97 japspec 300 written off by dustcart

sorry to hear of your plight shocker-you have put a lot of time and work into that truck.
Maybe worth a visit to citizens advice,costs nowt and they might be able to point you in the right direction.
If all else fails,why not consider one of those:"had an accident which wasn't your fault outfits"-they seem to work on :no win,no fee.
Never tried one myself though

You need independent advice and now. You're obviously badly upset and cant act for yourself so you need to leave it to people who can. As above, although i hate them, try a no win no fee solicitor. Go to your GP and get yourself checked out. Get some help for the farm, its amazing how quick things go fubar when the **** hits.

Get thelane checked out with the highways dept to see if there are weight/width restrictions. Keep a note of everything you do and everyone you talk to. Dates and times etc.

This is rubbish, I really feel for you. Dont be hard on yourself there's enough bastids doing that for you.
Get yourself along to a Citizens advice. They can be really helpful and set up meetings etc with a relevant solicitor so all you have to do is turn up. It can be really helpful, take alot of the pressure off and make the process seem much less daunting.

newby on site, write a letter to the council asking the o licence holder what the working hours are for drivers, council refuse collections are mostly task and finish. ie drivers don't take a brake. ask to see the drivers log book or taco print even the front cover of the book will not be filled in correct. tell them you are going to vosa because you don't think they are legal.

thanks ,everyone,I dont feel like Im trying to cope with this on my own now

strange, I must have got really banged about....I have been in MUCH worse, higher speed crashes before and never reacted in such an out of character way

feel for you buddy :-(. Sound like a right bunch of ****ers. Do what was suggested, bin a huge tin of paint!

Do what fieldman says i work for a delivery company if you ask for that info they will **** bricks

Right on! The first time ever that an operators lic. or tacho will work in my favour !

When you say task and finish...Im not familiar with this - does it mean they are still bound by the max hrs and set breaks after set periods working or what ? I tried to read up on it but the stuff about drivers and loading/work time was a bit ambiguous........

shocker said:

Right on! The first time ever that an operators lic. or tacho will work in my favour !

When you say task and finish...Im not familiar with this - does it mean they are still bound by the max hrs and set breaks after set periods working or what ? I tried to read up on it but the stuff about drivers and loading/work time was a bit ambiguous........

Click to expand...

Thay have to apply to the same rules as everyone else driving hgv. Because they are council, they won't have no special authority.

Why not speak to the local rag as well about the bin lorry using the lane?

http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/road/workingtime/drivershoursgoods.pdf This page (12) seems to show that refuse collections aren`t covered by Driver`s Hours Regs. So that may be a blind alley.
Anyway, Shocker I really feel for you. As others have said you do need some expert advise here. I`m not an expert in any way, but I`d first suggest chasing up your DAS on Monday morning. 2nd choice Citizen`s Advise. 3rd choice "no-win no-pay".
Don`t let it get you down mate!

task and finish-a set amount of work to do if thy finish that work in 2 hours they go home and still get paid for 7.5 hours which means they rush about speeding etc. some bin crews operate on british domestic hours and should have a brake after 6 hours and fill in a log book. but the taco still records even with no card in it (was he speeding?) now if he is collecting trade waste he will be on eu rules and should use a taco card. all the vehicles should have a taco in even if not used and be tested.

My advice in the case that your insurance wont work because of the lying ****ers is……


Get personal injury sorted, make sure you get fully checked out, show any and all cuts and scrapes and bruises, tell them you've been emotionally hurt too due to the loss of your pride and joy through the neglect of driving care from those scum

If you can get an injury pay off it should more than cover the replacement cost of your Jap spec with some left over for mods etc, or buy a road legal tank and next time those bastards come down the lane at speed show them who's boss

I know sorting it through injury claim isn't the greatest way to do it but it might be your best option at this point in time if your insurance won't touch you.

Very sorry to hear about it though, I'd hate to lose one of my Landy's so I can only imagine what you must be feeling like

Hope everything gets sorted for you

Not read all the thread but Tacho evidence from the bin lorry will prove what speed he was doing up to the collision. It will also show if he braked prior to the impact. Get a solicitor. good luck.

Pics of the damge causesd, pics of paint transfer and pics of bin lorry.You can even take a photo of a undamged lorry to illustrate where you hit and compare colours etc.

Time is of the essence so you may need to think about things even though you are`nt really in the mood.
You need to stay focused - the issue is to prove liability against the Council employing or contracting the dustmen. Liability is most likely to be proven in negligence if at all, and damages would be assessed to out you in the psotion you would have been in had the negligence not occurred.
Yoe need some legal advice - I wouldn`t necessarily start with no win no fee solicitors unless they fund themselves via after the event insurance. I would start with the Solicitors you know best and see if they have a decent litigation department - agree a doscount off their hourly rate and get an estimate, and insist on regular cost reviews once various trigger points in costs are reached - £1000 intervals sounds about right.
The NFU (the Union not the insurance brokers) may be able to help with recommended Solicitors.
I`m surprised DAS aren`t also being helpful - might b eworth giving them another call.
Pick one legal route and one firm of Solicitors at a time, don`rt have numerous strands of legal activity going on at once, it doesn`t apply any more pressure and just causes confusion.
If you need to start with basics try Citizens Advice. Don`t neglect the possibility of Legal Aid either.
Leave the legal bit to the lawyers , your bit is to get your GP to write a report setting out your injuries , psychological as well as physical, and make sure its done soon so he can see them rather than just report what you tell him. You also need to think about how you prove the value of your vehicle - so collect all invoices and receipts, and maybe think about talking to your insurers about a loss adjusters report 9I

Cut off in my prime - again.
(I`m assuming you don`t have an agreed value policy). If you have any pre-accident photos of the vehicle even better.
Your focus should be on giving the lawyers the ammunition to do their job - so helping them prove what damages to claim and to understand how the incident happened .As soon as you can write down a continuous narrative of what happened and how it happened - keep it factual and non-emotional. Take some photographs of the crash site from every angle. Take that narrative and those photos when you see a Solicitor - it will aid understanding and save time - keep copies. Also suggest that those Solicitors might want to ask for the operating information referred to earlier in the thread
See your local Councillor who sits on the relevant Council responsible for the Dustcart and tell him what you intend to do. I`d leave the Press/ Media for now but later on they might be useful. Ignore the fact that the Police don`t intend to prosecute - focus on your civil action.
There are are no guarantees of success, ultimately it will depend who has the funding/stomach for a fight and who is believed on the day if it gets to Court. Bear in mind that if you fund the action and lose in Court you will almost certainly be liable for the Council`s legal costs as well but if you take the process one step at a time, and get some decent lawyers and keep an eye on the costs, then at each stage you should be able to decide whether or not to proceed to the next.
I would suggest you have an initial discussion with a Solicitor on an early basis, having done the narrative and taken the photos as above - some will do a free initial consultation in any event - but stay focused and stay factual.
Good Luck.

Can I throw in my Thruppence worth.Yes, get onto your solicitor immediately but after a lifetime in road transort ask your solicitor to find a solicitor who has road transport experience.Rest assured the council will have one. You need all the help you can get.

best of luck
Jim A
1996 300Tdi auto(jap reimport)

Right....what about EU working hours directive ? Anyone know about that ?


The solicitor DAS appointed wont touch it cos no witnesses and the police havent apportioned blame (and from what I understand,wont).

I took pics today,first time the pics would come out due to hand-shakes until now.Showed all damage and covered the area where they hit and left paint so it wont all get washed off in the rain. Also pics of places discos of that age rot showing how mine hadnt.

Found three parallel line impacts that I should be able to match up to the shape of the front of a Dennis cab.Also shows no sideways scrapes that would have happened had the impact took place as the bin men said.Well,when they said IF there was an impact it was ME rolling over onto THEM and causing their broken screen etc. The lorry had several repairs to cornersand front of cab fro previous impacts.

I plan to contact NFU and ask if their policy is no longer to offer personal advice as stated in the insurance paperwork and on the website.
I need to contact Highways and ask about the lane and any restrctions.
I need to find out what hour structure the binmen work and their official route.
I need to see a Dennis bin lorry up close.
To contact the local paper....."local man binned by council?" families 50th anniversary plans in the bin" ?

IGP...report 91 ?

Thanks,everyone....a lot,guys. This is really helping me to focus.

Yes, defiantly contact the paper, although in my eyes they are ****ers themselves but in this case it'll show everyone what ****s are up close....... make sure you give them some pics and some over exaggerated story and they'll hang off every word!

A lot of council vehicles round here have trackers fitted now that'll show official info, time speed, etc...... might be worth a look

Yes, the council suit who showed up did say that they had trackers. I had told him that whatever had happened on that day, the lorry was regularly driven at inappropriate speeds up our lane....that it was an item of local note and that all the residents had at some time mentioned it. At this point he told me that there were trackers that could prove the speed at any time. I think I said ,essentially,big whoop,the tacho will give you that and anyway I was speaking generally. At that point he left.