Local authorities face ever increasing and competing demands on ever more scarce resources. Difficult decisions have to be made about where it is best to spend what money is available; whether on highway improvements, on highway maintenance or on accident reduction schemes. Criminal fines and payments made in settlement of successful or undisputed claims can cost authorities large sums of money that could be spent more productively elsewhere. In order to minimise this wasted expenditure, it makes sense to have an understanding of those areas of highway law that most frequently lead to litigation, and what precautions a highway authority can take to reduce its exposure. The investigation by the police or the Health and Safety Executive following a road death can be a traumatic and invasive experience for all those involved, including those employees of a highway authority who may be asked to provide evidence relating to possible highway contributory factors. The investigating officers will conduct the investigation according to the national standard laid down in the Road Death Investigation Manual1, which insists that all road deaths should be treated as .unlawful killings. until the contrary is proved. Once again, it will be a benefit to everyone involved in the investigative process to have a prior understanding of their potential liability. This Guide is intended to be a simple outline of the basic legal duties of local authorities in relation to road safety and highway maintenance, and their potential liability to criminal prosecution or civil litigation in the event of a death or injury on the highway resulting wholly or partly from highway factors. The Guide is not intended to be an academic or authoritative text. There are many books on Highway Liability and other reference sources available elsewhere, should the reader require more comprehensive guidance in specific areas. This Guide is based on the law as it stands at the time of writing in October 2010. The interpretation of the relevant law is that of the author alone: TMS Consultancy accepts no responsibility for the consequences of any reliance on the information contained in this document. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting