bottomed out

[mushypig]

Driving along some local backroads earlier and the car bottomed out on me coming over a hump, not even going fast, next thing i knew i was leaving a trail of diesel behind me. looks like the rear corner of the tank was impacted and burst. Worst thing was had only left petrol station 10 minutes before, so thats £30 down the drain, quite literally. Not a happy camper at the mo.

 

[Blobcat]

I hope you contacted the council and had some cement dust put down on that diesel or your day may get even worse.

 

[Eric Tilley]

I hope you contacted the County Council and put them on notice that you would be claiming for the costs of the damage. They have an obligation to maintain roads in such condition as not to damage vehicles using them in a normal manner.

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

How do speed humps fit in then ? Around here I cross them at about 5mph.
Speed Limit is 30!!!!

 

[television]

Is it not a matter of driving at a speed suitable for that road

 

[mushypig]

was actually a railroad level crossing i hit. the surface falls and rises by upto 4 inches (i went back and measured it) it was travelling between 15 and 20 mph when i hit it. Have crossed it at 50 before in my Musso without any problems so thought that would be ok speed. Have contacted Netwrok Rail and put in a claim. will add some pictures tomorrow to show how bad the surface is.

 

[grpar]

ouch

Were you fully loaded ... ?? 20mph over a 4-inch rise doesn't sound enough to bottom out the rear end .... (but clearly is).

 

[mushypig]

nothing in the boot and only me and my wife in front and 3 year old son in back so not alot of weight ion the car at all

 

[flying haggis]

was actually a railroad level crossing i hit. the surface falls and rises by upto 4 inches (i went back and measured it) it was travelling between 15 and 20 mph when i hit it. Have crossed it at 50 before in my Musso without any problems so thought that would be ok speed. Have contacted Netwrok Rail and put in a claim. will add some pictures tomorrow to show how bad the surface is.

I can never understand how Network Rail manage to get thier level crossings so badly uneven compared with the road level either side. After all it is not rocket science to get the level right is it????? Or are they deliberately made like that to act as a speed hump!!! Try going across in an HGV for a rollercoaster ride.

Hope Network Rail cough up.

 

[Cnics]

There are a set of speedhumps near me that are a hump on a hump. The original humps were massive (not necessarily in height but in length) to the point where the entire car would sit on the top of them. but they were still a hump rather than a raised section. they were hump shaped and you could see scrapes all over them from where they have caught chassis, bumps, exhausts over the years. I never had a problem with my vehicles until they decided to put a second hump...on the hump.

whilst in a car you can sit on top of the original hump, in my van you cannot. so the wheels are on the floor and the hump which was 4inches at its higher point has a further 4 inches on top. So this rules out LWB Sprinters / VW / Iveco or anything with that kind of wheelbase (the larger vehicles tend to sit higher of course).

Needless to say i didn't get my new Exhaust paid for as i was clearly driving too fast..... it was literally driving itself in 1st gear. Sprinter drivers will know this is not exactly lightning speed.

I will be very interested to see the pictures of this crossing by the way.

Rob

 

[mushypig]

Some pics

shows the rises and falls, doesnt look as bad as it is in real life

seen from the other side of crossing

Not the first person to hit it.

The bit i think done the damage

 

[C220GJS]

Not making excuses for Network Rail, but is this crossing on a bend in the railway line ?, it looks from the second picture as if the rails are at different levels indicating camber/banking on a bend , necessary for the railway but a bit of a disaster for road users.

 

[mushypig]

nope track has about 1 mile straight one side of crossing and about half mile on other side.

 

[Eric Tilley]

Mushy ! It looks as though you are not the only one to have graunched your ass on that crossing. I think those photos should establish your case against Network Rail. Why not send them to the local paper and find another route

 

[Silver Arrow]

I have every sympathy for the drivers in this case.

However...

My house is just at the edge of a 30 limit. About 150 yards inside the limit is a narrow humpback bridge. Many punters entering, or leaving the limit are going rather more quickly. Recently a eurobox on his way out took the bridge in spectacular rally style, airbourne for a few car lengths, landing with a satisfactory crunch and acompanied by interesting modified engineering noises until the next lane end outside my place where the occupants de-planed and spent much time inspecting the underside of the modified eurobox.

We await the more spectaular double.