Snow is mostly a danger to pedestrians and parked cars, especially in older parts of the city with traditional roofs. Some pavements are closed, as this is the simplest way to prevent injury. Nevertheless, Prague emergency services have already had to deal with one accident, fortunately not too serious.
Cars suffer the most
Parked cars suffer the most, especially in the town centre. The falling snow is icy and can damage not only windscreens but even bonnets and roofs on cars. The problem really begins when it is time to decide who should pay for the damage. Some building owners have insurance covering such damage. Insurance companies whose policies cover damage caused by the elements are prepared to compensate their clients for damage, and then deal with the problem of who is actually responsible for the damage through their inactivity.
The worst case is when the owner of a building refuses to participate in the compensation process; it is possible to claim compensation in court which is very time-consuming.
There are dozens of cases
According to a police spokes-person dozens of cars have been damaged but the police are not involved in all these incidents. The rest are dealt with by the insurance companies themselves, so statistics will only be known after some time.
The emergency services are at full stretch
“Whenever there is heavy snow, the number of call-outs increases by 20 to 50 a day,” says the Director of Prague Emergency Services, Zdeněk Schwarz. It is not so much about people being hit by falling snow as rather those who, for example, slip and fall. Elderly people call the ambulances because they are afraid to go to the doctor’s.
Firemen and the public against snow
On Monday firemen dealt with 40 cases where they removed snow and icicles from roofs. Property owners also use private companies with hydraulic platforms. This is not cheap; it can cost up to 4,000 CZK an hour. “It’s still much cheaper than paying for damaged roofs and broken windscreens of parked cars,” said the representative of a Prague hotel.
Prague is served by nearly a hundred gritters which constantly keep the roads usable as the temperature remains around zero and there is a threat of icy snowfall and ice on the pavements.
Public transport is so far operating without difficulty; it depends on when the tramline points get snowed up and how clear the bus lanes are kept. As usual, problems can be expected on D1 motorway, so it will be more difficult to get to Prague by car then by train as rail services should not be affected by another 10 cm of fresh snow.
City hall is not responsible
Prague City hall is not responsible for snow falling from the roofs of any buildings which are not owned by the city; the owners of buildings are individually responsible. They are obliged to prevent a potential damage to property and health in relation to snow falling from the roofs of their property. If a serious risk of damage exists, City Hall recommends that property owners contact Prague City Police or the State Police who would assist, for example, in restricting access to streets and especially pavements for as long as necessary.
Responsibility is dictated by law
Responsibility in the aforementioned sense is defined in Section 420 of Act No. 40/1964 Coll, Civil Code, as amended, which defines responsibility for damage caused by infringement of legal duty, wherein such legal duty lies in the duty of everyone to act in such a way as to avoid causing damage especially to health and property, in the sense of Section 415 of the cited Act.
