Lampost positioning

[Red_Zetec]

Was going along a street with fairly poor lighting and got blinded by a cars headlights(think they were on fullbeam), moved over to let it passed and next minute, bang! my nova clipped a telegraph pole thats situated a kerbs width from the edge of the road. I'm fairly sure my car is wrote off cos the force of the impact(only 30mph) has forced the front wing back creased the roof which probably means the chassis is twisted. Does anyone know if i can claim of someone like the DOE or BT? because the telegraph pole is right beside the kerb and the lighting is very poor in this area. Not what you want happening on xmas eve!!

 

[big cyril]

Sorry to hear that.
Just to clarify - was there a kerb? - and which side of it was the lamp post?
Also - what was the post carrying - lamp or telegraph wires or power cables?

 

[metro1800]

Sorry to hear that lad. I'd be in touch with the DOE asap. Did you report it to the police?

 

[Chris Mac]

was it a white nova with speedlines that crashed on Shandon Park??
just seen ones front end wrecked lying on Shandon Park...

Sorry 2 hear that

 

[Red_Zetec]

Yes mate that was her. Got her bk home now on a recovery lorry. Haven't got in touch with the police, no one else involved and don't want the police getting the insurance company involved. Shes abit ****ed, those telegraph poles are pretty tough!

 

[Red_Zetec]

Sorry to hear that.
Just to clarify - was there a kerb? - and which side of it was the lamp post?
Also - what was the post carrying - lamp or telegraph wires or power cables?

It was a telegraph pole so there wastelephone wires. There was a low kerb and the pole base is right beside the kerb on the pavement side. I'm sure it must have been hit before.

 

[big cyril]

There are bound to be regulations about where telegraph poles can be situated - ie out of the way of traffic.
Can't think where you would start to search tho' ?

 

[Graham]

get a few pix in daylight maybe and see search the et for road laws maybe lad ?

 

[JayT]

be careful however, a girl from the town here hit a pole a few years ago and the nie made her pay for all the repairs to the wires and other things. Research it well first, or you could get a bill.

 

[stevieturbo]

There are bound to be regulations about where telegraph poles can be situated - ie out of the way of traffic.
Can't think where you would start to search tho' ?

Like not on the road ? and on a pavement perhaps ?

Seriously, if you went off the road and into a hedge, would you blame the farmer for not having having lights all along his hedge ?

While its nasty, he drove off the road and into a lampost mounted on a pavement, in a lit up area.

Sorry if I dont sound sympathetic, but if the lamp post was in the middle of the road, things would be different.

And more than likely, seeing as it is your fault, if you did cause damage to the pole, you could get billed for any repairs.

 

[smyth_installs]

i know how u feel mate. down my road there is an old stone wall, and the telegraph poles sitting on the road side of the wall.. they even break the white lines along the side of road cos these dopey ****in poles r in the way, thats how much they stick out.. i was driving my old mans lorry home 1 evening about 4 months ago and hit it with the mirror on the passenger side, pulling the wing mirror off, wrecking the hinges and putting a buckle in the door..

he put in for a damage claim against the NIE cos its 1 of their poles but we havent heard a thing since,even tho he sent in numerous letters, pics ands a solicitors letter..

best bet would be to claim the insurance and get another motor if its ur first year, otherwise take others advice and research it a bit to see if u can get anything for it..

 

[Nordonian]

there is going to be a very bad crash on the road from portadown - banbridge, after halls mill thers a petrol station on the left, after the petrol station before the roundabout at the bannville, they widened the road but the lamp post was kept in the same place, first time i went round the corner i wasnt expecting such a sharp exit and the lamp post was fast approching. Maybe its just me but unless there is something done soon someone is gonna clip the kerb and end up slap bang into the lampost

 

[big cyril]

Like not on the road ? and on a pavement perhaps ?

Seriously, if you went off the road and into a hedge, would you blame the farmer for not having having lights all along his hedge ?

QUOTE]


Right , imagine you are the folks placing telegraph poles along the side of a road with a pavement - do you

Place the pole right along the kerb where it will make maximum damage to any vehicle which happens to stray a few inches over the kerb or

Place the pole on the far side of the pavement away from the road where it presents as little risk to passing traffic as possible?

The bit about farmers hedges and lights is irrrelevant.

 

[CapMan]

In my opinion, there wouldn't be any point trying to claim from the DOE or BT. The fact that the telegraph pole was off the road means you left the road with your car. General idea of safe driving is to keep the car on the road, not mount pavements and hit static objects (although i'm the last person to be giving advice on this subject lol).

The fact that you left the scene of the accident isn't going to go in your favour either. I think your best bet is speak to your insurance company about the damage as thats what insurance is for after all.

Also, theres a chance if you pursue this with the DOE or BT, they will contact the police and you may be slapped with a driving without due car and attention charge. I hit a lampost/telegraph pole at high speed and although i remember nothing about the circumstances, i've got a careless driving charge to answer in court.

 

[Red_Zetec]

Know what you's are all saying. Not going to claim of the insurance cos i want to keep my no claims bonus etc. Just goin to get a new motor. The telegraph pole is only the width of a kerb from the road,i just moved over to give some ******* with their lights on full beam room cos i couldn't see anything and then bang!i didn't even know what i'd hit! You just don't expect telegraph pole to be right at the edge of the pavement, i barely left the road. As big cyril says, why did they put the pole at the edge of the pavement and not in or by the hedge!?

 

[Red_Zetec]

The pole isn't damaged either, just got a slight lean now. There built abit tougher than novas!

 

[CapMan]

i just moved over to give some ******* with their lights on full beam room cos i couldn't see anything and then bang!

Other drivers driving with their main beam on happens to us all, if he was coming up behind you the answer is to drive safely and use the anti-dazzle lever on your rear-view mirror, not mount a kerb and hit a telegraph pole!

 

[stevieturbo]

Hedges are relevant. There is no lee-way there. You hit the hedge, you crash. At least here, the pole was on teh pavement, off the road. Not far off, it, but still away from it.

So, lets imagine for 1 second, that it wasnt a lamp post on the pavement. And it was someone standing there.

Dumb place for someone to stand on a pavement ??

 

[Marc]

mate.. sorry to say, but you crashed into a telegraph pole on the footpath from what i can read, your fault if you want to get the insurance it will be claimed of your own

 

[therock]

D.O.E - "You didnt hit out telephone pole, there was no police report done!"

You - "D'oh"

 

[Terry]

Dumb place for someone to stand on a pavement ??

^^^^^ This is exactly what the police would say.

My advice would be to cut your losses - look into another car and swap your insurance over. Say nothing, salvage what you can from the other car and scrap the rest

The only way i could see someone successfully claiming for where that lamp is situated is if they drove a very qide lorry and a wingmirror clipped it or something similar whilst the vehicle remained on the road, but once you mount the footpath there's no real lee-way im afraid.

 

[big cyril]

Hedges are relevant. There is no lee-way there. You hit the hedge, you crash. At least here, the pole was on teh pavement, off the road. Not far off, it, but still away from it.

So, lets imagine for 1 second, that it wasnt a lamp post on the pavement. And it was someone standing there.

Dumb place for someone to stand on a pavement ??

TBH I don't think there is much point in persuing a claim and I think he is right to put it down to experience and move on , but as time goes by folks are becoming more and more accountable for what they do in their workplace and I really don't see why someone should have put a pole where it is likely to be a hazard when it could have just as easily been put back against the hedge?
After all we're not all perfect are we , and folks occasionally do make mistakes on the road so perhaps poles and other such things should be placed to make minimum danger if someone does come off the road for whatever reason.

That is common sense.

 

[Red_Zetec]

I can't really be arsed with trying to claim now, just wanted to see what people thought. Good excuse to get a new motor! I see tho that stevieturbo seems to think i was driving like a maniac and just drove off the road. Do you actually know the road that i crashed on or have you seen where this telegraph pole is? This road has old low granite kerbs that are about 2inches high so there not like normal kerbs, i didn't even know i was off the road. Put yourself in the situation, driving along a narrow road at night when a car coming towards you blinds you with their lights, would you
a)keep going and may run the risk of clipping the car or
b)move over to give them some room and take your chances with the low kerbs?

Only an idiot decided to put a telegraph pole as close to the edge of the road as possible, not what you expect to be there.

 

[Marc]

Only an idiot decided to put a telegraph pole as close to the edge of the road as possible, not what you expect to be there.

do you not mean as close to the edge of the footpath?

afterall you did mount the footpath, so its hardly something the DOE can fix for you, if it was on the actual road then i may understand.

 

[stevieturbo]

Ok, write to the DOE, and ask them to paint telegraph poles, lamp-posts, signposts etc in dayglo pink. That way people should see them.
Or position them in peoples gardens, or neighbouring fields where they are safe.
Widen all roads, remove any possible obstructions that could be hit.

In an ideal world, many things could be done. But be realistic. You said hedges werent relevent. Most back roads I drive on are quite narrow. They dont ahve any kerbs, they dont have any markings whatsoever. They are just barely wide enough for 2 cars, and in some places they arent. So generally, you drive that little bit more cautiously. If you did happen to veer wide, you have an accident. Its that simple.

Maybe we should have all hedges removed, and have big soft sponge barriers put in place ? The DOE do have a duty of care when building roads do they not ? Narrow roads are dangerous after all. Thats a fact.

I dont think there is any arguement that the DOE, BT, NIE or whoever owned the pole are at fault. Just be grateful it was a pole he hit, and not a person. If it was, he could be facing death by dangerous driving charge, rather than complaining about crashing his car after mounting the pavement.

Final note sums it up in a way.

Only an idiot decided to put a telegraph pole as close to the edge of the road as possible, not what you expect to be there.

Expect the unexpected. Only an idiot would crash into a telegraph pole.

Hell, I hit a lampost once myself as I was driving like a t**t ( not saying you were, but you could have been paying more attention ). But I sure as hell didnt go blaming the lampost !!!