Hi Ozlawyers, seeking some advice on this one.
I was travelling along where they were completing road works, which occurs over a fair length. The section I was driving through had no street lights (so visibility quiet low), oncoming lane was closed and traffic cones were put up on the side I was traveling, temporarily dividing the two-lane road I was travelling on. It looked like they were milling and re-sheeting a section of the road further down, so this section of road wasn't even being worked on nor was any contractor present.
At a point where the road dips I ran over a traffic cone that was laying flat on the ground, located in the middle of my lane. Someone had hit the traffic cone from the oncoming side and knocked it into my path. My car dragged the traffic cone for a considerable distance (100m or so) before I was able to safely pull-over to observe the damage. I could not stop in time due to a combination of: low visibility and not noticing the cone till the last second, and traffic following closely behind me.
Observed was the traffic cone wedged underneath my bumper. Snapped the vertical crossmembers(?) and damaged the undercarriage guards, sheared it right off the bolted connections.
I'm thinking of letting Insurance handle it but the car is way under Insured (2.7k agreed vs 5k market value) and the excess is $900. Also, the car is an older 1990s car so bumper replacement parts may not be readily available. So it may not even be worth pursuing. I'm not sure if excess would be waived in this situation?
Alternatively, I'm thinking of just sending the car and getting a quote, then sending the traffic control company a letter of demand and seeing what happens? Not holding my breath on it.
Otherwise, I'd just leave it as it is as the car is still driveable.
What speed were you doing, and what was the speed limit?