Diesel Spills result in the death or serious injury of hundreds of motorcyclist every year, yet a solution is relatively simple.
Please help bring this to the Governemtns attention by signing this Petition on Number 10’s website…
Government Petition to Stop Diesel Spills
PLEASE SIGN!
Spills are caused by careless or negligent HGV, bus and van drivers over filling their fuel tanks and /or poorly fitting the filler cap.
I believe the solution to this problem is prevention, rather than imposing fines after the fact. Lets face it, there are fines for speeding yet drives and yes, even some riders still speed. The fines should be there to empower the police and act as a deterrent, however there are a lot of ignorant people out there who couldn’t careless about the safety of others. When caught these individuals should be taken to the cleaners, but due to the serious effect on the victims there needs to be preventative measures.
Tiss article on Spills
Tiss Ltd make a device that stops spills, siphoning and skimming.
Details of my expensive encounter with a spill.
Sainsbuy’s article on their efforts to stop their fleet splilling Diesel
MCN Article on the Landmark Compenstation Case for the family of a diesel spill victim
The following is Post Magazine….
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MIB pays out £110k settlement in diesel spill claim – Post Magazine 1 November 2007
The family of a motorcyclist who died as a result of spilt diesel on the road has been awarded £110,000 in compensation for what is believed to be the UK’s first claim of its kind.
The Cooper family of Dorset was represented by personal injury solicitor, Andrew Campbell, who heads the nationally-renowned Motorcycle Law Unit “law4bikers” at Withy King who declared this is understood to be the first time that a claim for a fatal accident caused by spilt diesel has been accepted by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.
Bus driver Richard Cooper died following an accident on the B6403 in Lincolnshire on 24 March 2006. Chris was travelling to Skegness to attend a motorcycle rally when he rode over a large fuel slick which caused him to lose control of his Yamaha Royal Star 1300 and collide head-on with a white transit van travelling in the opposite direction. He was taken to Grantham and District Hospital where he died later that day from his injuries.
Speaking on behalf of the Cooper family this week, son Richard said: “We are extremely pleased that our claim has been successful and hope that it will now open doors for other families who have lost loved ones under similar circumstances. Diesels spills on our roads are responsible for a growing number of injuries and deaths, and the tragedy is that they could so easily have been prevented.”
Mr Campbell of Withy King, added: “Our Motorcycle Law Unit handles a significant number of diesel spill-related cases each year which are caused by negligent road users, particularly those operating large commercial vehicles who overfill their tanks or don’t secure their fuel caps.
“Motorcyclists and drivers who are involved in accidents and suffer injuries as a result of diesel spills often don’t realise they can claim compensation because the person responsible for the spill may be unknown,” explained Withy King’s Andrew Campbell.
“Compensation claims are made through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau when the offender cannot be traced. However, claimants need to be aware that there are strict time limits in place: bodily injury claims must be lodged within three years, and an incident number received in writing from the police within 14 days of the accident. Since 11 June 2007 one has also been able to claim for property damage in addition to the previously available other financial losses such as lost earnings.”
While death due to diesel spills is rare, there are still hundreds of accidents and injuries as a result of fuel spilt on the roads each year. Andrew Campbell backs the national KillSpills campaign which lobbies Government to raise awareness of the growing number of road traffic accidents which are caused by diesel spills, and the simple steps that can be taken to prevent them.
“Diesel is as slippery as black ice and is difficult to see, especially when it’s dark or wet. When spilt on the roads, it makes driving conditions treacherous,” said Andrew Campbell. “The Government has set itself a target of significantly reducing the number of road traffic accidents by 2010 – reducing the amount of fuel spilt every day on Britain’s roads is one way of doing this.”