One fateful day, there had been a frost overnight but, as I was on a late shift, I didn’t need to leave home until 1 pm and presumed that by that time all the frost had melted away as it was up to about eight degrees. I was about halfway to work when I suddenly lost the front end and went down hard. Luckily, I and the bike parted ways as it slid into an oncoming lorry wedging under the front of it. I carried on in “my lane’; now on my back, until I was stopped by a traffic calming island, breaking three toes and chipping a bone in my ankle.

Fuelled by adrenaline and the fact I had on stout Daytona boots, I was able to get up and walk back along the road. At this point I realised I had fallen off on a skating rink and found the lorry driver had fallen over when he got out of his cab to come and help me – it was like a scene out of a Carry On film as we slid around trying to extract my Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200 from the front of the lorry. Eventually we got my bike up and assessed the scene. As the road was in shade, the thick ice (about 30 feet long and an inch or two thick as there was a dip in the road) hadn’t melted and initially I thought it was my fault. However, me and the lorry driver tracked the ice back to a house having an extension built.

Long story short, it turns out the builders had broken a water main and that had leaked on to the road the day before and frozen solid. The builder and the house owner told me that whilst the water leak came from the house, it’s the council’s fault for not gritting the road properly. As such, I have now put in a claim to the council and am awaiting their response. Do you think I am going to win? I have also received a claim letter from the lorry driver’s insurer. I don’t think it is fair that I have to pay for that, as well as my bike.

Answer

Ignore the house owner and builder. The council are not liable for you falling off because they did not grit properly. Therefore, you should not continue down that avenue as you would lose if you went to court. In simple terms, you fell off because someone leaked a huge amount of water on the road and left it to freeze causing a danger to road users. So your claim needs to be directed to the owner of the land (the homeowner) and also the builder that broke the water main. I suspect that ultimately the builder/his insurer may be picking up the tab for your personal injury and losses ( and probably the damaged lorry as well). However, you may need to “spread the net wide” to begin with to see who is claiming who and why etc.

As for the lorry driver’s claim, it’s clear he did nothing wrong when your bike slid into him. As such, you need to make sure you pass his claim on to your insurance company to deal with. Your insurer may well pay out for his damaged lorry, without admitting liability, and then look to claim their outlay back from the house owner and/or builder later on, either directly or via your claim.

Andrew ‘Chef’ Prendergast

Motorcycle Sport & Leisure – April 2025