Gravel at intersections

[Dratto22]

This morning while riding to work I hit some gravel at an intersection. I had come to a stop and then pulled of and turned right. Guess what....yep....I came off. My good looking bike no more. A couple of people cam to my rescue, although I didn't need much help. Thanks alot to them. The police have been contacted and they advised me they would contact the council.

Is there anything else I should do before I contact my insurance company?

Should I contact the council myself and complain? :bash:

Cheers for your help/feed back.

Pete

[Griffin]

This sort of thing really yanks my chain... I have seen it time and time again where roading contractors will leave a swathe of gravel and dirt at intersections / roundabouts and on sweeping bends. What the hell goes through the minds of these idiots? What purpose does all this loose crap serve? Honestly, if I had the misfortune to come off on a patch of rogue gravel I would go out of my way to track down the contractor who left it and shove a few handfuls up his arse! :bash:

Hope your ok - sorry this doesnt answer your question.

[Hitcher]

You should contact the Council and complain, particularly if the gravel should have been signposted and wasn't.

[Taz]

Mmmm I love gravel.

[Mystic13]

Actually, if there is a bit of it I ring the council and it's usually gone the same day or next. They just radio the roving road cleaning guys and magic.

My guess is they don't want to see riders injured either it's just that most of us don't ring up. I only ring when it's a little too much. I should ring more often I guess.

Nice people at Auckland City Council for cleaning this stuff.

[Taz]

Soooo who can we ring to get more of the stuff. They keep stealing all my gravel roads :crybaby:.

[p.dath]

Please contact the local council! I did this recently about a corner which I thought was dangerous to riders and was amazed at the response. They don't want their residents to be having accidents!

[breakaway]

I don't think the OP means gravel as in actual gravel. I think he means the little rocks etc that are often found at many intersections.

Not to rub salt into the wound or anything, but you should have paid attention to what was in your line. I travel through many intersections which have a large amount of debris all over the place on a daily basis and have never had any issues with it.

However if you hit a patch of gravel that wasn't signposted then I retract my previous statement.

[NDORFN]

I agree with Hitcher and Breakaway... it really should've been sign posted. Hopefully if you inform the council of it, they may realise that there's an issue that needs to be addressed regarding chasing up contractors to clean up properly after themselves.

[short-circuit]

I agree with Hitcher and Breakaway... it really should've been sign posted. Hopefully if you inform the council of it, they may realise that there's an issue that needs to be addressed regarding chasing up contractors to clean up properly after themselves.

There's a sprinkling on a 25 kmph corner between the Miranda straights and Kaiaua that's been there for nearly a year FFS.

[Mikkel]

Get a motard :yes: No fancy plastics to mess up and you can more easily stay on top of a slide.


But speaking of gravel and grit - and I have said this before - it should be easy to colour grit so that it would stand out against the road. Depending upon light conditions and humidity it can be almost impossible to spot grit until you're right on top of it - and then it doesn't really matter.

[SVboy]

In one of the latest NZ bike mags, a rider sent a letter in saying he hit and crashed on some unposted shingle on a road repair on the west coast. The letter claims he successfully billed the roading contractor for his written off bike. If true, interesting, and fair enough!

[SVboy]

[QUOTE=Mikkel;1129273984]Get a motard :yes: No fancy plastics to mess up and you can more easily stay on top of a slide.



Has that always been your motard vs shingle experience Mikkel? :Oops::devil2:

[Dratto22]

By the looks of the gravel, it had come off the back of a truck or trailer. It didn't help that this was at 7 am and still dark.

I must admit, after 16 years of riding and this is my first spill, I'm doing well. :woohoo:

[BMWST?]

the gravel isnt dumped at the interesection,any loose gravel in the area is "swept" there by passing traffic.So any small triangle of "unswept" raod will likely have a triangle of loose gravel/stones.
This is true of any less travelled area.It is amazing the ammount of crap dropped on the road.To experience this look at the actual wellington cycle lane on sh2.So much crap is swept onto it by passing traffic,is why roadies dont use it,they would get a puncture immediately.Half the crap is prolly swept there by the road sweeper keeping SH2 clean

[Mikkel]

Has that always been your motard vs shingle experience Mikkel? :Oops::devil2:

Pretty much, those times I haven't stayed on top of the slide there hasn't been any expensive plastics to repair/replace. :woohoo:

Replacing a handlebar mounting bolt and a throttle barrel and getting a footpeg unmangled is a lot cheaper than having to have two or three fairing panels repaired and repainted.

[SVboy]

:Oops:I better shut up now..............

[PrincessBandit]

I don't mind riding on gravel, but am not keen on it at intersections particularly sloping ones.

As far as insurance is concerned, do you really want to lose your no claims for getting your bike tarted up again? Depends on how bad the damage actually is, but you might find it just as easy / cheap to get a mate to help you work on fixing it up.

[CookMySock]

Should I contact the council myself and complain?Fuck the "personal responsibility" bullshit. Angrily call the council and get their roading manager to come around with his fucking chequebook and cover at least your uninsured costs. Growl.

Steve

[Katman]

Fuck the "personal responsibility" bullshit. Angrily call the council and get their roading manager to come around with his fucking chequebook and cover at least your uninsured costs. Growl.

Steve

:tugger:<hgvhgvhjv>

[Kemet]

Was this gravel from an "overloaded" truck or grit put out 'cos it was frosty.

Grit is one of my bug-bears but there's not a hell of a lot to be done about it when it's been laid down so cages don't lose traction on an icy morning.....

[twistemotion]

It's a constant source of irritation around here too. Immediately take photos of the gravel on the road and damage to your bike. Only then phone the council and tell them what happened. Put a claim in against the council for the damage (your damaged gear too). They and their roading contractors should be keeping gravel off the road.

I think Chanceyy has put in a successful claim against a council for this sort of thing, although I think it was road works that wasn't signposted. I have contacted the New Plymouth council in the past for loose gravel and they eventually cleaned up the mess. I think mentioning the danger to school kids on push bikes and subsequent claims against the council helped. ;)

I would say if the road surface is to blame for the accident, the council/road agency is responsible to cover the damage. There have been successful claims for this in the past.

[sunhuntin]

i think yungatart had something similar last year as well. if i recall, she was out with brooms due to lack of action. [feel free to correct me if wrong]

theres quite a few piles of loose stones here, but mostly they are directly in front of the traffic islands, or in spots where vehicles lines dont go. that doesnt bother me cos its out of my way.