Need clarification of the law.

Tdh1987 · 28 Jun 2009 at 21:27

My Neighbour has 2 electric ride on karts for their kids. Unfortunately one of the kids crashed into my car as it was parked on the road and caused considerable damage to the front wing of my car. Depsite originally agreeing to pay for the damage done they are now refusing to cough up the cash.

The ride on cars are electric but can travel upto speeds of about 10mph, with poor brakes (despite it being a disk brake). Now what I need to know is should the cars be used on the public highway or are they illegal?

I remeber recently hearing on the radio that these popular electric scooters aren't allowed on a public highway and neither allowed on pavement, does the same law apply to the electric cars that my neighbours kids use.

The electric cars both cost £400 each, so it'd be great to inform them that they are illegal and that I will inform the police if they continue to use them.

shauncr91 · 28 Jun 2009 at 21:34

I'm quite sure they are illegal to use on the public highway.

What's his excuse for not paying up ?

Janesy B · 28 Jun 2009 at 21:39

Police + small claims court should be the way forward.

Conanius · 28 Jun 2009 at 21:40

depending how amicable you want to keep things, id send him a recorded delivery letter (I know I know, but read on) explaining you want the money in cash within 5 working days or you will take matters further.

Once the 5 days are up just do an online small claims action against him for the damage.

Tdh1987 · 28 Jun 2009 at 21:56

The problem is that when we ran outside to see what had happened the child, along with the kart was next to the back wheel, neither I or they saw the incident as it happened but only shortly after.

She agreed to pay for the damage at the time and for several days following, but since she has spoken to her father (Who knows several people in the body work trade apparently) who believes the damage can't have been caused as a result of the kart striking my car.
Now I take plenty of pride in my car as I sure most people on this forum do too, I'm pretty sure the damage didn't exist on the car hours before the incident (However I could be wrong).

The fact of the matter is, neither party saw the incident happen, so nobody can prove anything.

Thats over with now, but what I want to know is are the car illegal and can anyone find the law excluding them from use on a public highway in writing so I can present it to them.

shauncr91 · 28 Jun 2009 at 21:59

Got any pics of the damage? Post them on here so we can see how bad it is.

Also, go get the kart in question and line it up next to the car so you can see how it would hit the bodywork and line it up.

Tdh1987 · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:00

The Damage: http://www.tdh1987.co.uk/DSC00136.JPG

Tdh1987 · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:03

shauncr91 said:
Got any pics of the damage? Post them on here so we can see how bad it is.

Also, go get the kart in question and line it up next to the car so you can see how it would hit the bodywork and line it up.

Already done that, the kart is a good few inches lower than the damage on the car, I'm unsure as to how it could have struck the car where it did. Also there is no paintwork damage at all, I suspect that if the car was damaged as a result of the accident it could only have been caused by the child physically hitting the car himself.

shauncr91 · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:06

Tdh1987 said:
The Damage: http://www.tdh1987.co.uk/DSC00136.JPG

I can hardly see any damage on there...

I think I can see a dent, surely you can pop that out yourself?

Tdh1987 · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:10

I've had a quote of £80 to pop the dent out, which I think is resonable.

Felix Da Housecat · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:14

The way it looks I'd say you may have to pay for the repair, if it's only a dent then get a dent remover company in, hopefully it won't cost too much to put right.

As for the kids I'd ask the parents nicely to make the kids play somewhere safer thus reducing the chances of your car becoming damaged due to these karts and also puts the kids out of harms way from other motorists.

Hopefully they will take the advice, if not then maybe infirm them that these karts shouldn't be on the public highway anyway and thst if they continue then you will have to report it.

Clarkey · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:21

lol, considerable damage indeed :/

Amoeba · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:24

Tdh1987 said:
Already done that, the kart is a good few inches lower than the damage on the car, I'm unsure as to how it could have struck the car where it did. Also there is no paintwork damage at all, I suspect that if the car was damaged as a result of the accident it could only have been caused by the child physically hitting the car himself.

Fair enough, but it sounds possible that the dent /may/ have already existed..? I know you probably think you would have noticed it earlier, but I noticed a dint in my door yesterday which I hadn't seen before so I guess it's easy to overlook these things.

With regard to payment I would be tempted just to let it drop, bite the bullet and pay for the damage myself. If you escalate it to SCC etc then it will just cause unnecessary tension between yourself and the neighbour.

miniyazz · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:35

shauncr91 said:
I can hardly see any damage on there...

I think I can see a dent, surely you can pop that out yourself?

This. Could hardly see anything on it.. doesn't stop it being annoying, but I would hardly think it worth taking your neighbour to court over. You can get sucker things that might pop out a dent.

Mr-White · 28 Jun 2009 at 22:41

Report them to the police, uninsured driver.

MW

Fr0dders · 28 Jun 2009 at 23:50

pay it yourself

Its not worth the hassle with the neighbours over £80. Remember, if this becomes formal and goes to court, you are bound by law to declare it when you sell your house that you've had issues with your neighbours.

Id say its worth £80 to avoid that.

Tute · 28 Jun 2009 at 23:54

MrLOL said:
pay it yourself

Its not worth the hassle with the neighbours over £80. Remember, if this becomes formal and goes to court, you are bound by law to declare it when you sell your house that you've had issues with your neighbours.

Id say its worth £80 to avoid that.

I can see where you're coming from, but surely it's better to do something about it rather than have neighbours who think they can get away with not respecting others' property?

Fr0dders · 29 Jun 2009 at 00:01

he's already had words with them by the sounds of it

They know his position. He thinks the kid caused it and wants them to pay

She thought the kid caused it, then saw how high up it was, then changed her mind and thinks tom is pulling a fast one and now says shes not paying.

Theres no more discussion to be had, nobody saw the incident so it can only descend into arguments. Like ive said already, if authorities get involved, council etc.. you have to delcare it when you move.

Muncher · 29 Jun 2009 at 00:04

Pay it, forget about it, move on.

Or take them to court, maybe win, maybe recover your costs and wait for them to damage your car deliberately next time.

Moeks · 29 Jun 2009 at 00:13

Muncher said:
and wait for them to damage your car deliberately next time.

Then you can nail them to the proverbial wall, in pieces.

The problem is that you do not know they did it, if you did know, I'd take them to a small claims court if they continue to refuse to pay, then again I love conflict, I thrive on it.