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Council not negligent over icy road
09/08/2007
After a claim against a council over icy roads was quashed, a solicitor has said that the ruling will have personal liability implications for local authorities across Britain and Northern Ireland.
Rhiannon Pase had brought a case against Swansea City Council, claiming that it had been negligent, after she had a car accident in January 2004 due to an icy road, which she claimed had not been gritted adequately.
Yet Swansea County Court found that the council had gritted the area where the incident occurred with ten grams of salt per square metre the night before and therefore ruled that the council had been compliant with the law.
The court said that Swansea City Council had complied with legal requirements in the Highways Act, which states: "The highway authority is under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice," Legal & Medical magazine reports.
Lisa Salkfeld, the solicitor acting for the council said: "This is clearly an important decision for the City & County of Swansea. The case also has wider implications for other authorities as it confirms that having ice on a highway or carriageway is not in itself evidence that a [winter maintenance] plan has failed."
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Rhiannon Pase had brought a case against Swansea City Council, claiming that it had been negligent, after she had a car accident in January 2004 due to an icy road, which she claimed had not been gritted adequately.
Yet Swansea County Court found that the council had gritted the area where the incident occurred with ten grams of salt per square metre the night before and therefore ruled that the council had been compliant with the law.
The court said that Swansea City Council had complied with legal requirements in the Highways Act, which states: "The highway authority is under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice," Legal & Medical magazine reports.
Lisa Salkfeld, the solicitor acting for the council said: "This is clearly an important decision for the City & County of Swansea. The case also has wider implications for other authorities as it confirms that having ice on a highway or carriageway is not in itself evidence that a [winter maintenance] plan has failed."
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