ok, im after a few bits of advice here..

i was on my way to a a small gathering at a friends house on friday night (completely sober), on the way i decided to stop at the local bank and get some cash. I drove into the car park which i park in most weekdays and regularly on weeknights. I drove the car around the usual corner and up towards the space that i normally park in (the one closes to the entrance) when suddenly i hit a chain. Now this chain isn’t normally here as i annoyingly discovered, it was a very low chain in an area that was very poorly lit, there was a small round blue arrow sign on it but i obviously didn’t see that. the chain come up onto the bonnet an across the windscreen…

the damage caused is as follows

– a few scratches to the front bumper and head lights,
– a few nice deep scratches on the bonnet, and it looks as though the bonnet is almost twisted slightly as there is more coverage over the drivers side light
– a badly scratched windscreen, which is across the whole windscreen.
– and a big dent in the right driverside pillar.

once i had pulled away from the chain to inspect the damage, another car did exactly the same as i had and drove straight into the chain!

Im in two minds about this one as really i should have seen the round circle, but it was however relatively low and the chain was very small. If i hadn’t seen the other driver do exactly the same i probably wouldn’t bother writing to the council but seeing as they did, i’m tempted to now as i’m slightly annoyed.!

also, i was wondering if you guys knew how to get scratches out of windscreens or will i need a replacement? i’m assuming i will!

i have taken pics of the chain in both the dark, and illuminated with my lights, and in both pictures its very hard to spot!

cheers,

I’m not sure what you’re asking? YOU drove into something that you didn’t see! Driving without due car and attention….just be grateful that someone wasn’t sat in the space!

I drove the car around the usual corner and up towards the space that i normally park in (the one closes to the entrance) when suddenly i hit a chain.

If it was in the dark, your headlights probably wouldn’t have illuminated the sign until it was invisible below the bonnet line.

Was it a shimano or Sram chain, 9 or 10 speed.

Report it to the company whos private land you where parking on,without permision and out of working hours.

That chain could of been a CHILD’S FACE!!!!!!

Hope you used an oversize pin or a powerlink.
Oh sorry wrong sort of chain.

Seriously though, is it a public space or private grounds? It may be whoever’s land it is, the owner is getting fed up with people parking there, hence the chain.
Making assumptions based on familiarity usually leads to the mother of all **** ups! We’re all guilty of it.

once i had pulled away from the chain to inspect the damage, another car did exactly the same as i had and drove straight into the chain!

yes, because that actually happened 😐

it was a council owned public car park, and the chained off area, isnt normally chained off!

neither i, nor anyone else in the car saw the chain and the round sign attached to it, until it was up over the bonnet!

@mechmonkey it really did! and what concerns me more is that i’m sure he was watching me do it! as it came from a bay opposite where it happened!

Sorry mate, very very easy mistake to make, but driving into a stationary object (not matter how invisible) can only ever be the fault of the driver. I can’t see any landowner wanting to even talk about liability/damages etc.

You might be able to get your insurance company to sort the windscreen (mine swapped the cracked screen on my van for £80), and keep an eye out for a new bonnet in the same colour (scrappy’s, ebay etc), the rest might polish out?

Put it down to one of those easy mistakes that works out expensive! (Like shearing off the damper rod on forks, or smashing a double glazed window with a mis-thrown ball etc etc)

Did you speak to the other driver/get their details?

*gets cup of tea*

*sits down*

My advice is don’t ask car advice on a bike forum. Try Pistonheads – Speed Plod and the Law for some sensible advice.

“See Lisa? Because of Daddy, they have a warning label”. I sympathise, and I reckon I might have done the same, and if I did I would say oops and deal with it- it’s nobody else’s fault.

If someone puts a wire across a bike trail with a tiny blue label on it at neck height, is that also OK?

My mate tripped and flipped over one of those once. Nasty badly lit things.

As above PHs and take a pic

If someone puts a wire across a bike trail with a tiny blue label on it at neck height, is that also OK?

no that would not be okay. but can not really see how you can compare the two situations

I know a woman that did this onto a car park once and there is no recourse I’m afraid.

Polishing scratches out the paint, talk to a smart repairer. To polish scratches out of glass is pretty tough so its normally cheaper to get it replaced on the insurance and pay the excess.

I did the same at a works carpark where I was sent to do some weekend work several years ago. Grey chain on a ramp into an underground carpark – basically invisible. Almost turned the car into a convertible and the padlock came through the driver side window nearly taking my head off.

Apparently entirely my fault and if they wanted they could charge me for the damage.

I was a bit pissed off at the time, with nearly being killed and all, but chalked it down to experience.

Sorry mate, very very easy mistake to make, but driving into a stationary object (not matter how invisible)

I think it’s fair to say they’ll be a limit.

So if I dropped a breezeblock into the middle lane of a motorway, the next car to hit it would be at fault?

Yes that is exactly the same.

So if I dropped a breezeblock into the middle lane of a motorway, the next car to hit it would be at fault?

From a driver fault perspective then yes.

Although the insurance company would probably want to get in touch with the person that dropped the breeze block and claim some form of negligence.

And possibly attempted murder?

Car + The Chain = great success!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z-dJ35fOiM[/video]

Since you presumably haven’t informed the landowner yet, you might want to work out your reason for not informing the police ASAP (and in any case within 24hrs). A defensive landowner who wants to ‘close down’ your threat of compensation may well claim you damaged his property and failed to report it. 5-10 pts + fine…

and a big dent in the right driverside pillar

This would be my concern as damage to A and B pillars is often regarded as structural and non-repairable and thus a write off…

Well from experience I’d complain! We have a plot of land at the top of a dead end street with five newly constructed houses on it. We put two pull up barriers across the entrance, big black and yellow chevrons on them to stop the cheeky **** neighbours parking on the drives. Some arsehole backed into one whilst doing a 3 pointer, bent it and the council have told us to stop using them 👿

Replace the word “chain” with “child”. Would you post that on the internets?

If it was thinly strung between two bollards, probably.

lol!

If it was thinly strung between two bollards, probably.

And its exactly comments like this that make me love this website so much.

It’s an interesting issue, and I’m sure it’s not quite as clear-cut as some folk are making out.

If it’s a pull-in to a public car park (is it public?), while you might expect the possibility of a barrier if the car park is closed, you would reasonably expect the barrier to be visible to a driver pulling in in normal conditions. Which is why it would be unreasonable to make a barrier out of fishing line or mirrors (or thinly-strung children).

Obviously, they’ll argue the toss and you’ll get nowhere. Doesn’t mean you don’t have a point, though.

and a big dent in the right driverside pillar

This would be my concern as damage to A and B pillars is often regarded as structural and non-repairable and thus a write off… [/quote]

This is what I’m thinking…sod the scratches on the windscreen.

Edit…the double quotes displays correctly in Preview, but not when submitted.

and a big dent in the right driverside pillar

+1 for being majorly concerned about this before anything else.

Take it to a reputable body shop and get their professional opinion. A scratched windscreen/bonnet is a minor imbuggerance (to quote Terry Pratchett); a damaged A-pillar is potentially lethal.

I think the problem you’ll face is the reporting (or lack there of) of the incident. a few shots on your phone are no substitute for a Rozzers notes Stating “the object you struck was not clearly visible to approaching vehicles” and “appeared to have been placed with malicious intent, or no consideration of drivers eyeline / clear signage”, “driver was sober and alert”… that sort of thing would reinforce your complaint to the council… should have called the police and got an incident number / report…

That said it al comes down to what evidence you did manage to gather… and if you managed to speak to the other driver who apparently struck the same chain…

Was there any other signage (at a higher level) indicating the presence of the Chain / or Barriers or telling members of the public that the car park was closed or not to be used after a certain time?

On inspection did the barrier have any other clear purpose? i.e. preventing drivers parking in a spot subject to subsidence or an area currently under excavation? and was their any other signage?

you’ll probably have to try and persue it through your insurance company, they’ll not want to pay out if they don’t have to so might throw some resource into demonstrating you were not at fault… but they’ll probably just take away your no claims and bump your premium at the next renewal…

My Dad done exactly this and I believe he won his case. However the chain he drove over had zero signs or anything on it – was just a low chain.

From what I remember he won the case. Was a very long time ago, tho.

There’s usually an outer skin covering on the all the pillars on modern cars, that’s what’s dented, not the underlying strucutre.

It wouldn’t be very structural if it could be so easily damaged by a chain at low speed now, would it?

Is this one of those JRA incidents like when trees and ditches jump into the road?