out that some idiot had stolen the loose chippings from the county council and decided to scattered them on the road themselves.

Loose chippings!!! how was that going to help!?

Tragedy

Did she call the guards?

Doyler92

Tragedy, the Guards do not call to accidents anymore unless a person is injured.

Anan1

Sorry to hear that, i'm glad she's ok. Have you any idea who might have scattered the chippings?

antodeco

I hope your mother is ok. Perhaps the chippings were put down to counteract the loss of grip on the ice. What speed was your mother going? Was she going around a bend or exactly what happened?

Atomic Pineapple

Doyler92 wrote: »

Tragedy, the Guards do not call to accidents anymore unless a person is injured.

As above, I know the Gardai would have no interest in a single car incident with no injuries but would it be worth reporting that the road is in a hazardous condition due to the chippings?

Anan1 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that, i'm glad she's ok. Have you any idea who might have scattered the chippings?

No idea at all, I'm in Dublin away from home at the minute

antodeco wrote: »

I hope your mother is ok. Perhaps the chippings were put down to counteract the loss of grip on the ice. What speed was your mother going? Was she going around a bend or exactly what happened?

I dont know but my mother is one of the slowest drivers out there so she wouldn't have been going fast, it would be a slight turn, calling it a bend would be wrong.

I'm not sure that chippings would help at all with icy conditions on a road?

antodeco

Any slants on the road or anything? I would probably get a photo taken of the road anyway, just in case. Insurance company might want to see a picture of the road it happened on....

kasper

glad your mum is ok ,mums are irreplacable cars can be replaced,

Doyler92

Personally I think it would be worth reporting in order for something to be done, or should be done.

Atomic Pineapple

antodeco wrote: »

Any slants on the road or anything? I would probably get a photo taken of the road anyway, just in case. Insurance company might want to see a picture of the road it happened on....

Very slight incline, thats a good idea actually, thanks

Tragedy

Doyler92 wrote: »

Tragedy, the Guards do not call to accidents anymore unless a person is injured.

Really? That's a bit ****, surely someone can be criminally negligent for causing a serious accident?

Atomic Pineapple

just on the phone to her there,

to list the damage again:

front wing panel completely ripped off (not sure how bad as not there)
some suspension damage
headlight smashed
passenger window smashed
very bad damage to both passenger side doors
damage to rear panel
roof is bent inwards on the passenger side too

its an 07 clio, top spec with only about 40k km on it

anyone reckon it could be a write off?

sdanseo

Doyler92 wrote: »

Tragedy, the Guards do not call to accidents anymore unless a person is injured.

Slightly incorrect. The Gardaí are not required to be at an incident where there's material damage only. They'll still attend if you ask them to, however, especially if there's any question over fault. If nothing else they can witness the damage and be called upon later. My mam was crashed into not too long ago and this happened.

docmartin

draffodx wrote: »

anyone reckon it could be a write off?

very hard to know, roof damage and quarter panel damage are time consuming fixes which leads to higher labour costs.

you mention some susp damage, this could also be pricey, i'd say it probably would be a write off but impossible to say without seeing the car. best of luck to ya's though. who cares about a wee clio when your mum is ok

Marlow

sdonn wrote: »

Slightly incorrect. The Gardaí are not required to be at an incident where there's material damage only. They'll still attend if you ask them to, however, especially if there's any question over fault. If nothing else they can witness the damage and be called upon later. My mam was crashed into not too long ago and this happened.

And they generally turn up to any accident on the motorways, no matter if a person injured or not.

/M

maidhc

Doyler92 wrote: »

Tragedy, the Guards do not call to accidents anymore unless a person is injured.

Ignorant and ill informed comment there to be honest.

You should always report an accident to the guards, particularly if there are two parties involved. In this case the guards could have looked at the road and given their opinion on the cause of the crash, something which might prove useful at a later date.

Atomic Pineapple

maidhc wrote: »

Ignorant and ill informed comment there to be honest.

You should always report an accident to the guards, particularly if there are two parties involved. In this case the guards could have looked at the road and given their opinion on the cause of the crash, something which might prove useful at a later date.

it turns out that further up the road the CC were in the process of sweeping the chippings off the road, my mother got talking to the CC and they said they wont take any responsibility as the chippings were stolen but that they would pass info on to her insurance co if they find out who it was. Its unlikely though