EV charging points trip hazard?

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by MGW, Oct 29, 2021.

  1. MGW

    MGW Screwfix Select

    [​IMG] The charger unit is neat and very little pedestrian traffic, but it is just outside a personnel door, and I have more than once walked out with an arm full of gear and tripped over the cables.

    Can the car owners be taken to court if I am injured in the same way as councils have claims due to poor pavement repair, or is it the podpoint which are responsible or the building owners?

    As the number of charge points increase, so will the problem of cables. The charge points upload_2021-10-29_17-32-45.jpeg tend to be near shop entrances this one shows one as a Tesco, and so people will walk past them. If I left a cable like that in most places I have worked I would get told off, no way would I be allowed that where there is public access.
     
  2. sparky steve

    sparky steve Screwfix Select

    Next generation of EVs and chargers may possibly be of the induction type?
    Trailing cables then no longer a problem:)
     
  3. CraigMcK

    CraigMcK Screwfix Select

    I would not hold your breath for ‘wireless’ charging. There are so many difficulties in doing this efficiently and quickly it is a long way from being the norm. There are also hazards from high power induction charging for passers by who have pacemakers.
    One of the odd features is that due to hazards to life they have proximity sensors to power down if something goes into the zone. The down side is that they get warm and animals feel safe under the car in the heat, guess what happens!!
     
  4. Roys

    Roys Screwfix Select

    Your EV ends up with a CAt converter?
     
    Teki, sparky steve and Jimbo like this.
  5. MGW

    MGW Screwfix Select

    I note that electric charging points seem to be for the disabled, in that the foot print reserved for them is much larger than for normal car parking, this in turn means they encourage people to walk past them. And in spite of having so much electric power, no lights.
     
  6. Okoak

    Okoak Active Member

    I recently witnessed first hand the reality of charging electric vehicles when my elderly next door neighbour had a guest staying for a couple of days. Said guest turned up in an electric BMW and it spent the next two days parked half on the pavement with an electric cable running through the kitchen window and across the pavement, and with a kitchen chair plonked between the car and the house to stop anyone walking past and tripping over the cable.
     
  7. woodbutcherbower

    woodbutcherbower Screwfix Select

    Forgive my cynicism, but the whole world seems to have fallen into a swamp of risk aversion, whilst constantly being on the lookout for a convenient scapegoat for their own lack of care and stupidity. If I trip over a cable the size of a hosepipe - it's 100% my fault for not looking where the hell I was going. I don't instantly look around for someone to blame, someone to take to court, or someone to hit with a compensation claim. And it's exactly the latter which drives the whole thing - fear of being sued by some numpty who's left their brain at home in a jar. Witness the $1m lawsuit lost by McDonalds in the US, who were successfully sued by someone whose lips hurt a bit because her coffee was too hot.

    It's become the universal common denominator. Was working on a Grade II listed building a few weeks ago, and there was a team of archaeologists working in a section of the grounds - in the open air, in the middle of a vast field which was utterly hazard-free. They were wearing hard hats, hi-vis vests, goggles, gauntlets and ear defenders, with their small, shallow hole being surrounded by countless barriers and a motorway's worth of warning signage. And they were all presumably wearing a condom just to be on the safe side. I'm not for one moment suggesting a gung-ho approach to safety, but no amount of legislation will ever compensate for abject stupidity.

    Just sayin' .....
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2021
    stevie22 likes this.
  8. MGW

    MGW Screwfix Select

    If simply walking then in the main I will see a trip hazard, it is when carrying some thing using both hands so view of floor obscured where I am going to walk, same with wheel barrow, push chair, or wheel chair, and corners are the worse.

    I do forgive some of what @woodbutcherbower says, but pedestrians do not need to take an eye sight test, in fact even the blind are allowed to walk on our walkways.

    We have had 25 meter cables used for caravans used for years, but fire regulations means there is a minimum gap between caravans and between caravan and buildings, as a result you can normally see any cable or pipe in time. And even if you do get it around your legs, it is light enough and long enough to in the main not cause one to fall over, stumble maybe, but not fall over, but the EV charging point shown, is right next to a personal door, so you struggle to open door with hands full, and then step out onto a cable.

    If the person injured claims they it is who they claim from? The car driver has no real option as to where they park, and the building owner is not the same person that owns the charge point, and not sure who owns the land. I know who cleans it up, but that is because the council don't, and want it to look presentable.

    Is tripping over an EV charging lead considered as a road accident? i.e. if an ambulance is called will there be a charge?
     
  9. CraigMcK

    CraigMcK Screwfix Select

    While I wholeheartedly disagree with our current risk adverse society. If you walk through a charger site without looking it’s your own problem. I do, however, feel it is reasonable to walk along a pavement without having to keep watch for cables trailing across from house to car, particularly at night.
     
    Mrboomal likes this.

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