Traffic problem

[Craig.]

Forgot to put, road signs or not, it not normal to go crashing in to pedrestrians, thats right out of order.

[Rupe]

The polic are not going to go to the door of the lad that damaged the car!

 

No way, that will never happen I'm sure.

 

They may well go to the estate office where the work was done, and if that estate used a genuine tree company then it would be passed to them and their Public liability insurance. Thats waht PL is for, to protect the client (the estate) from claims from the public.

 

If the estate was carrying out the work with its own workers, and the OP subbed in to help, then someone on the estate will be in charge of this whole thing and they will ultimalty have to sort it out, pay for the damage to the car etc.

 

The only comeback to the lad in question would be that he's not employed much anymore as he's not reliable, so he should have thought of that.

 

Unless the car owner wants to press criminal charges against the lad, (and/or vice versa) the police will likely not be bothered in the slightest anyway.

[Rupe]

You can stop traffic using red/red, not 100% on time allowed with out looking in book, as long as your signs are right as per chapter 8 regs, you can also use a STOP WORKS sign, its similar to a school lollipop again with the right signs.

Did you notify your local council street works dept? as they could come and kick you off the road If you have not.

 

 

Yes you can stop on red/red but you mustnt expect that to actually work 100% of the time.

[Craig.]

You can get stop/go boards with the back covered so you can`t see the go from the other side, you just turn the plate in front of the backing, for that reason.

Sorry bad description, I`ll try and find a link.

[codlasher]

I understand exactly what you mean Craig!

 

This is one of the problems with using stop/go boards and drivers of vehicles. You have to pay particular attention to what the car driver sees beyond the first STOP board. This is IMPORTANT as they see the GO further up the road and push on through......straight under a falling stem......

Irrespective of what the car driver did, and I have had this happen on several occasions whilst working within this system. Your operative should not have reacted in this way!

From an overview you have a perfect right to shut the road provided you have all the correct signage out. I took advice on the extra signs and had courtesy signs made for just this occasion, these worked well until stolen and had two bigger items made to replace them. (***Estate are conducting essential tree safety work. Sorry for any delay. Please be patient. Estate Office contact number; 01999 099988)

I always reported incidents such as this to the police with the vehicle registration. Your operative should have had better training and there should have been a 12D operative on site to supervise the situation/advise, this is where you have gone wrong.....

I was always glad to have my traffic light system operating as this ensured that you rarely had to get within 20 metres of angry/late/daft drivers.

Put this down to your learning experience and consider how to adjust your working system to help avoid this type of incident in the future. It's never pleasant.

codlasher (12D operative!)

Edited March 18, 2013 by codlasher

[nepia]

so the operative was just defending or preserving his own life

 

 

Ditto. I'm sure your operative feared the use of immediate unlawful violence against himself and was merely trying to keep the driver in his car to prevent that violence being used. Nowt wrong with that.

Deliberately driving into someone is no 'accident'; it's an assault, the car being a weapon.

[TGB]

I can fully understand your mate losing it when someone tried to run him down. But if he'd kept his cool, you wouldn't now be wondering when the idiot driver will take his revenge. Lashing out at somebody, who has shown a complete disregard for the safety of others, to the point of using their car as a weapon. Could easily end up with the driver doing something more drastic in future.

 

Presumably the name of you business is on the side of your truck. Maybe but hopefully not, the idiot driver could take it on himself or some of his friends, to slyly do you or your property further damage down the line. Let's face it, he's shown little regard for others' property or the sanctity of life.

 

It's a sad fact of human life. There are such idiots around and sometimes your path might cross their path. The best thing I've found is to not excapirate the matter. Don't turn your back on such people. For one thing, they may well go for you and often such an action will put the aggressor over the edge. It can be trying being polite to such people but a calm manner diffuses these situation more quickly and more safely. There are some, for whom when faced with another's calm manner, can blow anyway. But if you're not lashing out at someone who was the aggressor, such events tend to end better. And don't damage their property even if they deserve it. If you do, they'll have a reasonably lawful claim against you.

 

A few pointers to calming the other person/s. Don't cross your arms, don't link your hands behind your back and don't stuff your hands in your pockets. Don't point in their direction or adopt a wide stance. All of these are perceived as indifference or dominating posturing and can quickly lead to an escalation of the situation. Try not to swear at the other person and try not to lash out at them either. If a vehicle/s are involved, try to get the reg. number, description of vehicle and number of other people in the vehicle at the time, (But do it without them noticing.) If there are more than one of them, never let any of them get behind you. If they're friends rather than family, one might verbally engage you, while another starts to wander. Beware the wanderer!

 

When they've gone or if you feel threatened but safe enough to do so at the time. Ring the police with a brief description of what happened/what is happening; the vehicle details and description of the person/s that faced up to you. If they're still there in front of you and you do contact the police, let them know you are doing so. Don't bluff contacting the police. And if you've contacted the police and they turn up, do not back-down from your original position. Not only will the police then be put at a disadvantage in dealing with the situation as is; but they will be disinclined to help out in future or if the matter goes further. (Remember, you called them and there must have been a reason.) Continue to remain calm while in the presence of the police. If they can see you're the calm one, they'll be on your side. If you lose it, the police are then faced with two warring parties and you're unlikely to come out the victor.

Edited March 18, 2013 by TGB

[likeitorlumpit]

OK- final say on this I hope

You can do stop/stop for up to 2 minutes only. You need to get a peice of metallic green plastic to put over the Go sides.

You will still need the umbrella man/ traffic control ahead/ tree work signs at the correct distances for the speed of the road.

You will need a man (*preferably not a boy) holding the boards at each end with a friendly smile and authoritative manner. One person on site will need chapter 8 operative ticket and someone in the office will need supervisor ticket. You will need the blue book with you.

If you've done all that then you will be OK with your insurance.

The fracas however was probably caused by the lad getting power mad and the guy in the car being in a hurry. Poor communication skills I'm afraid. No tickets for this:biggrin:

[Rich Rule]

My first gaffer told me if ever I had to stand in the road to halt, slow or stop traffic, best do it with a chainsaw in hand. Point the bar towards the traffic.

 

People will happily drive around a person if they can but if there is a chance of scratching their car they usually think twice about it.

 

I appreciate that the stop go board scenario would be difficult to have a saw in hand aswell.

[Paul Jenks]

Self Defence | Criminal Law Cases | Law Teacher

 

An interesting read