General Beware of strimmers

[The Panda Nut]

Thank you. Brilliant advice. I'll wait and see what happens next.

Im more than passably fed up with the failure of the Local Authorities and the Highways Agency to meet the minimum standards required to maintain the roads in safe condition and I am currently researching the Statutory Duties under the relevant statutes. I fully intend to become a VERY large pain in the arse to them. Its taken a while to get our road repaired to a sensible standard but quoting the sections and word of the Local Government Act did get all the required repairs carried out in a few weeks. I am sure the HA can be encouraged as well. Within a mile of here there are several holes a foot deep and 4 feet in diameter that have been there for months. Frankly I don't give a damn about their financial difficulties as they couldnt care less about the wrecking of our cars and if they fail to perform I am going to cause a great deal of trouble and embarassment. I have some sympathy in that the weather has meant its the worst ever situation they have ever faced but that just means that it will take a little longer for them to get round and that minor defects will have to wait. It does not excuse them from their Statutory duty to operate safely and to make the roads safe in a timely fashion, or with the right orders, close them. They seem to think they can utter these sorts of comments to good effect and make people vanish. I disagree. I spent months working up a working document that made sense of their half baked high speed road closure / management offering and interpreting how their document could be applied sensibly to the actual real world. It took years for any of this to get into the codes of practice. I spent another 15 years doing things my way on all classes of roads and defended all the challenges of HSE Police and Highways Authorities. I don.t have much time for them and I can still not understand why they find it so difficult to actually do things. Too busy trying to dodge claims that are right and reasonable, reulting from their and their unsupervised contractors operations I suggest. My experience is that if you have a reasonable claim that they do pay as its easier in the end. Best of, whats left of, British luck. When putin Nukes us it wont matter lol.

 

[KPat]

I'm very wary of potholes. A few years ago this one destroyed both nearside tyres and alloys on my Nissan Micra. Hiding in the deep shade of a tree which made it almost invisible.

 

[Panda IIs]

Im more than passably fed up with the failure of the Local Authorities and the Highways Agency to meet the minimum standards required to maintain the roads in safe condition and I am currently researching the Statutory Duties under the relevant statutes. I fully intend to become a VERY large pain in the arse to them. Its taken a while to get our road repaired to a sensible standard but quoting the sections and word of the Local Government Act did get all the required repairs carried out in a few weeks. I am sure the HA can be encouraged as well. Within a mile of here there are several holes a foot deep and 4 feet in diameter that have been there for months. Frankly I don't give a damn about their financial difficulties as they couldnt care less about the wrecking of our cars and if they fail to perform I am going to cause a great deal of trouble and embarassment. I have some sympathy in that the weather has meant its the worst ever situation they have ever faced but that just means that it will take a little longer for them to get round and that minor defects will have to wait. It does not excuse them from their Statutory duty to operate safely and to make the roads safe in a timely fashion, or with the right orders, close them. They seem to think they can utter these sorts of comments to good effect and make people vanish. I disagree. I spent months working up a working document that made sense of their half baked high speed road closure / management offering and interpreting how their document could be applied sensibly to the actual real world. It took years for any of this to get into the codes of practice. I spent another 15 years doing things my way on all classes of roads and defended all the challenges of HSE Police and Highways Authorities. I don.t have much time for them and I can still not understand why they find it so difficult to actually do things. Too busy trying to dodge claims that are right and reasonable, reulting from their and their unsupervised contractors operations I suggest. My experience is that if you have a reasonable claim that they do pay as its easier in the end. Best of, whats left of, British luck. When putin Nukes us it wont matter lol.

Wow, I needed you on my case when I went face first over the handle bars on my bike! They (Herts CC) hid behind the fact that they claimed to make regular inspections but their "Inspectors" failed to identify the correct lane by name.

10 stiches in face and inside mouth - "life changing" damage to front teeth...

 

[The Panda Nut]

There is a good book.... its the highways bible and covers a lot of stuff in the highways Act. I have found it rather usefuk in defending parking fines. Its pretty funny how highways in general like quoting the rules but are not too good at following them. My last little skirmish was with Aylesbury council who tried to fine me for pakring in a line of cars in what appeard to all the world to be marked bays. It mad me so cross I went back and checked it out. No part of the bay, parking area, no parking arwa or signs were correct. I did tell them if they didnt do the decent thing I would check ever parking place in their district ans publish those where non compliance was evident and write tothe local paper suggesting anyone fined in thei area should take them to task. The fine was cancelled. Their response was not very professional either. It still left me out of pocket for a 250 mile round trip but better than being illegally fined felt. They used to come the regular inpection thing in Norfolk but cleary dont do much inspection now. i am always worried wife o0r daughters will be injured or wreck a car round here. Im told all this is progress and I benefit from lower taxation. Personally I would rather pay and not have the risk, danger and aggro. Always ask for the insection sheets and insist they are faxed or emailed so there is no.making it up after the complaint has festered for days or weeks. The bottom line in all this is is it safe and reasonable. E.g were signs warning of strimming specifically out and of flying debris. Trainibg records and site and date specific risk assessment. Machinery maintenance. You can go further and check they were not using oversized nylon which makes it worse. Records of supervision checks on safe working will always stump them. OKthese job sneed doing but brken glass used to be part ofmy overheads when working in parks, insurance was for injuries or claims I didnt think genuine. In my years managing such things very very very few claims fell into that group, so why make a bad situation worse by being difficult seems a reasonable approach. Thelaw tends to lean on the unreasonable.

 

[Panda IIs]

There is a good book.... its the highways bible and covers a lot of stuff in the highways Act. I have found it rather usefuk in defending parking fines. Its pretty funny how highways in general like quoting the rules but are not too good at following them. My last little skirmish was with Aylesbury council who tried to fine me for pakring in a line of cars in what appeard to all the world to be marked bays. It mad me so cross I went back and checked it out. No part of the bay, parking area, no parking arwa or signs were correct. I did tell them if they didnt do the decent thing I would check ever parking place in their district ans publish those where non compliance was evident and write tothe local paper suggesting anyone fined in thei area should take them to task. The fine was cancelled. Their response was not very professional either. It still left me out of pocket for a 250 mile round trip but better than being illegally fined felt. They used to come the regular inpection thing in Norfolk but cleary dont do much inspection now. i am always worried wife o0r daughters will be injured or wreck a car round here. Im told all this is progress and I benefit from lower taxation. Personally I would rather pay and not have the risk, danger and aggro. Always ask for the insection sheets and insist they are faxed or emailed so there is no.making it up after the complaint has festered for days or weeks. The bottom line in all this is is it safe and reasonable. E.g were signs warning of strimming specifically out and of flying debris. Trainibg records and site and date specific risk assessment. Machinery maintenance. You can go further and check they were not using oversized nylon which makes it worse. Records of supervision checks on safe working will always stump them. OKthese job sneed doing but brken glass used to be part ofmy overheads when working in parks, insurance was for injuries or claims I didnt think genuine. In my years managing such things very very very few claims fell into that group, so why make a bad situation worse by being difficult seems a reasonable approach. Thelaw tends to lean on the unreasonable.

Back to the strimming thing; in the past I have seen some areas using "Heras" type security fencing with some additional plastic mesh (like a geotextile) tie wrapped to it used as a mobile barrier but this was an exception. The tractor mounted hedge/verge trimmers (which are typically flails) are very dodgy.

I did have a previous engagement with Herts CC over a pothole that took out a wheel and front suspension of my (then) Alfa; their reply was that I should consider withdrawing my claim since such claims served only to increase council tax... My consideration was, I'm afraid, brief! Apologies to the Council Tax payers of North Herts!

 

[Steveetee55]

Being in and around gardening and agricultural equipment for 25 years I've seen many incidents of damage caused by strimmers, worst being someone getting eye damage standing a good distance away from one, and a lad wiping out a patio door with one