the end for speed bumps?

[dave.gsi]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003461095,00.html

[Nova-Flair]

hope it is! was bloody awful in my nova after i had it lowered........slow down, crawl over bump, speed up does yer nut in lol

[?Marty?]

not the end of speed humps.

there's all sorts of rules and regulations governing where they are and how high they can be, angle at which they inclide/decline and how wide they are.

also, there are other civil laws that can apply if you have a LEGAL car (not lowered yourself/post production) that's 'there' before the speed bumps are put up and etc.

If you lower your car so that it then can't get over the speed bumps, then there is nothing you can do. And it's your own stupid fault then anyway.

[dave.gsi]

if you break your leg whilst burgling a house. its your own stupid fault for burgling the house but you can still sue and will most probably win.

if you rip off a sideskirt over a speed bump is it you own fault for driving a lowered car or the councils fault for discriminating against lowered cars by putting speed humps in, which in turn stop you having a free run of the highway which in effect is what we pay road tax for.

[wisewood]

some good points there dave, although i think we all know thereis no way it would get settled like that... coz if it did people would start lowering their cars to get away without having to pay road tax :lol: thus the cost of lowering kits would go through the roof!

[Breeny]

I think your missing the point... that article was in The Sun so its got to be a load of old trifle :lol:

[wisewood]

hey - i happen to like trifle!

[dave.gsi]

lol, thers nothing wrong with the sun. a good quality read (with a few naked ladies here and there :wink: )

[?Marty?]

if you break your leg whilst burgling a house. its your own stupid fault for burgling the house but you can still sue and will most probably win.[quote]

Yes, that is true. The reason is due to The Occupiers Liability Act, which states that you have a duty of care to anyone on your property. So anyone receiving loss/damage/injury on your property may have grounds for a claim.
However, for a burgler to do so, they'd also be admitting to unlawful entry into the house and incriminating themselves. Even if you were found liable for their injuries, the damages awarded would be zilch. Whilst they'd then have criminal proceedings abrought against them.

[quote="dave.gsi"]if you rip off a sideskirt over a speed bump is it you own fault for driving a lowered car or the councils fault for discriminating against lowered cars by putting speed humps in, which in turn stop you having a free run of the highway which in effect is what we pay road tax for.

Is the council discriminating against fast cars by putting up speedlimits and etc? The 'speedbumps' are traffic calming measures to prevent accidents in residential areas. Tho it doesnt mean that they are still legal in all cases.

That is why there are guidelines as to heights, widths and angles for 'speedbumps', to take into consideration EXISTING low vehicles. How can anyone predict how low someone might decide to make their vehicle, what roads might they choose to drive on and etc. It is perfectly legal to place 'speedbumps' on roads, as long as they comform to rules and regulations, and if your car 'catches' on them, your car may be deemed to have an illegal defect. If it is excessively lowered - you'd get a rectification notice, for example.

So whether you could sue, would depend on whether your car was that low as standard or reasonably low (if you lower your car so much that it causes you difficulty getting over speedbumps, it would be unreasonably low) and whether the 'speedbump' meets the legal requirements. However, if you make your vehicle so low as to cause it damage on a 'speedbump' that meets legal requirements, you'd have no claim because of volenti. It's like a boxer getting in the ring and then suing for assault.

There are also principles concerning the civil tort of nuisance, but it basically states that it must come to you to give rise to liability. If you go to a nuisance, you will generally have no claim. (Well, it's not quite as simple as that, but i'm just trying to illustrate a point). The guy in the article had a hot-rod that was that low without him making it so low.

If you receive damage on a road that's in serious disrepair, the council MAY be liable for the damage. But that depends on whether they are aware of the road damage and etc etc.

I like your argument to a ''free run of the highway'' too, but sadly this is not the case anyway, due to parking restrictions and etc.

I used to drive to my local Blockbuters to rent a dvd, and hadn't been for AGES. Drove down one night, parked opposite it (where i usually would do), in between two cars that already were there and went in.
Picked up a film, got in the que, and noticed a police van park up next to my car blocking my view on if. It was friday night and about 8pm, so i assumed it was to 'have a word/pick somebody up' since people were walking about.
I got out and as i walked up to get into the car, the officer stuck his head out the window and said ''is this your car?'', i panicked a bit thinking ''shit, someones done something to it!'', and said ''yes''.

He then proceeded to tell me that ''you are parked in a taxi rank'' and that he was going to write me a ticket for it (?40 fine). WTF!? It was turned into a taxi rank without any signs of 'new road layout' (the 'taxi rank' bit was obscured by the other two cars, and i didn't really pay any attention since it has been 'free to park after 6pm' for YEARS in that bit).
I said ''it's ok, i have a parking permit'' and pointed to my tax disc, and added that ''i pay road tax so should be able to park where i like'', to which he said ''i'm sorry, i agree with you, but i'm just doing my job''.

Yea right. They have a certain ammount of discretion, and i was only in and out the building for a few minutes max, so he could have let me off. I got the ticket because i was a 'boy racer'. Or deemed to be one because of my car anyway.

It's like when you get pulled over - they see the car, then out gets a young male. BINGO!!

Still, i later realised that there were no 'new road layout' signs up, took a few pictures and got the council to revoke my fine.