Head over heels

minterno

Hi guy's,I came a cropper yesterday on my cycle when i hit a 3in ramp(abandoned roadworks,first layer of tarmac down and the funds must have dried up as its left unfinished for about 2 weeks)just as well i had my helmet on,I have plenty of bruises and a few cuts but should be ok,but the bike has some damage to in and as i was thinking of selling it the value will have taken a hit,im wondering would it be a waste of time chasing cork county council for the cost of the repairs,are they responable for the abandoned works,the roadworks are well signed,ie ramps ahead,thats ok for a car but if your on a bike you'd prob be better off dismounting first(hindsight)and walking through the roadworks,my bike is a defy 3 2010 model and the damaged parts are left and right brake lever/shift levers, they are working but bent and with deep scratches,helmet and water bottle/cage,there's prob a few scratches on the bike also but i was too sore to even look at it when i came home,the bike is about 6 months old and was spotless before this so its a bit of a bummer,its not the end of the world if i have to suck it up but if anyone has had a similar experience and pursued the council they might let me know how they got on,regards

Ardennes1944

minterno wrote: »

Hi guy's,I came a cropper yesterday on my cycle when i hit a 3in ramp(abandoned roadworks,first layer of tarmac down and the funds must have dried up as its left unfinished for about 2 weeks)just as well i had my helmet on,I have plenty of bruises and a few cuts but should be ok,but the bike has some damage to in and as i was thinking of selling it the value will have taken a hit,im wondering would it be a waste of time chasing cork county council for the cost of the repairs,are they responable for the abandoned works,the roadworks are well signed,ie ramps ahead,thats ok for a car but if your on a bike you'd prob be better off dismounting first(hindsight)and walking through the roadworks,my bike is a defy 3 2010 model and the damaged parts are left and right brake lever/shift levers, they are working but bent and with deep scratches,helmet and water bottle/cage,there's prob a few scratches on the bike also but i was too sore to even look at it when i came home,the bike is about 6 months old and was spotless before this so its a bit of a bummer,its not the end of the world if i have to suck it up but if anyone has had a similar experience and pursued the council they might let me know how they got on,regards

sorry to hear that man. where in cork?

minterno

on the east side of castlemartyr village,i changed my route so didn't realise the ramp was as big as it is,its only a few inches but my normal route would have taken me to the same roadworks but approached from the oppsite direction and the ramp on the other side is smaller,i have been on a cycle every day for the last 5 days and know all the potholes by now but i was caught offguard yesterday,i normally give a pull on the bars to get me over the ramp but it didn't work this time

TheBlaaMan

Those roadworks are a disgrace. They moved on to the east side of Killeagh and have left similarly savage 'ramps' where the sufface is being "improved"
I think you should persue the county council, but it could be fruitless....

ajk24

had my own first fall this morning due to similar road surface conditions.

Top road surface dropped away - front wheel went from under me and I took down the guy behind me as well. not too much skin gone but shoe cover and saddle torn.

both wheels slightly buckled. front tube replace only to completely explode on the way home.

minterno

its a joke of a situation allright,but at least the ones east of killeagh have a little ramp in the ramp,ie a piece of tarmic to make the transition a bit safer,id say you'd break your neck cycling in the dark the way the roads are now,i only got the bike at the end of the summer and i thought the roads were poor then but it akin to sitting on a jackhammer with a sore a**e now and is enough to put you off a cycle

minterno

ajk24,that's a right bummer,i just checked my wheels and there is a little bit of wobbling in both front and back wheels but thats prob due to my being 18+:)stone(i know cruelty to the road bike act)

SomeFool

If you are going to chase the council make sure to include pictures of the damage and the ramp. The quality of the roads around cork has been declining over the last couple of years with the bad winters.

minterno

Somefool.
I will take a few pics for the record and take it from there,cheers

Beasty

Definitely get some pictures.

The issue is really whether you could have reasonably expected the road to be in that condition, knowing what you already knew based on your previous experience of it

The local authority is required to maintain the road, and in this case it would appear it was not up to the required standard - this was a road repair, and hence they cannot hide behind any "wear and tear" excuse. They must have known the state of the road (either directly or via any sub-contractor involved), and the possible consequences.

I was hospitalised after an accident 2 years ago, requiring a skin graft around the corner of my eye, and suffering quite severe road rash to my face, shoulders and arms. I also was quite badly concussed

The issue in my case was a stone protruding from a badly replaced bit of tarmac - it was not obvious that there was a problem until I actually hit the stone one morning and went flying over the handlebars.

I went back once released from hospital and got some photos - the stone was protruding from the road surface by a couple of centimetres on an already very uneven surface

I pursued this initially via the Personal Injuries Board, aganst the local council. It turned out the repair had been done by a sub-contractor. I agreed to show the location to the council's insurance expert, but the day we agreed to meet the sub-contractor was conveniently digging the exact same piece of road up again. This is where the photos I already had proved invaluable

The council and sub-contractor could not agree between them who was responsible, so we had to move out of the Injuries Board process and I then had to commence proceedings against both.

The sub-contractor eventually agreed a settlememt figure, then promptly went into liquidation. A bit more hassle ensued, but their insurers eventually paid up (although it did take over 18 months to get there)

If you do want to consider taking this further, I would suggest you speak to a solicitor as a first step

minterno

thanks for the info beasty,im just after driving to kerry so was unable to reply any sooner,i will get some pics tomorrow and go to the doc just to log the few injuries allthough they seem superficial and get a few pics of the damage to the bike,if i got the bike back to the condition it was in prior to the fall it would be a happy outcome,when i got close to the ramp i realised that the height of could be a problem but the cars were whizzing past within a few inches as they were forced in to the side by the cones that were in the middle of the road and i kind of froze for an instant and then tried to jump the front wheel up but failed and ended up with the bike on top of me still clipped in,id say being clipped in saved the bike from some scratch damage,regards