Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Hewitt Road - oil slick - update
Residents asked me to follow up the issue with the speed hump/service cover and resulting loss of oil from vehicles which (having driven too fast over it) leave a trail of oil.
Here is the response. The replacement cover should fix the issue but of course the larger problem of cars speeding down our roads continues. Its an issue I will continue to address with the council.
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Your enquiry about the Statutory Undertakers service cover in Hewitt Road outside no’40 LBH/2953114
Thank you for your enquiry.
A site inspection has confirmed that the speed hump has been constructed to the correct specification and conforms to the Highways (Road Hump) Regulations 1996, which is laid down by the Department for Transport. The speed at which you approach the hump should take account of the roads layout. The Highway Code states that 'the speed limit is the absolute maximum and does not mean it is safe to drive at that speed irrespective of conditions. Driving at speeds that are inappropriate for the road and traffic conditions can be dangerous'.
However, it would appear that the cause of the problem is likely to be the protruding sewer inspection chamber near the speed hump outside no’40.
We will therefore ascertain who is responsible for this cover and request that they arrange replacement for a more modern style cover that will be flush with the carriageway when installed.
Engineering Projects Team
Project Engineer
Sustainable Transport Group
London Borough of Haringey
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by pipplypig on
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Ah yes! The old no right turn which no one seems to be paying any attention to. That and the fact that the council can try and claim everyone was speeding over the hump - it'll be difficult for anyone to prove otherwise on an individual basis. Also, will anyone be bothered? After forking out £1000 or so to repair their sump tank I doubt anyone will bother spending more money on legal advice for claim they could easily lose.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Focusing on fixing/reducing the problem.
This issue does have potential financial consequences for Haringey, for instance if the hump were moved up the hill by (say) 5 - 10 metres, thus leaving an 'admitting liability' avenue open to claimants against the Council, because it shouldn't have been put there in the first place.....
A 'fix' which eliminates or much reduces the Haringey liability (i.e. it's not THEIR inspection cover, it's Thames Water's) perhaps is the 'least ineffective' option, in terms of reducing the impacts. Perhaps not 100% effective, but some progress, for heaven's sake.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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And pedestrians and cyclists, Pipplypig. As Hugh wrote on 14 May: "A girl who lives near the offending hump is a cyclist and came flying off her bike when she went over a fresh slick last year. She required hospital treatment, including for a broken arm".
Emine Ibrahim told me that sand was put down on the latest oil leak as you suggested on Sunday.
It's many decades since I practised as a solicitor and I'm not about to offer legal advice online to anyone involved. Except to consult their own lawyer!
When I phoned Tony Kennedy on 20 May among other information he told me claims were made and that Haringey were resisting these. Which I thought might be a reason why he framed the problem as: "about the Statutory Undertakers service cover in Hewitt Road outside no’40" .
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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There is shortly opening a firm of lawyers specialising in accident compensation.
They'll be just around the bottom corner of Hewitt Road, at the lower or eastern end of the road and will occupy the ground floor of the Coliseum (once possibly a betting shop).
It could be that some business will be arriving almost on their doorstep.
IMO, the council need to move swiftly to effect a warning sign, a proper survey and followed by a sustainable solution ASAP, before claims start mounting.
Highgate Councillor
Liberal Democrat Party
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So what steps will you, now a councillor, be taking to get them to "move swiftly" etc.?
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Morning Gordon,
This isn't my patch of responsibility. However, since I live not very far from the site, I've taken the trouble to go and see it and using average intelligence, to make common-sense observations (as you have yourself). If I were one of the local Harringay Councillors, I'd take Alan's advice and Go And See and try to understand the whole problem.
I would view the Sustainable Transport Group's report with scepticism and their supposed Sustainable Solution as sustainable only until the next wide-track, low ground-clearance vehicle comes down the road.
The Council placed blame for this problem on speeding motorists and the cover.
The difficulty is, that the cover does not protrude.
It "protrudes" from the road in the same way that a dinosaur skeleton protrudes above ground level ... after a team of archaeologists have spent months at the dig, excavating the surrounding earth.
This is my tentative conclusion: The Sustainable Transport Group is fighting a rear-guard action in order to avoid committing the resources to a proper solution. This is likely to be cash driven. Unfortunately, the only way to get the council to respond to the needs of residents and road users is to act in kind: with claims for compensation. I regret the need to say that.
If the council does not put up a temporary warning sign (pending a permanent solution), then accident compensation companies might consider placing their own signs in Hewitt Road (below the inspection cover). Something like,
Have you just had your oil sump torn open?
Was it your fault?
If not, we may be able to help.
I hope that it wouldn't come to this, but if the council still declines to move swiftly, with warning sign and sustainable solution, it may do.
Councillor (Highgate Ward)
Liberal Democrat Party
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Clive, thanks. It would be open to a local with DTP skills to knock up a couple of warning signs??
SLOW!
RISK OF
GROUNDING
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Gordon, yes, this is the kind of clear simple sign I'd imagined. I might also include the word "care". As we've discussed, simply driving slowly might not avoid grounding, but it's likely to reduce the severity of the impact.
Another temporary, short-term fix might be to stop cars parking adjacent to the iron cover. It's a narrow road, currently with parking permitted on both sides. This forces vehicles to travel down the centre of the road, with their oil sumps perfectly lined up to be smashed against the cover.
Oil tanks would be less at risk if vehicles could move more to one side or the other – but only if parked cars weren't in the way.
Karen's original thread has now been viewed more than one and a half thousand times. Much attention is now focused on the performance of the Sustainable Transport Group.
Those who've suffered injury or financial loss as a result of piece of road won't have much difficulty in finding this discussion.
BTW, yesterday there was light rain and one could see the rain drops aggregating as blobs sitting on top of the oil slick. The council needs to move swiftly before there's a serious accident.
Councillor (Highgate Ward)
Liberal Democrat Party
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Just so people don't get the wrong idea, I don't claim Genchi Genbutsu as my own idea.
Nor will 'going to the scene' by itself always let you understand "the whole problem". It's obviously helpful and, in many cases, essential to do this. But as any basic introductory textbook on research methods will tell you, there are a range of ways to try to find out what is going on.*
In a similar way, it's also useless simply to blame one set of the users of a facility for its failings which then impinge on all other users. Even if strictly true, the explanation that it's the fault of some drivers for going too fast and then breaking before the Hewitt Road humps, is no consolation if you're a cyclist, skid on a pool of oil, and come off your bike.
Once upon a time as a councillor, I came across this blinkered thinking over and again. 'We've set up a perfectly good system; why don't people use it properly as we intended?'
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* Note for Cllr Clive Carter, viewing the film Rashomon may also help you.
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Alan, I'm aiming more for the Gordian knot solution!
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