News Man set to sue council over blackspot claims
A teacher is planning to sue the county council after he was injured in a crash on what he claims was an unsafe road surface.
Gary Malloy, a teacher at Marshlands Primary School in Goole, was driving home for Christmas when his Ford Mondeo crashed into a pedestrian barrier next to the Dutch Bridge on the corner of Bridge Street and Cottingham Street in Old Goole.
The married father-of-two says there have been several other accidents on the site since his crash on December 21 last year, which damaged the roadside barrier, left his car a twisted wreck and caused him whiplash and neck injuries.
And he claims it is only a matter of time before a motorist is seriously injured or even killed on that corner.
The East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) commissioned a safety inspection at the site and concluded the road surface was safe.
But Mr Malloy (36) remains adamant and is planning to call in solicitors from his teaching union. That means Mr Malloy could end up sueing his employers - the ERYC.
He said: "The week before my accident someone else had also hit the barrier in the same place. A taxi driver who was at the scene of my accident told me I should tell the council because he had also reported it after nearly hitting it on that same morning.
"Since Christmas someone else has hit the barrier because it's smashed to pieces, and I know of several other people who've said they've had near misses."
Mr Malloy says he intends to claim road surface damage against the council.
"It's a brand new surface road but there's something on there that is causing cars to lose control," he said.
Mr Malloy says he is now drawing up a legal case with his insurers and will then approach his teaching union.
"This is not just for me; it's for the other people who have hit the barrier," he said. "Some people who have hit it have obviously not reported it."
Mr Malloy said he is being made to pay for the damage caused to the road barrier on top of buying a new car because his Mondeo was written off.
He added: "There's going to be a serious accident, if not a fatality, on that corner - there are pedestrians walking past there all the time."
Mr Malloy has suffered constant neck pains as a result of the accident and has been undergoing physiotherapy ever since.
A county council spokesman said: "This matter is with our insurers and therefore we cannot comment."
Published on 21st February 2008 in News.
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