Just driven up north from Stansted - 7.40pm, passed 7.5 miles of stationary traffic on southbound Mll, lengthening by the minute, all because of a skewiff Land Rover with its small trailer on its side in the roadworks section. I suspect it will not have cleared as I post this!
Many will have been damaged by this incident. This worn out, coned and excavated, pathetic excuse of a motorway is the main northerly access route to one of the country's busiest airports. Who can one sue? The person who caused the incident? The contractors for lack of contingency plans for such an event? The police for being unable to deal with it in a timely manner? The Department of Transport for providing such a derisory autoroute network?
I suspect twenty blokes and a couple of knotted tow ropes would have righted the rig and cleared it out of the way but as I passed, absolutely nothing was happening.
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all because of a skewiff Land Rover with its small trailer on its side in the roadworks section.
Who can one sue? The person who caused the incident? >>
If you think litigation is the appropriate remedy, then I think the bloke with the LR would be the best person to go for.
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surely this is what travel insurance is for?
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surely this is what travel insurance is for?
Very few travel insurance policies would cover that. Most cover hold-ups if you're on public transport, some if you're in a taxi and some if the car you're in breaks down or is in an accident. But very few provide cover if you're in a private car and another accident holds you up.
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>>>>I suspect twenty blokes and a couple of knotted tow ropes would have righted the rig and cleared it out of the way but as I passed, absolutely nothing was happening.
As I understand it, in the USA they have the equivalent of our Highways Agency who's main objective is to clear the carriageway and get traffic flowing again.
Ironically, it is probably the US style Ambulance chasing lawyers and the like that that have pressed the authorities to make detailed investigations into even the most minor of shunts and hence keep lanes blocked for longer as a result.
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What is it with the M11? As long as I can remember the tinpot tyrants have been digging it up near the Stansted turnoff (J8 I think). Does anyone know why or when/if it will ever end?
From South and West to Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk the A1 / A505 route to the M11 or A11 is best, especially now (40 years late) they have managed to bypass Baldock.
Edited by Avant on 18/05/2008 at 23:05
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Had a similar thing happen here in Auckland not long ago, but not many people missed their flights, mainly because the flight crews were stuck in the same traffic jam. Played havoc with air traffic control though, once the surge from the traffic jam was loaded on to the aircraft.
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I avoid that section like the plague if I'm going to Stansted for a flight, there's some lovely villages on the lanes. I'll use it on the way back.
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I've noticed many times on many roads drivers squeezing past a minor accident tp be away before police/highways agency arrive to close the road.Got stuck once on the A12 for the best part of two hours-as usual just passed an exit slip-and nothing moved-there were people including brides on their way to their weddings-Saturday afternoon-finally got to the scene of what I expected to be a horrific accident and found it was a minor three car nose/tail.On the Continent you see the police running at the scene of an accident-never here.
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Insurance firms don't pay for missed flight because of traffic jams! Because it is self inflicting scenario (you could have avoided that route or could have left earlier etc.).
I even heard in news that insurers now doesn't cover T5 delay yet!
If you are anxious about delay either leave very early or use public transport (still leave very early).
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Insurance firms don't pay for missed flight because of traffic jams! Because it is self inflicting scenario (you could have avoided that route or could have left earlier etc.).
Some do, some don't. Impossible to generalise about avoiding them - you could be stuck for many hours between 2 motorway junctions.
I even heard in news that insurers now doesn't cover T5 delay yet!
They lifted the T5 exclusions some weeks ago.
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B P Says - above
Very few travel insurance policies would cover that. Most cover hold-ups if you're on public transport, some if you're in a taxi and some if the car you're in breaks down or is in an accident. But very few provide cover if you're in a private car and another accident holds you up.
This sounds like typical obfuscation by insurers. Are we being told that they will pay for a missed flight if you are in a traffic jam in a coach or taxi but not if you are in the same jam in your private car? Plural and Bouncing!
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This sounds like typical obfuscation by insurers. Are we being told that they will pay for a missed flight if you are in a traffic jam in a coach or taxi but not if you are in the same jam in your private car? Plural and Bouncing!
It's pretty clear if you read the policy. It's something I'm aware of so always look out for.
I guess the reason public transport or taxi etc is more readily covered is that it's more straightforward to prove the claim. With a private car you might have just over-slept. I also think that there has to be a specific cause - ie the vehicle breaking down or an accident that the Police attended. A random traffic jam with a non-specific cause would probably make the claim fail.
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We have a couple of firms in my area who specialise in taking you to and from the airport, often at prices that work out cheaper than train or bus, but also mean you don't pay parking fees.
However, for the purposes of insurance, they always allow at least an hour extra journey time before a flight against the time you would set off on the same 45-50 minute trip, even if it's in the early hours of the morning.
Edited by Stuartli on 19/05/2008 at 20:32
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The only time I ever missed a flight was due to a jack-knifed lorry on the M25. We didn't move for hours and it was impossible to get off the motorway. The next available flight was from Bristol (we were at Gatwick). We got the train there (we were given a lift to Gatwick). We claimed back all of our expenses on insurance without any query at all.
Maybe insurance policies have changed but I can confirm I have definitely claimed for this very reason (about 7 years ago).
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