MY son was on his way to work ,down local back roads ,steep down hill section road covered in slurry from tractor traffic spreading , no warning signs ,had to brake causing skid and panic as not overly confident rider,result in over bars roll , smashed helmet ,slide injury to leg, hip , hand bruising, damage to bike and having to call his mum out to pick him up n bike as rendered unrideable due to chain tangle round front mech.
I only found out when i got home as working at time too, time of incident 17 .45 so light, but damp day.
Is it worth pursueing the case with reards to ignorance on part of farm for lack of warning causing danger ETC????
Would be worth reporting it as farmers etc have a duty of car not to get roads covered in mud.
No IMO, should have been riding within his ability, seen the slury and slowed down (I always try and avoid sh!t) its a good learning curve IMO although a painful one. Its the countryside you expect the roads to be dirty/greasy/covered in manure etc.
Of course nowadays everyone expects some one else to take responsibility for THEIR actions so yes go ahead and sue the farmer.
My imeadiate reaction too, am just about to out and look at the road in question as i was not home till after dark last night, and will be taking my camera to document and as you say report as lack of duty of care, common practice with farmers localy.
I would say he was as riding within his ability , as braking to slow down was cause of incident , warning would have been nice !
Next traffic could be car full of kids , meets tractor !!!!!!!
Worth pursuing, an aquaintance claimed successfully for bike damage and personal injury in similar circumstances.
Can he not just chalk it down to experience? Society in general is too litigious.
Should have ridden within his capabilities, a good lesson on reading the road. Farmers have enough to do and enough to put up with. Nothing like blame and compensation culture.
Chalk it down to bad experience as above.
Unfortunately mud and shit on roads will happen in farming communities. I learned the hard way in a car on a mud covered road just after a downpour, my own fault, had I been going slower i would have avoided the accident.
Farmers are responsable look [URL= http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/10/15/112645/NFU-Mutual-reminds-farmers-of-39mud-on-road39.htm ] here[/URL] for information straight from their own trade magazine. Whilst I'm not saying sue him he is just as responsable for the damage as if he'd pulled out in front of you.
I would say it depends on how bad it is.
If the road is excessively covered in slurry/ mud to excess he should be making a clear up/ post signs etc.
If the mess is "reasonable" for the work going on its less clear cut.
are you not country folk then? on holiday? or recently moved here? country lanes and around farms in particular get a bit mucky sometimes..
If the road is covered in that much shit that an attempt to slow down results in an immediate skid, then I'd say it's unreasonable.
As others have said, the farmer has a duty of care to clean up the road afterwards. Basically, the essence of the law is, "keep your shit to yourself".
If farmers had to stop and sweep all the mud off the road every time then nothing would ever get done.
On country lanes you should always ride / drive to expect the worst road conditions including mud, water, ice, slow turning traffic, walkers, cyclists, pot holes and horses like you would if you were riding off-road.
Chalk it down to experience. Hope hes ok now? 🙂
Farmers get away with it all the time!! I ran a sight a few years ago and the highways man came and threatened me with the police! Stupid tunc!!
I agree with hora (yikes!), mud, slurry, thorns, riderless horses, cows, sheep, fallen trees round the next corner, are just things that you have to occasionally expect on country lanes. Can be a painful learning experience though.
Hope he's recovering OK now.
+2 what Hora and Ian said. "countryside in a little bit muddy shocker", hope he heals quick 🙂
leaves on the track....
🙂
I gaurantee he will not get caught out like this again though. Pain is the BEST teacher by far.
Regarding my opinion above, I should state in the early nineties I crashed a mini due to shit on the road near Strangford Lough NI. My fault entirely. It's the countryside.
If regulations have been drafted calling for farmers to keep minor roads clean then to me that's just another sad reflection on our society - in that case probably urban legislators losing site of what goes on in the country.
I do hope he's okay though.
I was in our saddlery a couple of weeks back and a rather prim and proper lady pulled up outside in her Range Rover and asked if they sold shovels as some rather inconsiderate farmer had left mud on the road near her house.
The lady in shop just turned and looked at her and said, "you live in the countryside, what do you expect? Shovels are in the back!"
A lesson learnt.
Next lesson = how to untangle chains from front mechs.
"Warning! the shit in the road ahead may be slippey/dangerous. If you want me to hold your hand while you cross it, please ring.... oh & please don't sue me for the squirrel up ahead, the sheep in the road, or the branch that fell off the tree"
Warning signs may have been nice but I'd also say if he's that inexperience then he shouldn't be out riding on his own he struggles to stop because there's bit mud. I guess he's not that young if he was off to work but come on there's such a thing as self preservation too.
I grew up in the country and obviously some crap on the road is expected but some places do take the piss. No reason there should be special rules for farmers really.
Pain is a good teacher, thankfully he was only riding a bike this time, hopefully when he does start driving a car he'll have already learnt to adjust velocity according to visibility and surface conditions.
[b]scotabroad[/b] said... I would say it depends on how bad it is.
and I agree with him.
Only the OP's son knows how much shit was plastered all over the road. It's quite reasonable for a farmer going about their work to leave a 'bit' on the road without having to go back and scrub up every last plop. It's not reasonable to baughter the entire width of the road with road with slidey shit.
I do not agree with the (its the countryside what do you expect) statements. If a farmer is meant to clean it up then he should (if no-one bothers claiming them or making them clean it up then it will get worse). Do not think the rider should take the financial hit for someone elses negligence
My soon to be father-in-law who is a farmer informs me that the farmer ought to put out caution signs during maize cutting or when an inordinate amount of shite is on the road. But as has been mentioned it all comes down to common sense, taking a practical view on what farmers do and appreciating that the countryside presents certain accepted hazards or considerations for other road users, which of course includes cyclists.
+2 what Hora and Ian said. "countryside in a little bit muddy shocker", hope he heals quick
More or less agree with this, although as someone else pointed out I suppose there would be an extreme limit to what's acceptable to leave on the roads.
why not just have a friendly word with the farmer?
they're people too, not ogres or monsters. he may well be apologetic...
You've got to expect country roads to be in a rough state with debris, mud, muck and holes. But farmers do need to put up warning signs where their livestock or tractors have affected the road. They usually do around here but some of them are not that conspicuous.
Glad he's OK.
I'd chalk it up to experience, it's happened to me a few times over the last few decades. Even today on the Downs whilst taking in a steep climb the road was covered in Diesel.
Always cautious, damp roads plus 23c tyres means thinking.
I cannot believe that on this forum if someone rides over a dogshit (no real harm done except a smelly tyre) massive rant ensues over the lazy dog owner that should have cleaned it up. Someone else comes on after damage to their bike, clothes and body caused by a farmer not cleaning up his mess and all of a sudden its (oh its the countryside ,what do you expect). Well personally I would expect that he cleans his vehicle so it does not leave a huge mess on the road or clean the road afterwards or at the very least place a sign to warn the road users.
Well if you riding and a lorry delivering tacks leaked loads and punctured your tyres and caused a pile up who would be responsible?
I would report it to the police and check the road out to see how bad it is.
Then go from there.
Maybe its not BP's fault that a bit of oil leaked of the shore in the USA...
Also its worth having accidental damage insurance on your own bike.
Farmers are the first to try and get compo! Another great teacher is being hit in the wallet - sue him and he won't be leaving a mess again.
Road near me is a fairly steep slope and regularly gets covered in slurry. Entering at the top at about 5mph and braking hard with the ABS going will get you to the bottom at about 15mph. Another car coming the other way? Only choice is to stuff it into the hedge to stop.
"Sh*t in countryside shocker". Some is to be expected, you don't expect to be knee deep in the stuff on public roads.
Arr, you incomers b'aint be understandin' country ways. Be orrff, the lot o' ye !!!
I'd probably say if he wasn't able to slow down [i]before[/i] hitting something - be it shit on the road, cattle, a car or a child - then he's riding too fast, or isn't being observant enough, for his own safety.
mtfu it's the countryside
stop on what you can see kids!
I came booting around a corner on single track road off the long mynd, well out of the range of my bald tyres and crap v brakes, when i was about 15. Met a tractor coming up and had 2 options. hit the wall on the left at about 30, or take the drop on the right, which was about 20 feet. i decided to skid, fall off and roll under the tractor.
Farmer, dog and wife looked back to see if had come out from under the tractor, saw i was ok, if shocked, and then burst out laughing, as did my riding buddy.
the farmer needs to move his cows/sileage, and they are going to make a mess on the road. the price of a road sweeper is pretty high, especially when your doing it on a daily basis, and having as hard a time as most british farmers.
live and learn i say.
And what about your inexperienced young driver that slides on it and gets killed with a head on collision is that acceptable?
Yep they should have been going slower 🙂
It's not the countryside it's the public highway. Make a mess on it clear it up or be liable. Diesel on the road is an offence, both the police and enviroment agency would be interested in it.
[i]And what about your inexperienced young driver that slides on it and gets killed with a head on collision is that acceptable?[/i]
Yes.
It's would be very unfortunate, but life is full of risk.
Interesting to see people defending irresponsibly and negligent behaviour by farmers...
Imagine a similar scenario in town: Loads of gravel and mess left on the road by builders/roadworkers whatever. Causes an accident. How would people feel then?
As mentioned; it's a Public Highway, not the farmer's personal road. Wether they 'have it tough' or not is irrelevant bollocks, wtf has that got to do with being responsible and also acting within the Law? There's no reason why a careful farmer acting according to the Law would leave loads of mess all over a road. Just sounds like laziness.
As for compensation: if someone has left a mess on a public road, which then contributes towards an accident, then they should be held accountable. Would the OP have had an accident if the road was clear of any mess? Nowt to do with 'blame culture'- farmers shouldn't be exempt from the same rules that apply to everyone else. What if the OP had (God Forbid) sustained permanent injuries as a result of negligence by the farmer?
Sue the bastard...
That's cos you're one of them uppity town folks who don't understand country ways 🙂
Christ, a kids fallen off his bike.
MTFU and move on.
accident
• noun 1 an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally. 2 an incident that happens by chance or without apparent cause. 3 chance.
It's an [i]accident[/i]. These things happen.
everything to do with blame culture.
"where there is blame there is a claim"
we are not denying it is the farmers fault, but laws do not over rule physics.
whether the mess was legal or not, it was still there, and the OPs lad should have been riding within the limits of the conditions, which he evidently wasnt.
dont get me wrong, i hope hes ok, i wouldnt wish an accident on anyone but sh!t happens
if you go Booting around a blind corner into the front of a car on the wrong side of the road, whether the car was supposed to be there or not your still dead!
winds me up when people act as if "the law" overrules physics!
suck it up, chalk it up as a near miss and learn from it.
Snow is just as slippy as mud. If you're going to blame the farmer for coming off on mud who're going to blame when you come off on snow?
As many others have said: it's a lesson learnt - no blame.
The mud didn't get there by 'natural causes', did it? It got there because of the farmer's negligence.
And if it's slurry, then there's also laws relating to the correct disposal of biological waste to be considered.
Farmers shouldn't go round acting like they own the entire countryside, and expecting everyone else to accommodate them. They are legally obliged to act within the Law, like the rest of us.
I'd just like to as I am a Farmer, I'm not defending this guy in any way, But how do you expect a tractor get from muddy field to muddy field, By the roads.
We take precations as everyone of our vehicles has two "mud on road" signs. So should he. but to say its an outrage that there is mud on the road in the countryside is a bit OTT.
Growing up and living in the countryside you deal with this day in day out.
legally, the farmer is to blame. correct.
do you work in health and safety Talkemada?
or are you one of those people who "walks at you from funny angles" on TV
i prescribe a dose of MTFU, or end up in an accident that "shouldn't have happened"
Out here in the boonies one of the local farmers was taken to the cleaners for leaving shit all over the roads. Was on a bend and three cars slid off the road into the ditch.
However, from a cycling perspective, he should MTFU. If you're local then crap on the roads should not be a surpise.
do you work in health and safety Talkemada?
Oh here we go... 🙄
If it had been your skinny little arse getting road rash, you'd have gone crying home to your mummy and demanded the farmer be lynched, I bet...
Road users should be aware of potential hazards at all times (including a bit of mud on country roads). However, causing a hazard on a public road through negligence is an offence punishable by death.
Well, it bloody well should be...
It's reasonable to expect a farmer to clean up once he's finished his days work - but he can't be stopping to do as after every journey.
As said above, we should all be riding within our limits - both visual and technical.
Mind you wasn't there an anti-disc brake thread on here a week or so back with folk arguing that road bike brakes were only used for slowing down gradually - never to make emergency stops?
Warning signs indeed! Could he not smell it?
Farmers are supposed to clean up the road, and they know it. No reason not to go for compo in my book.
You're assuming that the farmer hasn't.
Finding crap on the road doesn't mean that you can sue anyone. Just as finding a pothole doesn't mean that you have a claim. You have to demonstrate negligence.
+1 Good post IanMunro
I've just imagined me telling my Dad I'd fallen off on cow shit ... LOL ... then tried to imagine my Dad running in tears to the nearest internet forum to find out about compensation ... ROTFLMAO ...
On a serious note, what if the tractor driver had stopped, perhaps to put up a little sign warning villagers he was about to do [b]a big grassy fart[/b], and your son cycled into the back of the tractor, smashing his nose up?
What then?
When that happened to me the first time a few others in the group crashed as well, I had cuts and it bust my then new fangled Avocet computer. We all got up without a word and carried on.
I've always seen it as an acceptable hazard, even if the farmer cleared it up it's still going to leave a slippery surface unless it was jetwashed. I prefer to see the muck than get surprised by stealth stuff.
HA
Talkemeda.
If it had been your skinny little arse getting road rash, you'd have gone crying home to your mummy and demanded the farmer be lynched, I bet...
i refer you to
[img] 
[/img]
and eating through a straw for 2 weeks,
combined with a police report of the incident that quotes me as saying "shit happens" and no action being taken against the driver.
WWW.BIKELINE.CO.UK
Let them decide if you have a claim, the farmer has a duty of care,to everybody.
Hope your son is ok.
[img] 
[/img]
gods im hot! 😉
:p
Olly, you went under (inbetween) the wheels of the tractor?
You are blessed with luck.
i did, and i was 😀 (i feel it has run out, i used up ALL 9 of my lives long ago, and now, when in messy situations, tend to come off.... well... messy)
How anyone has hurt themselves from the shits that sprays from Talkmeda's gob is beyond me.
Id like farmers to be made to put up warning signs- i ride a motorcycle, and road tyres dont stick to shit all that well.
Ive been riding mountain bikes long enough to know that you have to expect the unexpected on country roads, so its not always a problem for me. Not all road users have mountain bike experience though, so they'll boot it as soon as they pass their test! And they wont neccesarily know what happens when shit hits the ...er....tyres.
How anyone has hurt themselves from the shits that sprays from Talkmeda's gob is beyond me.
😕
Erm, can anyone translate that from Idiot into English please?
Id like farmers to be made to put up warning signs- i ride a motorcycle, and road tyres dont stick to shit all that well.
Ive been riding mountain bikes long enough to know that you have to expect the unexpected on country roads, so its not always a problem for me. Not all road users have mountain bike experience though, so they'll boot it as soon as they pass their test! And they wont neccesarily know what happens when shit hits the ...er....tyres.
Farmers are "made" to put up warning signs, just like all motorcyclists are "made" to stick to speed limits, doesn't mean everyone sticks to it.
You can't tar everyone with the same brush. (see stoping at red thread)
oi reckons there be zum daft city gobshites spouting nonsensical claptrap bout thingz they knows nuthin about..
you would not be getting this very un-neighbourly and unreasonable attitude about a bit of cow poo on a country lane from proper zyder drinkin country folk..
stop bein so daft innums bey.
What if it was a driver and not a cyclist that hit this poo - and that in losing control, the car ploughed into a group of cyclists, killing a couple of them. Would the driver be at all responsible?
What if it was ice instead of poo?
Came off my motorbike when I was a lad due to a farmer losing some of a load of barley on a 90deg bend. The police came along and were not happy with the farmer who agreed fairly sharpish to cover the cost of my bike repair (I wasn't hurt). No difference between leaving mud on the road and any other farm 'product'. It is a hazard !
I agree with the comments above re 'riding within your limits etc' but it is not always easy to see crap on the road surface, espacially when wet. There should have been a warning sign. It's the law, plain and simple.
Fell off because the road was slippy, who can I sue?
If you want to live in a country where this is acceptable, go on, fill yer boots...
...or get a grip.
crikey - MemberFell off because the road was slippy, who can I sue?
If you want to live in a country where this is acceptable, go on, fill yer boots...
...or get a grip.
Yes and if you slip on diesel outside a bus garage (in the big smoke) then MTFU. If you fall off your bike and lose a month or two's wage what are you moaning about MTFU again and do not have so much debt.
Sue me...
sue him and he won't be leaving a mess again.
No, he won't, as he's more likely than not one of the many farmers who are a few thousand away from committing suicide, just so you can get cheap meat and milk in the supermarket.
Yes, they are responsible for excessive mud on the road, and will clear it up. However you can easily slip on one piece of mud on a bike, and the OP hasn't got a clue yet how much there was actually there.
How anyone has hurt themselves from the shits that sprays from Talkmeda's gob is beyond me.
LOL! Thats a STW classic for me.....
as he's more likely than not one of the many farmers who are a few thousand away from committing suicide, just so you can get cheap meat and milk in the supermarket.
Oh please. My heart bleeds... 🙄