Afternoon guys and girls. Just had a 'moment' in the Ferrari, resulting in some minor damage. I think I have a reasonable case for a claim against another party, but would like to hear your views. I was travelling along a dual carriageway in lane 1, I indicated to move into lane 2. Mid-way through my lane change manouvere, the back of the car decided it wanted to overtake the front, and the revs went sky-high. At that point the car started to behave like it was in a cartoon, and I had a major tank slapper on my hands. just before I got the thing back under control I clipped the rear left hand wheel on the curb of lane 1 (remember, this moment started in lane 2, so that gives you an idea of the extent of the slide). It was miraulous that I didn't hit anyone. Several hundred yards up the road, there's a guy stood in lane 1, herding the traffic into lane 2. I pulled alongside to ask what was going on (there was now a visible patch of something running up the road) and, chuckling, he tells me that his tractor unit has dumped its oil all over the road. We "exchanged words" and I suggested he should be at the start of the spill, rather than at the end, so people weren't driving through it like I did, at which point the conversation degraded into a row. It ended with him telling me it wasn't his fault I drove a Ferrari, so I left. The guy works and drives a lorry for a major UK supermarket, and I have the vehicles number plate. Do I have grounds to claim directly from said supermarket? I'm not jeapordising 7 years NCB for a simple wheel refurb, but also, I'm not paying for it myself when the damage was a direct consequence of their lorry's oil spill. What do you guys think? Pics of damage below. I'm just off to Zymol my drivers seat..... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Reading through what happend, I think you got off lightly. Looking at the damage the wheel doesn't look to bad really. A refurb and potentially a new tyre will be about £200. £200 is still a decent sum of money, but if you try and claim it off the driver, the supermarket chain web of middle management will pass your claim from pillar to post-it just isn't worth the grief I hate to say. I had the same when I hit a pot hole in Kensington. Tyre exploded and wheel was damaged. Went back and took picture and then returned 1hr later and the whole had been filled in!! Try to claim off Kensington and Chelsea Council-no not them, then the Highways Agency-no no them either. Finally got through that its Transport for London who looked after the road. This saga took two months after the incident and in the end it was costing me more money chasing it. I paid for the repairs myself. Seems like I was giving up, but my time is more valuable than endless phone call/letters. One thing I would do before anything is get the car checked out for any chassis damage/geometrey/tracking issues-if there is any issues with that, then contact the supermarket. Peter
Hi simon ... initially, i would consider myself most fortunate the damage is very limited. Legal procedures are, i think, out of the question given the huge costs involved. Maybe a polite letter (let the "dust" settle for 24 hours) to the company in question, with pics, and details of the compensation you seek. Worth a try, and if things get nasty, you will have the first sensible document "on file". cheers, d ps ... for what it's worth, Manx law is totally different to it's UK counterpart.
Si mate, Really sorry to hear this, but glad you escaped as lightly as you did, could have been a lot worse. Not sure you really have much to go on, but might be worth a call to a lawyer. If the oil spill has been reported, and not cleared up within a reasonable time, the local council may be liable. Had the tractor driver notified the police? To be honest I think trying to claim may be more trouble than it's worth, but I think a letter to the supermarket head office is worth a try.
Cheers for all the kind words guys. The most annoying thing was, the driver said that he had phoned the police, and that no one had come out yet. Yet on the other side of the roundabout, there was a police camera van parked up on the pavement, trying to catch people speeding on the A14 below. Seems they're more interested in catching people doing 75mph along the A14 than they are averting an accident because of an oil spill 100 yards from their post.
Was the road dry (apart from the spill)? And did you definitely hit his oil/diesel/whatever (i.e. nip back up the road and see the offending stuff with your track marks through it)? I think Dave's suggestion is the best you'll get. Mull it over for 24hrs, then perhaps write a calm and considered letter to the supermarket. Don;t expect anything back. Most of all, as everyone said, be happy that the wheel is all that was buggered up. PS Had you not seen the broken down vehicle, what would you have thought? The way you wrote your post kind of indicates you weren't expecting to see it...
The highly unfortunate way of things unfortunately. Legally, it's really easy to prove people speed. But any of the other far more serious driving indiscretions (driving without due care, dangerous driving etc etc) you hardly ever hear people getting stopped for. Which in an age of video cameras in police cars I find odd, but not surprising.
Maybe I'm just stupid, but it seems to me that another vehicle has caused damage to your vehicle. I would contact the transport manager of the firm, ask for the insurance details (which by law he must give you), tell him you intend to make a claim, thereby giving him chance to settle directly with you, if he doesn't want to settle, then contact your insurer to make a claim on your behalf.The driver admitted that his vehicle caused the spill, therefore his insurers are liable. BTW I would certainly have a geometry check carried out on the car, you'd be surprised how small an impact can adversely affect the setup.
Just to clear up, the road conditions were great (other than a big oil patch in the road), the road surface was dry, sun was shining etc. I wasn't speeding (had just shifted into 3rd gear, not charging hard). Have driven that strecth of road 1000 times before (and often at twice the pace) so I feel the oil patch is solely to blame. The HGV was actually parked at the side of the roundabout, 500 yards or so ahead, and the road curves around to the left, so from where I was the broken down vehicle wasn't visible. The map below shows the road. I joined the road from the slip road in orange (red dot) HGV had parked on the roundabout (green dot) The whole stretch of road had oil running down it, the depot for the supermarket is just up the road. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Don't know if this affects you but while there's an outstanding claim your own insurance company will suspend your NCB pending the outcome. That happened to me when also trying to claim for damaged wheels( different circumstances). Wasn't worth paying the extra insurance bearing in mind the amount of the claim. These things can easily take 12 months and longer to sort out when the other side are digging their heels in
Always try to assess the road surface as well as the items on it. Changes in the colour of the road can mean many things, but will often mean that the traction will be different at these places - sometimes noticeably at the helm, sometimes not. But it pays to be massively cautious and indoctrinate your senses into looking out for this stuff. Especially when changing gears. I learnt this the hard way in my 7, much to the continued amusement of my friends! The circumstances were a bit different (wet weather, white lines - the latter the thing they all find so amusing! - or possibly diesel) and the outcome was worse (smacked the armco hard during a 540deg spin - though the car was still very driveable!). Ever since I've been very aware of the road my tyres are passing under... Don't want to sound holier than thou. Like I said, been there, had my wallet emptied! But it really looks like you were very lucky. And as others have said, chasing it down is likely to be a fruitless exercise (other than as a vent).
