(V): but has every council in the country is facing major cuts its goes without saying that having salt spread on footpaths is way down the list
surely its better spend on keeping the roads running free

i dont think clearing snow from footpaths is a good idea anyway unless said pavement is going to dry very quickly
which is very unlikely with this cold weather because next day it be a skating ring twice has bad

(V): if the mod of the board thinks there is a good reason to remove the link im sure he will

Snoopy: Not a case of clearing, just gritting them.

And from what I remember of my law classes at college, if someone breaks a leg, etc on the paths then the council is liable and can be sued. I remember this as my tutor sued the council over lack of maintenance regarding a broken paving slab that resulted in her breaking her ankle... she won.

(V): and i also remember a case where someone sued the householder because they had cleared the pavement outside there house and someone had slipped the next morning on the ice that formed overnight
so its a no winner has far has im concerned

councils do grit round the homes of the elderly least they do in the NE

(V): but you confuse me yet again because i thought in your eyes the councils and police etc can do no wrong

(V): this is from my local council and i would think that most others follow these guidelines over gritting pavements

http://www.stockton.gov.uk/help/cfyafaqs/gritfaqs/pedestrianroutes/

(V): And from what I remember of my law classes at college, if someone breaks a leg, etc on the paths then the council is liable and can be sued. I remember this as my tutor sued the council over lack of maintenance regarding a broken paving slab that resulted in her breaking her ankle... she won.


i think were talking about very different issues here
firstly falling on a pavement due to lack of maintenance
is alot easier to prove has all you need do is take a pic of offending pavement and a hospital report and most councils pay up because they dont want the aggro of going to court
but theres still a lot of ppl who will do nothing and put it down to bad luck

geesh you keep telling everyone how much better the UK is from the rest of the world
yet if im reading you right your planning to sue your local council for not gritting a pavement
IMO if ppl start doing that we be even more in line with Americans who sue for any little thing

i think you find it very hard to prove in a court of law

Snoopy: Now that you've stereotyped Americans saying they sue for every little thing, I'm going to notify my attorney and you will be served shortly. I don't want to... but someone has to pay for that

GTCharlie: i wish you luck on that one then

Artful Dodger: heres another stupid one for you luckily it was thrown out of court and the defendant picked up the bill
One idea would be to adopt the “loser pays” system used in the United Kingdom and most of Europe to deter frivolous lawsuits. For example, in England last fall, a patient, who sued his doctor for $350 claiming the doctor had given him a cold during an examination, was ordered to pay almost $1,500 in costs after his case was thrown out of court.

Artful Dodger: I'm only asking for a Billion,, I'm not greedy

GTCharlie: okay we can settle out of court if you take it a penny a week for rest of my life..lol

Snoopy: It's not a case of suing them, it's a case of getting them to be sensible. I read your councils list, our local council are not living upto that standard, even regarding school walk ways and shopping areas.

And no, I didn't say the police and councils can do no wrong. Last week I made a formal complaint on one matter to our council over a decision and they reversed that decision.

.. and as such if local people confronted their councils over matters of safety they would have to listen. As to the law courts... it wouldn't be a hard case, they have a duty that they are legally bound to live up to.

GTCharlie: A billion Zimbabwe dollars is a fair compensation... at the old rates.

(V): there is a massive difference in pointing out there mistakes to them than seeking your day in court IMO

its all to easy to bend the rules for one falling on a pavement and claiming damages
i know at least 3 ppl who have had other accidents and then gone out and found a raised paving slab and got money from the council

(V): and i think your talking outta ya ass again when claiming it wont be hard to prove in a court of law over councils gritting pavements
they get round to it AFTER they get the roads moving again

show me one case where it happened cause ive heard of NONE

Snoopy: Maybe.. but in the new year when the petition system is open, I'll start up one. Our local district council agreed, but their hands were tied as it's a county council matter.

.... as to roads.. that only applies to main roads, as far as I could gather everywhere else could 'swivel'.

And I'm not going through pages and pages and pAgEs of legal cases.

(V): And I'm not going through pages and pages and pAgEs of legal cases

well on all the many searches ive done this afternoon ive come up with NOTHING

Snoopy: You sure must have alot of time on your hands :)

Snoopy: welllllll I found this one quickly... just as a note, not a case.

" The lack of grit on the pavements is just asking for trouble. But I've heard of other councils who make a concious decision not to grit pavements as they are more likely be lose a court case brought because of an injury caused by inadequate pavement gritting rather than caused by the 'natural consequences' of walking on ungritted, icy pavements."

Feedback from a council regarding peoples concerns on gritting.

falkirk council use gritting machines as requested by residents

(V): i found this on the bbc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3453039.stm


but its very very unclear on whom would be to blame

Starsky: your point on the current subject is

Artful Dodger: but its the high flying lawyers who are really to blame and the silly jurors who back these claims

ive been reading so many in the last hour but this one i thought takes the biscuit..lol


What is illiteracy worth in Ohio? about 8 million!

In September 1988, two Akron, Ohio-based carpet layers named Gordon Falker and Gregory Roach were severely burned when a three and a half gallon container of carpet adhesive ignited when the hot water heater it was sitting next to kicked on. Both men felt the warning label on the back of the can was insufficient. Words like “flammable” and “keep away from heat” didn’t prepare them for the explosion. They filed suit against the adhesive manufacturers, Para-Chem. A jury obviously agreed since the men were awarded $8 million for their troubles.

(V): Jules can ya fix ya link please

Snoopy: I got told today that us joe public can just grit the paths ourselves and that was perfectly legal. We are even allowed to take it from the grit bins scattered around the area. As told by the county council's help desk!!

My reply.. ok, but it would be a good idea if there were more around.


As to my link.. it ain't screwing up my page, must be others settings!!

Artful Dodger: Then don't use the other browser. Can't please everyone all the time.

I cant get it either....I have to keep scrolling across the page all the time.....very annoying, but then what do you expect?

Artful Dodger: Fixed it.. toooo late last night, the zzzzzzzzzz's were kicking in

As to the system of suing in the USA. It would be fine if limits (caps) were set. One of my relatives was hurt by flying glass through stupid driving re a bus hitting a shelter. She got her expenses paid for and about £1K on top for the pain and inconvenience it caused her (this was about twenty years ago) ... several firms here advertise a service to sue in cases of accidents that were due to negligence by others but the amounts advertised as being gotten are less then £10K. To get millions here it has to be a severe case of negligence, etc by the defendant.

The case that Snoopy quotes of people ignoring warnings over safety of flammable materials would be thrown out of court here as people are expected to have some common sense regarding such materials.

Anything flammable I buy (such as white spirit for cleaning paint brushes), I keep in the shed, away from anything that could react with it. Simple common sense.

(V): well of course you can do that i thought anyone who was anyone knew that simple fact
been like that since they first introduced them

Snoopy: Would help if they had some grit in them. The two in the nearby car park are both empty and look like they have not had anything in them for some time.

And no, I didn't know you could.. I don't know everything!! I was pretty sure you could, but with the way the councils are trying to raise money by taking people to court over silly things (slightly over full bins, etc) best to check.

(V): oh wow thats a first i knew something you didnt

ive known about it for long time has i used to do the old ppls bungalows where my mother lived when i visited

from what i remember being told the bins are suppose to be stocked at start of October until they removed at the end of March
my council is really good at things like this they refill them has soon has someone tells them they need doing

but of course has in rest of life you get the morons you use the salt for there own purpose ie there drives etc

Snoopy: lol saw a couple of council workers who were miffed about the grit supply. The county council have been neglecting on their duties so I hear...

.. They seem to have forgotten that during winter we might get snow and ice.

Nobody wants to talk about our new health care, the one that has to be voted on now, even though it will be 4 years before it goes into effect? Dont bother reading it, or have any chance to amend some late changes, or even the fact that ZERO republicans support it.....


Bam, change we can believe in

Artful Dodger: its amazing how the nebraska crooks can be so open about their bribe to jump on board

Artful Dodger: No offence but that's why I like living in a country where guns are a relative rarity. Police and civilians shouldn't have to worry so heavily that a gun is going to get pulled at any incident. We saw enough of that over here during the Northern Ireland war. A good mate of mine from the past has the image of his soldier pal dying from a shot to his head while on tour there.

Czuch: Sometimes you get bills, etc that the party line is do not vote for it. It's happened many times in Parliament over here even though (like in the USA now) opposition party members have contributed and helped make the bill before reaching the house.

Artful Dodger: So why don't the population of the USA get and forget party lines and push for changes.

It's happened recently over here regarding expenses and that some high ranking council CEO's are getting paid more then the Prime Minister.

... Google and check out the "Taxpayers Alliance"

(V): what an exceptional country you must live in....Everything is so perfect that nothing ever seems to go wrong...well in your mind anyway.....wake up to yourself...don't you think the people of the world get any of the UK news?

Bernice: well apart from the fact that every time we get a inch of snow the country grinds to a halt
and makes us the laughing stock of the world

we have the second highest teenage pregancy in the world http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/big-question/the-big-question-why-are-teenage-pregnancy-rates-so-high-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-1623828.html
this is due mainly because they know has soon has they turn 16 the entitled to a coucil house, flat
which is furnished by the DSS
and so begins there life on benefits

we have a stupid goverment that tried to buy us out of recession

which now every woman man and child will be paying for
for the next 30 years

we had corrupt MPS milking a system and tax payers having to foot the bill

despite what V says we still have no go areas in some cities because of the fear of hoodies on a nighttime

should i go on..lol

Artful Dodger: I just saw a tv commercial that said "if real people debated the health care bill" in support of the democrats law.....

lmao, it showed a mother with a baby and a doctor and a contractor etc. all telling us "facts" about how great this law will be.... tells me exactly what democrats consider "debate" to be, them telling us what is right for us, and not letting any other opinions to the contrary be heard from!!!

Debate.... yeah right

You can have the strictest No Gun laws in the world or in history. That just creates an excellent black market. of course assuming its not an absolute police state, where these no gun or no anything laws are

GTCharlie: when guns are outlawed...only outlaws will have guns

Artful Dodger: from what i read and saw on the video it was all money driven
to hell with anyone else they wanted to be famous

Snoopy: Yes we still have no go areas, teenage pregnancy, corruption, stupid high rise flats estates that some bright architect though would solve housing but gave no room to breath.

We have immigration problems, stupid bureaucracy, MP's that need to be put in the stocks for a while.. Too much political correctness, etc, etc..

But I can't help but love my country..... It's a herd thing

Artful Dodger: Then.. party must be forgotten and a united American people march on DC.

That's what happened here over the Iraq war. Make a big stink.. make the politicians worry about their jobs. Many here didn't bother standing for re-election after the expenses business here.

Bwild: It would help if a crackdown on illegal guns and how they get them was done. There is no need to outlaw guns, it was a bad idea when it happened here. We had checks on those wanting a gun license and it was a good system.

Maybe an amnesty period for the handing in of illegal weapons. They do work.

GTCharlie:

> You can have the strictest No Gun laws in the world or in history. That just creates an excellent black market.

I think that there should be no restrictions on buying guns of any kind. People should be free to go to their nearest convenience store and get whatever they want. AK47s. Uzis, M16s, any automatic, semiautomatic assault or non-assault rifle should be available. All weapons and ammunition should be available freely and legally to anyone who wants it. The only requirement would be registering the weapon under your name with a picture ID and a fingerprint. Registration would be free and it would happen over the counter at the time of purchase of the weapon.

Then, anyone who is convicted of murder or attempted murder should get a mandatory death sentence. Armed robbery and other violent crimes committed with weapons should be capital offences too. "You can buy any weapon you want, but if you train it on another human being, then you deserve the chair." Stealing a weapon should be a capital offence too, as would using any weapon not registered under your name.

At the same time, we should legalize all drugs. Ecstasy, marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, PCP, heroin, etc. People should be free to buy anything they want for themselves. However, if anyone sells or gives any drugs, tobacco or alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 then that person should receive a mandatory death sentence. "If you are over 21, you can zonk your brains out, but heaven help you if you give anything to anyone under 21. If you provide, you get a lethal injection."

There would be next to no black market, just as there is relatively little black market for alcohol or knives. The question is, how long before half the people of the world are dead?

To pay for the legal and health costs of freely available weapons and drugs, the government should impose a very high tax on them. If you want your goodies, you have to pay taxes through the nose, because overdoses and gunshot wounds cost money to fix, and executions don't come for free.

(V): but the way you come across your the only one who does love there country