The
BBC has reported a number of serious accidents today as the UK's roads remain icy and dangerous. More than 40 people were hurt, some seriously in two bus crashes in Gloucestershire. Some local authorities are still waiting for deliveries of grit and road salt which is in short supply throughout the country.
Who looks after our roads?
All Local Authority’s are under a duty to maintain roads. More specifically it is the Highway Authorities that have a statutory (legal) duty under Section 41(1) of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain highways that are ‘maintainable’ at the public’s expense.
There has been much legal debate as to whether the Highway Authority is under a duty to ensure highways are safe when affected by the danger of snow and ice.
In the case of Goodes v East Sussex [1999], the House of Lords found that the duty placed upon the Local Authority was limited to keeping the fabric of the road in such good repair as to render its physical condition safe for ordinary traffic, and did not extend to the prevention of ice forming on the road.
However, since the case of Goodes new legislation has been passed that specifies that the duty placed upon Highways Authority now extends to ensuring that, ‘so far as reasonably practicable, safe passage along the highway is not endangered by ice and snow.’
Therefore, as long as it is reasonably practicable, there is a duty upon an Authority to ensure a road is passable. In order to succeed in establishing liability against the local authority a claimant must establish that:
1. The highway was in such a condition as to create a danger;
2. That danger was caused by a failure to maintain the highway; and
3. The claimant’s injury or damage resulted from that failure.
It is important to remember however that, each case will turn on it’s own facts. The causes of the accident would have to be established clearly whether they be an individual cause or a number of causes. Other factors will also be considered. These would include but are not limited to whether there were any problems with the vehicle, or if there was any driver error or lack of training, which caused or contributed to an accident. If accident is found to be caused by lack of adequate training given by an employer or lack of a reasonable system of vehicular inspection by a company, then a company or employer may also be held to be accountable or partially accountable for the accident.
If you have been injured in a road crash and would like to speak to one of our lawyers please call
Zahra Nanji on 020 7650 1200 for more information.
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