Can I Sue After Getting Trapped In A Car Wash (Through No Fault Of My Own)

[kzdutchie]

Can I sue after getting trapped in a car wash, I followed all instructions as given but was stuck, no one came to my assistance and I remained stuck shouting for help. I could not get out of the vehicle as the machine was still active. I called the car wash provider but no-one answered the phone. Eventually I got through to a family member who notified staff. Since this happened I have not been sleeping or eating properly. I get paranoid about getting locked in places and feel trapped in tight places. I have not been able to look at a car wash since

[bednobs]

i don't get it, was the machine active or not? you forst say it had stopped, then say it was active.

[Baldric]

If you go for one of the 'No win, No fee' companies,
you should clean-up imho!
good luck.

[kzdutchie]

These days they are all automated you enter in a pin and it does the rest...

Some people believe Friday the 13th is unlucky due to European myth.

I thought it was all nonsense, maybe I was wrong as I now pay for by brazen lack of fear, every time I am in a small place my hands start to shake and I get headaches. When your trapped for a while you actually start to see the walls moving in.

[sherrardk]

You must be quite a sensitive sort if it has affected you so badly, although I can see why it would put you off car washes. Out of interest, how many situations do you encounter that involve small spaces?

[Baldric]

Surely a lack of fear is a good thing?

[kzdutchie]

Although I use wash the car often in them I am not a car wash expert. Speculation indicates it stopped mid cycle and failed to recognise the presence of the car once it was in position, it recognised when the car moved out of position but failed to complete the cycle

[Mamyalynne]

I hope you get some sensible advice from the relevant people and the flashbacks recede.

I had a terrible accident (Yes, Friday 13th) and the recurring flashbacks did abate after a while.

[Zacs-Master]

How far away from the main building was the car wash? Surely, sounding your horn would have alerted the staff or a customer?

[Peter Pedant]

Try an-hour-free solicitors if they are still around.

You could certainly sue - negligence causing psychological harm, the leading case is WIlkinson v Downton.
It is not the case where someone shouts up at a window: does Widow Smith live here ? No ! well she does now.
nor is it the one where the hearse n horses career into a shop and causes fear and loathing in the village....

will you get lots and lots of moolah ?

No I think not - psycho damage as you describe is not the money spinner that it might be in America.

[boxtops]

If the company have admitted to you that nobody checks the car wash, and no-one is trained on it, then this is in effect an admission of liability, IMO. Is there a sign saying the public use it at their own risk? Not having trained staff sounds like a breach of Health & Safety Regulations to me, they have a duty of care to their customers. Go and see that no-win no-fee solicitor - it's not a complaint you're making, you want to claim against their Public Liability insurance for negligence in their duty of care to their customers. It has had a lasting effect on you. Have you been to the doctor? Medical evidence of your fearful state would help.

[tonywiltshire]

You need to take legal advice from a firm who deal with these matters. You could claim in the tort of gross negligence, carelessness amounting to breach of a duty, the failure to do something which a reasonable person would do, though it may be easier to claim breach of contract. I think the 1897 case Peter mentions concerns the outcome of a practical joke and established that outrages behaviour can cause mental distress. I suggest you take advice.

[boxtops]

... and in the meantime, don't wait for any further correspondence from the car wash people, don't hassle them for a reply - let the solicitor do this all for you, if they take on your case. Once you have made a claim, they're not supposed to discuss the incident directly with you any further.

[DTCwordfan]

I can't see why you couldn't have reversed back, the only possibility of encapture being the roller coming over the car and behind the rear - along with a closed door in front - and those are fairly rare in the UK.

[jomifl]

If the rollers were in front you could have reversed, if behind you could have gone forward. If you want to sue you will need to prove that you were in fact trapped and not foolishly obeying the instructions of a machine.

[boxtops]

Agree with DTC and jomifl - but the claim solicitor will tease out these details, to see if there is substance, before making any claim.

[pixie373]

The doors of a carwash automatically shut at the front and back while the machine is active, so I'm not sure how she could have just driven or reversed out.

[Baldric]

I've never seen doors ^^^ on a Car-wash!

[Baldric]

Pixie, 'her' gender is shown as Male in Profile

[DTCwordfan]

There are a few with closed doors around, mainly in urban areas where noise and light pollution could come into play - but these are fairly rare.