Highway Spills

These accidents usually arise when a motorcyclist loses control of their motorcycle due to something on the carriageway. It can be as obvious as a suitcase or as subtle as diesel or ice.

To be able to bring a claim you have to be able to show someone caused the accident. If you drop diesel, petrol or anti-freeze on the road, an accident is likely to occur. The same is true if you allow water to escape from your property and it forms ice on the road. Where an accident happens it is hard for them to then show they took all reasonable precautions to avoid this.

Recently we have also had to deal with new claims involving the use of shellgrip on roads. Highways authorities are trying to save money by chucking a layer of tar on the road and throwing shellgrip on it. They are then supposed to dust off the excess and allow passing vehicles to push the remainder into the road surface. As you can imagine this is very slippery for a motorcyclist and not helped when they fail to put up signs or clear the excess.

If an accident has occurred then oil-absorbing granules may be put down. The types we have come across are not designed for this purpose and are rarely cleaned up afterwards. This is like steering on ice for motorcyclists.

A lot of solicitors tend to avoid dealing with this type of claim because it is out of the ordinary and insurers are likely to fight. Most legal expenses insurers also refuse to cover these types of accidents.

If you have been told there is nothing you can do, then please call us on 01296 662770 to discuss the matter. We will quickly be able to tell you if they are right or wrong.  If it goes no further it costs you nothing.