Do councils have a legal duty of care for roads?

RATM

I'm pissed, really pissed. I just crashed my motorbike today and it hurts, both physically and financially.

Thing is there is a type of road speed bump that is made of metal, normally painted black and yellow stripes. Now for a motorbike in the rain these speed bumps are like navigating over ice. There are in the main avenue of DCU and earlier this year I informed the Buildings Dept. there of how slippy they are for motorbikes on a wet day and potentially dangerous.

But my incident didn't happen in DCU, it happened up the road in the Northwood complex, which also has the same speed bumps. I went over one today at low speed (these things will throw you in the air if you don't) and my back wheel completely failed to grip its slippy surface and the next thing I knew I was sent crashing to the ground head first. My tyres are less than 1,000 miles old so the problem doesn't lie there- this particular type of speed bump is lethal for bikers in the wrong conditions IMO.

I can't be 100% sure the road I was driving on is owned by the council (as Northwood is a kind of massive apartment complex) but what I am asking is this: does the council/management company have a legal duty of care to maintain roads in such a manner that these things don't ever happen?

Im more concerned about taking a case (if its possible) for the purposes of highlighting the dangers of this particular type of speed bump, just like I already have in DCU but to no avail.

McCrack

Firstly sorry to hear you came off your motorbike, I've driven bikes for many years so can appreciate the dangers faced.

Yes management companies/local authorities (if roads and pathways have been handed over to them once the development has been completed) owe a duty of care to persons using them. Potentially you may have a case but personally I've never come across an accident such as this, maybe somebody else here has. A number of factors would be relevant such as your speed, the fact that the ramps are not colour painted, are there any signs up warning of such bumps? What are the height of the bumps? Speed bump diminsions believe it or not are regulated by law (SI) in this state so all these would be relevant in assessing whether the local authority or management company breached their duty of care towards you.

A solicitor practising in personal injury work is you port of call.

ViP3r

Correct me if I'm wrong but, the local authority is only liable for malfeasance on the highway under the doctrine of nonfeasance. Essentially they are not liable for something they should do, but are liable if they decide to do it and it's done negligently. In this case wouldn't it depend on wether the speed bumps were substandard, or badly installed? Presumably being worn down and badly maintained would constitute a nonfeasance which isn't actionable in this jurisdiction.

The management company, if in charge of the road, would be occupiers for the purpose of the occupiers liability act 1995 would they not?

rubensni

McCrack wrote: »

A number of factors would be relevant such as your speed, the fact that the ramps are not colour painted, are there any signs up warning of such bumps? What are the height of the bumps? Speed bump diminsions believe it or not are regulated by law (SI) in this state so all these would be relevant in assessing whether the local authority or management company breached their duty of care towards you.

+1
On a public road, ramps are required by law to be made of asphalt and have white reflective paint on them. Here's the legislation:

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1988/en/si/0032.html

Victor

Thats likely to be a private road.