Ever crashed and burned

Johnny Jukebox

off the MTB in Wicklow National Park ????

Get your money back !!!!

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/dublin-woman-sues-parks-service-over-fall-on-wicklow-way-1.2519391

loudymacloud

worst thing about that is she will probably win.

i do like the line about her being restricted in her working life due to a couple of stitches

godtabh

Over €10k per stitch? No wonder insurance is so high

ford2600

godtabh wrote: »

Over €10k per stitch? No wonder insurance is so high

Maths is not your strong point.... 7 stitches...

Pretty poor journalism, shock horror, €60,000 is limit of Circuit Court.

Pretty bad news if she gets money, not the money per se, but the effect it might have on public bodies developing facilities. These marked trails are priceless ( I like navigating and messing around with a map and compass but most don't) as they allow casual walkers access to mountain in relative safety.

There is a lovely one in Killarney, linking Torc Waterfall with Kenmare(you can also stay on Kerry Way to Lord Brandon's cottage) some of which is laid with sleepers to allow walkers through very heavy marsh. I've walked Kenmare Killarney more often than I've cycled it, it is spectacular and doable for most. A judgement against OPW here wouldn't be in the public good, especially a public getting progressively fatter

godtabh

ford2600 wrote: »

Maths is not your strong point.... 7 stitches

I'm sick

listermint

This is not a good precedent should she win.


This women claims to be a 'hillwalker' and have interest in Hill walking but its quite a clear attempt to run these resources for everyone else.

This type of nonsense sickens me. Look where your bloody going your on a mountain side. And she cant hillwalk anymore from a tetanus and 7 stitches ...... right...

ThisRegard

ford2600 wrote: »

Maths is not your strong point.... 7 stitches...

Pretty poor journalism, shock horror, €60,000 is limit of Circuit Court.

Pretty bad news if she gets money, not the money per se, but the effect it might have on public bodies developing facilities. These marked trails are priceless ( I like navigating and messing around with a map and compass but most don't) as they allow casual walkers access to mountain in relative safety.

I don't think that could be the worse outcome if she does win, it will mean the NPWS and similar will simply refuse to issue permits for events on their lands if every eejit who has a fall claims.

Tenzor07

Those crumbling boardwalks are in bits, zero maintenance being done on them, most of them are almost fully rotten..
Maybe it's time the NPWS did some work as it was only a matter of time before something like this happened..

Though what I don't like is the precedent this could give to people who slip and fall on Coillte and NPWS lands, could lead to a lot of restrictions on the likes of MTB trail centres..

Also, I can see private landowners in the Wicklow hills putting up more/higher fences and "No trespassing" signs everywhere if this woman succeeds in her case!

ThisRegard

Are there any official MTB trails on NPWS land, I thought they had a blanket ban these days?

Tenzor07

ThisRegard wrote: »

Are there any official MTB trails on NPWS land, I thought they had a blanket ban these days?

Nope, all official MTB trails are on Coillte lands...

traprunner

Reminds me of the case last week where a woman was awarded €90,000 for a dislocating her thumb when she slipped in her 4 inch while at a party in a pub.

ThisRegard

Yeah, that one I thought was ridiculous. However I think in that case there seemed to be evidence that the management of the club was told about the spilled liquid previously and seemed to have done nothing about it which implied negligence on their behalf. And I think I had a little sympathy for her as at the time I read the story it was a very cold day and I had broke my hand and thumb as a teen and it still gets sore on occasion.

numbnutz

Commonsense I hope prevails here and maybe the full extent of her injury is not being reported but the amount being sought is fanciful. Judge Linnane from any articles I see her mentioned in isn't one that gets carried away with awarding compensation easily so the right judge is presiding over this in my mind.
Why the feck cant anything be more than just an accident these days?...unfortunate as they are they are just accidents..without sounding like an old man which I nearly I am this is a culture that has to stop.

seamus

It'll probably be thrown out. Misfeasance is known to be a defence in cases like this, as well as the reasonable requirement of care on the part of hill walkers, the reasonable expectation that things may be slippy in wet conditions, and the overall expectation that one may get injured when engaging in such activities.

Sometimes in cases like this where the judge takes pity on the plaintiff, the judge may encourage the two parties to come to a "no-fault" agreement, i.e. she gets a payout and the case is dismissed without judgement. Both the judge and the NPWS know the implications of being found at fault, so if it looks like it's going that way, they will probably pay out an "undisclosed sum".

In terms of crashing your MTB, again it has to be weighed up against the reasonable expectation of injury. If you got injured because part of the trail was poorly constructed (e.g. one of the wooden chicanes collapsed due to being poorly constructed), you may have a case. But if it was just dangerous due to wear and tear, the same doesn't apply.

AstraMonti

That's absurd, you are walking in the woods, shit like that happen all the time, what did she expect? A red carpet? Cases like this are dumbing down humanity, that's why you have labels on your HOT coffee, saying WARNING HOT CONTENTS. I should have sued last time that I faceplanted on a brunch with the mtb..

ThisRegard

AstraMonti wrote: »

I should have sued last time that I faceplanted on a brunch with the mtb..

How very middle class of you. You could have bought a new Volvo had you sued.

Melodeon

AstraMonti wrote: »

I should have sued last time that I faceplanted on a brunch with the mtb..

ThisRegard wrote: »

How very middle class of you. You could have bought a new Volvo had you sued.

Perhaps is was a particularly tasty and distracting brunch?

ford2600

seamus wrote: »

It'll probably be thrown out. Misfeasance is known to be a defence in cases like this, as well as the reasonable requirement of care on the part of hill walkers, the reasonable expectation that things may be slippy in wet conditions, and the overall expectation that one may get injured when engaging in such activities.

Sometimes in cases like this where the judge takes pity on the plaintiff, the judge may encourage the two parties to come to a "no-fault" agreement, i.e. she gets a payout and the case is dismissed without judgement. Both the judge and the NPWS know the implications of being found at fault, so if it looks like it's going that way, they will probably pay out an "undisclosed sum".

In terms of crashing your MTB, again it has to be weighed up against the reasonable expectation of injury. If you got injured because part of the trail was poorly constructed (e.g. one of the wooden chicanes collapsed due to being poorly constructed), you may have a case. But if it was just dangerous due to wear and tear, the same doesn't apply.

Insofar as I known, NPWS can't rely on misfeasance defence, it's only open to Local Authorities.

The judge has reserved judgement, I'd imagine it is out of hands of Plaintiff and Defendants to settle it now. Given the number of witnesses the NPWS/SCA called I'd imagine they made a decision a long time ago not to settle it. Sometimes, even with the risks, you have to draw a line in the sand.

The country needs way more of these facilities on private and public land rather than less. How hard would it be to legislate for it "The right to roam as long as your forfeit the right to sue"?

AstraMonti

Melodeon wrote: »

Perhaps is was a particularly tasty and distracting brunch?

Tenzor07

ford2600 wrote: »

The country needs way more of these facilities on private and public land rather than less. How hard would it be to legislate for it "The right to roam as long as your forfeit the right to sue"?

Sadly I'm not sure that will ever happen, hillwalkers and private land owners are always battling over access rights...

In one case I can recall, a group of defiant walkers marched in numbers lead by a Bagpiper across a strip of private land close to the border with the Dublin/Wicklow mountains much to the dismay of the landowner as you can imagine!
However, what if he'd allowed walkers to cross his land, and one slipped and hurt there ankle, he'd be sued for thousands!

iwillhtfu

Brought to vhi swift care for treatment no less.

I'd bet that cost a pretty penny.

Hopefully the judge deals in common sense and sends the gee bag packing.

Yes the boardwalk is rough in spots but surely you accept that accidents will happen when walking in the "wild"

Also not to sure about her illustrious marathon career I'm surprised she didn't say her chances of qualifying for Rio have been ruined.

traprunner

She would have passed a number of hospitals on the way to the Swords VHI Swiftcare facility. Surely getting medical attention sooner would have made permanent injury less likely.

ThisRegard

traprunner wrote: »

She would have passed a number of hospitals on the way to the Swords VHI Swiftcare facility. Surely getting medical attention sooner would have made permanent injury less likely.

Including the VHI Swiftcare at Dundrum, or swing down the N11 for Vincents.

traprunner

ThisRegard wrote: »

Including the VHI Swiftcare at Dundrum, or swing down the N11 for Vincents.

Loughlinstown and the Beacon come to mind too and just off the motorway.