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MY son was on his way to work ,down local back roads ,steep down hill section road covered in slurry from tractor traffic spreading , no warning signs ,had to brake causing skid and panic as not overly confident rider,result in over bars roll , smashed helmet ,slide injury to leg, hip , hand bruising, damage to bike and having to call his mum out to pick him up n bike as rendered unrideable due to chain tangle round front mech.
I only found out when i got home as working at time too, time of incident 17 .45 so light, but damp day.
Is it worth pursueing the case with reards to ignorance on part of farm for lack of warning causing danger ETC????
Would be worth reporting it as farmers etc have a duty of car not to get roads covered in mud.
No IMO, should have been riding within his ability, seen the slury and slowed down (I always try and avoid sh!t) its a good learning curve IMO although a painful one. Its the countryside you expect the roads to be dirty/greasy/covered in manure etc.
Of course nowadays everyone expects some one else to take responsibility for THEIR actions so yes go ahead and sue the farmer.
My imeadiate reaction too, am just about to out and look at the road in question as i was not home till after dark last night, and will be taking my camera to document and as you say report as lack of duty of care, common practice with farmers localy.
I would say he was as riding within his ability , as braking to slow down was cause of incident , warning would have been nice !
Next traffic could be car full of kids , meets tractor !!!!!!!
Worth pursuing, an aquaintance claimed successfully for bike damage and personal injury in similar circumstances.
Can he not just chalk it down to experience? Society in general is too litigious.
Should have ridden within his capabilities, a good lesson on reading the road. Farmers have enough to do and enough to put up with. Nothing like blame and compensation culture.
Chalk it down to bad experience as above.
Unfortunately mud and shit on roads will happen in farming communities. I learned the hard way in a car on a mud covered road just after a downpour, my own fault, had I been going slower i would have avoided the accident.
Farmers are responsable look [URL= http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/10/15/112645/NFU-Mutual-reminds-farmers-of-39mud-on-road39.htm ] here[/URL] for information straight from their own trade magazine. Whilst I'm not saying sue him he is just as responsable for the damage as if he'd pulled out in front of you.
I would say it depends on how bad it is.
If the road is excessively covered in slurry/ mud to excess he should be making a clear up/ post signs etc.
If the mess is "reasonable" for the work going on its less clear cut.
are you not country folk then? on holiday? or recently moved here? country lanes and around farms in particular get a bit mucky sometimes..
If the road is covered in that much shit that an attempt to slow down results in an immediate skid, then I'd say it's unreasonable.
As others have said, the farmer has a duty of care to clean up the road afterwards. Basically, the essence of the law is, "keep your shit to yourself".
If farmers had to stop and sweep all the mud off the road every time then nothing would ever get done.
On country lanes you should always ride / drive to expect the worst road conditions including mud, water, ice, slow turning traffic, walkers, cyclists, pot holes and horses like you would if you were riding off-road.
Chalk it down to experience. Hope hes ok now? 🙂
Farmers get away with it all the time!! I ran a sight a few years ago and the highways man came and threatened me with the police! Stupid tunc!!
I agree with hora (yikes!), mud, slurry, thorns, riderless horses, cows, sheep, fallen trees round the next corner, are just things that you have to occasionally expect on country lanes. Can be a painful learning experience though.
Hope he's recovering OK now.
+2 what Hora and Ian said. "countryside in a little bit muddy shocker", hope he heals quick 🙂
leaves on the track....
🙂
I gaurantee he will not get caught out like this again though. Pain is the BEST teacher by far.
Regarding my opinion above, I should state in the early nineties I crashed a mini due to shit on the road near Strangford Lough NI. My fault entirely. It's the countryside.
If regulations have been drafted calling for farmers to keep minor roads clean then to me that's just another sad reflection on our society - in that case probably urban legislators losing site of what goes on in the country.
I do hope he's okay though.
I was in our saddlery a couple of weeks back and a rather prim and proper lady pulled up outside in her Range Rover and asked if they sold shovels as some rather inconsiderate farmer had left mud on the road near her house.
The lady in shop just turned and looked at her and said, "you live in the countryside, what do you expect? Shovels are in the back!"
A lesson learnt.
Next lesson = how to untangle chains from front mechs.
"Warning! the shit in the road ahead may be slippey/dangerous. If you want me to hold your hand while you cross it, please ring.... oh & please don't sue me for the squirrel up ahead, the sheep in the road, or the branch that fell off the tree"
Warning signs may have been nice but I'd also say if he's that inexperience then he shouldn't be out riding on his own he struggles to stop because there's bit mud. I guess he's not that young if he was off to work but come on there's such a thing as self preservation too.
I grew up in the country and obviously some crap on the road is expected but some places do take the piss. No reason there should be special rules for farmers really.
Pain is a good teacher, thankfully he was only riding a bike this time, hopefully when he does start driving a car he'll have already learnt to adjust velocity according to visibility and surface conditions.
[b]scotabroad[/b] said... I would say it depends on how bad it is.
and I agree with him.
Only the OP's son knows how much shit was plastered all over the road. It's quite reasonable for a farmer going about their work to leave a 'bit' on the road without having to go back and scrub up every last plop. It's not reasonable to baughter the entire width of the road with road with slidey shit.
I do not agree with the (its the countryside what do you expect) statements. If a farmer is meant to clean it up then he should (if no-one bothers claiming them or making them clean it up then it will get worse). Do not think the rider should take the financial hit for someone elses negligence
My soon to be father-in-law who is a farmer informs me that the farmer ought to put out caution signs during maize cutting or when an inordinate amount of shite is on the road. But as has been mentioned it all comes down to common sense, taking a practical view on what farmers do and appreciating that the countryside presents certain accepted hazards or considerations for other road users, which of course includes cyclists.
+2 what Hora and Ian said. "countryside in a little bit muddy shocker", hope he heals quick
More or less agree with this, although as someone else pointed out I suppose there would be an extreme limit to what's acceptable to leave on the roads.
why not just have a friendly word with the farmer?
they're people too, not ogres or monsters. he may well be apologetic...
You've got to expect country roads to be in a rough state with debris, mud, muck and holes. But farmers do need to put up warning signs where their livestock or tractors have affected the road. They usually do around here but some of them are not that conspicuous.
Glad he's OK.
I'd chalk it up to experience, it's happened to me a few times over the last few decades. Even today on the Downs whilst taking in a steep climb the road was covered in Diesel.
Always cautious, damp roads plus 23c tyres means thinking.
I cannot believe that on this forum if someone rides over a dogshit (no real harm done except a smelly tyre) massive rant ensues over the lazy dog owner that should have cleaned it up. Someone else comes on after damage to their bike, clothes and body caused by a farmer not cleaning up his mess and all of a sudden its (oh its the countryside ,what do you expect). Well personally I would expect that he cleans his vehicle so it does not leave a huge mess on the road or clean the road afterwards or at the very least place a sign to warn the road users.
Well if you riding and a lorry delivering tacks leaked loads and punctured your tyres and caused a pile up who would be responsible?
I would report it to the police and check the road out to see how bad it is.
Then go from there.
Maybe its not BP's fault that a bit of oil leaked of the shore in the USA...
Also its worth having accidental damage insurance on your own bike.
Farmers are the first to try and get compo! Another great teacher is being hit in the wallet - sue him and he won't be leaving a mess again.
Road near me is a fairly steep slope and regularly gets covered in slurry. Entering at the top at about 5mph and braking hard with the ABS going will get you to the bottom at about 15mph. Another car coming the other way? Only choice is to stuff it into the hedge to stop.
"Sh*t in countryside shocker". Some is to be expected, you don't expect to be knee deep in the stuff on public roads.
Arr, you incomers b'aint be understandin' country ways. Be orrff, the lot o' ye !!!
I'd probably say if he wasn't able to slow down [i]before[/i] hitting something - be it shit on the road, cattle, a car or a child - then he's riding too fast, or isn't being observant enough, for his own safety.
mtfu it's the countryside
stop on what you can see kids!
I came booting around a corner on single track road off the long mynd, well out of the range of my bald tyres and crap v brakes, when i was about 15. Met a tractor coming up and had 2 options. hit the wall on the left at about 30, or take the drop on the right, which was about 20 feet. i decided to skid, fall off and roll under the tractor.
Farmer, dog and wife looked back to see if had come out from under the tractor, saw i was ok, if shocked, and then burst out laughing, as did my riding buddy.
the farmer needs to move his cows/sileage, and they are going to make a mess on the road. the price of a road sweeper is pretty high, especially when your doing it on a daily basis, and having as hard a time as most british farmers.
live and learn i say.
And what about your inexperienced young driver that slides on it and gets killed with a head on collision is that acceptable?
Yep they should have been going slower 🙂
It's not the countryside it's the public highway. Make a mess on it clear it up or be liable. Diesel on the road is an offence, both the police and enviroment agency would be interested in it.
[i]And what about your inexperienced young driver that slides on it and gets killed with a head on collision is that acceptable?[/i]
Yes.
It's would be very unfortunate, but life is full of risk.