Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

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Community Editor
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Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

Postby Community Editor » Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:44 am

Wandsworth Council have confirmed that the owners of electric cars, rather than the authority itself, will be deemed at fault should someone trip and fall on the charging cables.

This comes after concerns were raised about the safety of having charging points placed on the pavement, rather than in the streets.

Battersea MP Marsha de Cordova has a visual impairment.

She says she knows first hand how difficult it can be to navigate the pavement "when it has poorly designed or ill conceived street furniture obstacles."

"I fully support electric vehicles and believe they have a very important role to play in the future of our transport," she said.

"As this type of vehicle becomes more popular local authorities will be in a rush install charging points.Local authorities must ensure the safety of all road users and provide whatever training is necessary to make sure charging points and cables are installed safely so as not to create hazards for blind and partially sighted people.

"Pavements have to be hazard free to accommodate all of our residents."

The council has been installing these electric vehicle charging points in hundreds of street lights across the borough in an effort to get people to make the switch away from diesel and petrol to help reduce emissions and improve air quality.

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But a charity which looks to promote everyday walking says the local authority should consider placing the charging points in the road or on build-outs from the pavement.

"While electric vehicles have a role in helping clean up our air, this should not be at the expense of a genuinely zero-emission mode of transport - walking," chairwoman of Wandsworth Living Streets Susie Morrow said.

"They should only be placed on the pavement as a last resort, and such that two people can comfortably walk side by side.

"If we are serious about tackling the climate emergency, we will need to greatly reduce car journeys."Another issue that was raised was who would be at fault legally should someone trip, fall and injure themselves as a result of the charging cords.

A Wandsworth Council spokesman answered this by saying: “Of course owners of EVs must take care when charging their vehicles to not create trip hazards for pedestrians, but using lampposts next to parked vehicles is a much better option than trailing cables across pavements from flats and houses.

"Ultimately though it is the legal responsibility of the vehicle owner to make sure they are not creating a hazard for others.

"We are not aware however of anyone in Wandsworth having tripped over or suffered any injury from an EV cable.”
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juliantenniscoach
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Re: Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

Postby juliantenniscoach » Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:27 pm

I think the cables running from the car to the house are more of an issue potentially.
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juliantenniscoach
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Re: Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

Postby juliantenniscoach » Fri Apr 30, 2021 3:11 pm

You can buy cable covers (exactly what Wandsworth Council use when closing off Northcote Road) on eBay.
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Whittjac
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Re: Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

Postby Whittjac » Tue May 04, 2021 7:21 am

We bought a plug-in hybrid in January as our trusty old diesel would have attracted the ULEZ charge from October. In our grid there are very few charging points - we have to drive quite a long way around to get to one, which surely defeats the environmental objective.
We have instead rigged up an alternative at home that involves an upstairs window, a tree and using an old child’s stilt to elevate the cable! But the last foot between tree and road is still an issue. We cover it with a rubberised mat, but we still have concerns.
It seems neither we nor the council, nor the politicians have thought this through properly...
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Whittjac
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Re: Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

Postby Whittjac » Tue May 04, 2021 7:42 am

@JosyPaigan you should definitely report your neighbours to the council. The original post says they’re not aware of anyone tripping over or suffering injury from cables, so they need to know that’s not true.
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MrBalham99
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Re: Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

Postby MrBalham99 » Tue May 04, 2021 10:26 am

The whole UK EV infrastructure is a mess. Government and councils, including Wandsworth have no clue.

I have an EV. But how are you supposed to be responsible and help the environment - and the air for everyone's children - when:

1) there aren't enough charge points

2) many of Wandsworth's lamppost charge points don't work, and Ubitricity won't fix them

3) people complain about non-existent problems like the car in the photo, whose cable isn't doing any harm

4) you are not allowed to drape your own flex across the pavement in case someone "trips"

5) you are not allowed to run a cable out of your window, or from the top of your fence and down a tree or a lamppost straight to your car

6) most bays next to EV lamppost charging points have Range Rovers, X5s of other SUVs in (not joking).

People need to get a grip and realise that if we are to improve air quality, you need to help us run EVs. Not moan about trivia.
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MrBalham99
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Re: Council confirms electric car owners at fault should injury occur as a result of charging cords

Postby MrBalham99 » Tue May 04, 2021 10:28 am

Whittjac wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 7:42 am@JosyPaigan you should definitely report your neighbours to the council. The original post says they’re not aware of anyone tripping over or suffering injury from cables, so they need to know that’s not true.

Ooh. What a lovely neighbour you are. You'd have done well in East Germany.

Let me guess: you drive a diesel?
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