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Posted By Laurie
I was recently nearly involved in an accident because I had to push my wife's wheelchair out into a fast moving flow of traffic to get around a utility vehicle which was parked on the pavement. We could just as easily have been a mother with a young child.
If we had had been killed I doubt if HSE would have even been aware, yet this would quite clearly have been two fatalities as a direct result of a work activity.
Even though there was no accident on this occasion, this company (and many others like it, Transco and BT being great offenders countrywide in this regard) was guilty of failing to ensure the safety of those not in its employ, but this an area which seems to be completely ignored, presumably because the offence dose not take place on company premises. However, nor, technically, do most construction breaches of this section, but they are vigorously policed.
Any comments?
Laurie
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Posted By Stuart Nagle
Laurie.
A good point concerning the effect on other persons in circumstances where a utilities undertaker/contractor blocked the footway of (one presumes) the public highway and thus a near miss resulted - and could have been worse.
I expect that only way the company responsible will find out is if you report it to them (both to the H&S Manager and say a director).
The other issue of course is that the footway was blocked to the extent that, it appears from your description, an obstruction of the highway was caused. It is worth noting that ONLY a police constable in uniform (Highways Act 1980) can action anything in relation to an 'obstruction' and it has to be an obstruction in the eyes of the constable who arrives at or comes across the scene (subjective !!).
Quite often I hear of instances where bycycle riders have been pulled up by the police for riding on the footway when it may be inherently dangerous for them to ride on the carriageway due to the volume/speed of traffic, however I can state with some degree of knowledge, after many years working in highways departments for Local Government, very little is ever done by the police when vehicles are parked or placed upon the footway and clearly obstruct the footway forcing pedestrians into the carriageway.
There is no standard for obstruction in these cases in the law, only the 'opinion' of the police constable at the time, if you can actually get a response from the police to attend the scene when reporting an obstruction. Perhaps more issues that need addressing?
Far too many such instances go unreported for lack of knowledge and/or information on the subject/situation. Perhaps an area that may be addressed in the future by companies mainly responsible for works on the public highway, deliveries, salemen, etc...etc...
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Posted By Jim Walker
I had assumed if you fitted one of those nice flashing amber lights to your vehicle you could just ingnore all traffic regulations.
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Posted By Michael Dunn
I am not so sure that it is only police officers who have the right to prosecute offenders under the Highways Act 1980.
My local authority uses both section 137 Wilful obstruction and section 148 depositing things on the highway. Though this is mainly with regard to waste and other objects rather than vehicles.
Regarding the substantive issue there is nothing to stop you reporting directly to the HSE and asking them how they follow up on / have issues reported to them by the police relating to incidents on the public highway.
Mike
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Posted By Laurie
Thanks for the responses.
I have tried all the basic steps of course, without a lot of success, the police actually saying "Well if they didn't park on the pavement they would obstruct the traffic, and they're not allowed to do that".!! The local authority seem more interested in making sure no-one sits at a table on the pavement with a cup of coffee or an ice cream.
I've even tried reporting to the Safety Officer of my local LA without much success.
I might try Michael's idea of reporting direct to HSE, particularly if I can get a couple of digital photos.
Laurie
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Posted By Robert K Lewis
You didn't say if they were actually undertaking work of some sort on the pavement - if so the work is subject to the New Road & Streetworks Act and therefore subject to the signing and guarding requirements of the ACOP, or Chapter 8 in some cases. If there is not a 1m wide pedestrian path through then a safe path must be formed on the road in the approved manner. The LA Highways Inspector is the enforcement authority, follow this up in writing to the Departmental Head and copy to Council Chief Exec. Give as much info as possible and also notify HSE as there is a section 3 breach here also.
The only real problem is when LA's own staff is working for the authority as they are exempt!!!! I agree with you totally as this is one of the most dangerous and careless attitudes one encounters on a regular basis.
Bob
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