Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the positioning of traffic lights in front of a box junction. This is because it is unlikely he will find fault by the Council and he cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council will not accept that the positioning of its traffic lights in front of a box junction led to the accident he had with another vehicle.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault or we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant seeks. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint and looked at the section of road in question on digital street view maps. I have sent Mr X my draft decision on the complaint for his comments and I have considered the comments he made.

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What I found

5. Mr X was involved in an accident with another vehicle on a box junction. Mr X says the Council is to blame for the accident because traffic lights beyond the box junction are not positioned correctly. Mr X says he could not see them when he was in the box junction.
6. Mr X wants the Council to admit liability for the accident so his insurer will not hold him responsible.
7. The Council has denied liability for the accident. It says the traffic lights have been in position for some time, are positioned correctly and that and no other complaints have been received.

Analysis

8. The Council says the traffic lights are positioned correctly. Without some tangible evidence to suggest this might be wrong, there are no grounds for us to investigate. That Mr X had an accident at the location and blames the positioning of the lights, is not sufficient to warrant us investigating.
9. Additionally, even if we did investigate, it is not within our remit to hold the Council legally accountable for Mr X’s accident. Only the courts can do this and there is a procedure open to anyone to make a money claim in the court. Mr X would need to take court action to obtain a legal judgement in respect of the Council’s lability.
10. For these reasons, we will not investigate the complaint.

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Final decision

11. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient indication of fault by the Council and the Ombudsman cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman