Mud on road

[Mal103]

We seem to have to accept a certain amount of mud on B roads but now and again the farmers excel themselves and transform a section of road to being a death trap. I'm more than aware of what can lay in wait on one of my commuting routes, West of Nunney (Nr Frome) in Somerset on the old Wells Road. This week I was nearly thrown off by about an inch of wet mud, not just in the centre of my side of the road but all over it.
I live near good farmers so I'm not being anti country just trying to stay upright!

What can be done, surely there must be a way of adding something in the field to get rid of most of the excess mud before the tractor pulls out onto the road, or even a deal with the Council to send out a road cleaner after they have driven mud everywhere. A small painted sign saying "Mud on road" is useless during dark hours. The Polices answer is to close the road, surely if I was to go out and throw half a ton of slippery crap onto my local road I would be arrested?

[simmo5159]

This most definitely covers it: (a) causes ANYTHING to be on or over a road.

Road Traffic Act 1988

Sec 22A Causing Danger to Road Users
(1)A person is guilty of an offence if he intentionally and without lawful authority or reasonable cause—
(a)causes anything to be on or over a road, or
(b)interferes with a motor vehicle, trailer or cycle, or
(c)interferes (directly or indirectly) with traffic equipment,
in such circumstances that it would be obvious to a reasonable person that to do so would be dangerous.
(2)In subsection (1) above “dangerous” refers to danger either of injury to any person while on or near a road, or of serious damage to property on or near a road; and in determining for the purposes of that subsection what would be obvious to a reasonable person in a particular case, regard shall be had not only to the circumstances of which he could be expected to be aware but also to any circumstances shown to have been within the knowledge of the accused.
(3)In subsection (1) above “traffic equipment” means—
(a)anything lawfully placed on or near a road by a highway authority;
(b)a traffic sign lawfully placed on or near a road by a person other than a highway authority;
(c)any fence, barrier or light lawfully placed on or near a road—
(i)in pursuance of section 174 of the Highways Act 1980, F77. . . or section 65 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (which provide for guarding, lighting and signing in streets where works are undertaken), or
(ii)by a constable or a person acting under the instructions (whether general or specific) of a chief officer of police.
(4)For the purposes of subsection (3) above anything placed on or near a road shall unless the contrary is proved be deemed to have been lawfully placed there.
(5)In this section “road” does not include a footpath or bridleway.
(6)This section does not extend to Scotland.]

[Gavuk]

If there were manslaughter charges imposed I'm sure the roads would be left clear,doesn't help when they repair the roads by laying gravel instead of tarmac either......and why can't utilities ever patch a road so you don't know its there?...... , I pay "ROAD TAX" on 2 bikes and 2 cars ,i don't feel like i get value for money,in France they levy the petrol and an monies raised has to be spent in the region collected, their roads where soo much better than here

[Snowy]

I pay "ROAD TAX" on 2 bikes and 2 cars ,i don't feel like i get value for money

"Road Tax" was abolished in 1937 nearly 80 years ago. We pay a vehicle excise duty which is a general tax on vehicles and doesn't pay for the upkeep of the roads - that comes out of the general coffers that everyone pays for, not just road users.

[redken1]

Mal & Gavuk, Road Tax, Car Tax, VED Tax? Personally speaking, I don’t really see the relevance of what it is called. Whatever you wish to call it, it is a statuary vehicle ownership/keeper tax which has to be paid if the vehicle is to be used/parked on a public road. IMO, Just because the VED as it is now called and fuel duty is not ring-fenced for the governmental roads and transport dept it is misleading to suggest that non-road users contribute to the roads budget via other forms of taxation. I would accept that if there was a shortfall between the revenue the treasury receives from motoring taxes and the allocated roads expenditure, but that is not the case. According to the RAC, for the financial year12/13 the combined total raised from VED and fuel duty was £31.58 billion, far exceeding the £7.5 billion spent on our roads during the same period. It is a bit like the misleading claims made by the UK medical bodies that smokers cost the NHS approx £6 billion a year in treatment for smoking related illnesses/diseases. In its self I would not dispute that that is not a factual statement. However, the Chancellor of the Exchequer responsible for managing the NHS purse strings received approx £12 billion in taxes/duty from all tobacco products in the last financial year. Getting back on track – muddy roads Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!. I would have a polite word with the offending farmer pointing out the potential risks of leaving mud on the roads, especially to bikers and scooter riders. Should the farmer refuse to make any effort to clean up the mess, I would suggest lodging a formal complaint in writing to the local police informing them that you have spoken to the farmer prior to raising your concerns with them.

[wiltshire builders]

My local council are spending a fortune resurfacing the pavements and adding cycle lanes. Meanwhile the roads look like downtown Baghdad after the Bush family have been in town.

Getting back to the original post.
Farmers are selfish b'stards and that will never change.
Their argument is that they can't be expected to clear up after themselves.
Why?
My industry does and there are massive fines if you don't.

[Mitch9128]

WB roads are down for 2015 too, according to my inside bitch @ the council, well Ladyfield is anyway.

[wiltshire builders]

WB roads are down for 2015 too, according to my inside bitch @ the council, well Ladyfield is anyway.

How come you've got an inside bitch and I dont?