Pothole problems

BoboGib

Didn't really know where to stick this but in here seemed to be best.

Just heard from a friend who on his way home from work has hit a pothole in the road, been thrown of his bike and unfortunately has fractured his tibia. What I would like to know is where does he stand in regards to claiming off the council for damages to himself and his bike.

What would be the best procedure to follow. Not sure whether the "claims direct" approach would be best in this situation.

Hoping this might spure the council into repairing our road as some of the holes would cause serious damage to a car, let alone a bike and rider.

mattward1979

get photos... lots of them

Of rider and injuries, Pothole, Bike, surrounding area... just everything and in close up detail. the more proof you have, the more likely the claim will be upheld.

Not sure where to suggest you get to handle your claim though. Citizens advice would be a good start

Stewie Griffin

My car was damaged by a pot hole and the Council paid for it to be repaired. At no point did they fight it. It was a while ago now but iirc I contacted the Boroughs Insurance dept directly. Injuries though are a whole other kettle of fish but I would imagine involving a Solicitor would be a good idea.

gregster10217

Slightly different situation, but when I hit a pothole in my car and wrecked the alloy, I wrote to the council to claim.
They wrote back saying that they could not be held responsible as the road was checked every 6 months and it wasn't there when they last checked it, which was within the time span of the checks. They also stated that it had not been reported prior to my incident, again not making them liable.
I thought about arguing with them, but they included some extra paperwork which basically stated that the courts had agreed that as long as regular checks were carried out (every 6 months?) that they could not be held responsible and there was no point in me appealing.
I was fuming, as was the bloke who pulled into the car park behind me to change his tyre, after wrecking his wheel as well. This may have changed since my incident, which was in 2003/2004.
Not much help, and that was Gravesham council, in Kent. Don't know whether that's a countrywide policy, might be worth checking it out.

hodsgod

Seriously guys, we all know the bad weather creates pot holes, it's not practical for the councils to repair them so quickly. We have to be really careful in such road conditions.

Whether we like it or not. the holes are here to stay for a while, take care.

Philby

This site may help:

http://www.potholes.co.uk/

stonehouse

Most of the potholes I've seen recently are as a direct result of previous repairs and utilities not re-instating/repairing the road properly. If they don't seal the edge of the repair properly water will get in and ice will cause breakup and another hole will appear.

I spoke at length with the local chap in charge of filling holes, his problem was lack of budget. From the £2000 a year we pay in council tax, only £13 goes towards repairing the roads! He said that social services tax the majority of the £2000. He has a team of 2 men that cover a huge area.

I've emailed our local councillor about the issue, I never received a reply. He will get a mouth full of abuse if he ever stands on my doorstep asking for my vote again!

Perhaps there needs to be research into a new regime for making/repairing roads as the existing methods clearly don't work very well!

RonB

Here's alternative to Philby's suggestion.

http://www.fixmystreet.com/

Here you don't need to register. Just reply to an auto e-mail message to have your fault/ concern logged.

pomtarr

Another popular alternative is http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/, run by the CTC. Again no need to register.

SBezza

Normally you can report them direct to the council as well, I have used the council and fillthathole to report potholes.

Lillywhite

SBezza wrote:

Normally you can report them direct to the council as well, I have used the council and fillthathole to report potholes.

When reporting a highway defect problem, direct to the Local Authority, which includes street lighting issues you are given an incident number for future reference, and you have a better chance of successfully getting compensation from the LA, in the event of an accident, if this defect has previously been reported and is on their database.

ColinJ

SBezza wrote:

Normally you can report them direct to the council as well, I have used the council and fillthathole to report potholes.

I reported an extremely dangerous pothole about 10 years ago. It was on a 40 mph descent from Blackstone Edge to Littleborough (near Rochdale) and was in such a position relative to the camber of the road and a bend that you could only see it a fraction of a second before you hit it.

It almost got me the first time I encountered it so I was very careful to avoid it after that. At first I didn't report it. After about 6 months, the hole was marked with a circle of paint which would fit in with the idea of 6-monthly council inspections mentioned above.

6 months later, however, the hole was still there, dangerous as ever. A mate came down the hill on his mountain bike and slammed straight into it. Fortunately the big knobbly tyres and suspension were able to take the hit. Road bike tyres/wheels wouldn't have.

This time I took action. I contacted an online pothole register AND the local council. I informed the council that I was aware of the court ruling that a council could only be held liable if they had been informed of a particular hole. Well, consider this as such notice! I made a point of saying how dangerous the pothole was and said that if I heard of an accident caused by the hole not being filled in, I would contact the victim and act as a witness. I also said that it was obvious that the hole had been known to the council for at least 6 months since it had been marked that long ago, but so far no action had been taken to fix it.

There was a flurry of activity as emails went up through the council hierarchy and eventually someone emailed me back, copying all the previous emails to me. It was obvious that the threat of legal action if something bad happened had stirred them into action.

Within 24 hours the hole had been filled and I received a photograph of the repair together with a request that I confirm that it was 'the right pothole'!

The repair was a good one - I check it every time I go down that hill and the hole has not come back. So often, slipshod repairs are done and the holes are back within a month.

So, I suggest that you...

(Step 1) Register any holes at one of the sites mentioned above. (Step 2) Make sure that your local council highways department get a copy of each report and emphasise their obligation to make repairs. (Step 3) It doesn't hurt to mention that you are prepared to act as a witness if a legal action is brought against the council if somebody gets hurt!

Wooliferkins

mattward1979 wrote:

get photos... lots of them

Of rider and injuries, Pothole, Bike, surrounding area... just everything and in close up detail. the more proof you have, the more likely the claim will be upheld.

Not sure where to suggest you get to handle your claim though. Citizens advice would be a good start

+1 Go to the CTC

Wooliferkins

Some useful links.

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/
http://www.rjw.co.uk/legal-services/unions-federations-charities/membership-organisations/ctc/accidents-involving-potholes/

solsurf

Just reported 5 potholes, however the CTC site says only 26.1 reports are made a day accross the country, this is pretty lame.

Granted this is only one method to report them, but all the same I do get the feeling we hear a lot of moaning about it but little reporting. It's good to see others reporting them. How do we get more to report them.

The good thing about the CTC site fillthathole is you can see others reports. This helps if you do have an incident on that stretch of road.

rant over

Lillywhite

solsurf wrote:

How do we get more to report them.

It's the same with water main leaks. How many road users bother to notify the water authority? Probably assume someone else does so. I make a point of ringing them up.

So easy to ring the Local Authority. Here in Northamptonshire, we have a free 0800 number under 'Street Doctor'. It's so easy to do if you can spare a couple of minutes of time and it could help an unfortunate cyclist if he /she has an accident in the future.

BoboGib

Thanks for all the replies guys. Passed some of them onto my mate. Unfortnatly at them moment he is still in hospital as it is a little more serious than first thought. Apparently he has broken the top of the tibia off, the bit that attatches to the cruciat ligament. So he is going to be off for a while.

I'm going to try to find out exactly where he did it so I can get some photos of said potholes for him.

nochekmate

BoboGib wrote:

Thanks for all the replies guys. Passed some of them onto my mate. Unfortnatly at them moment he is still in hospital as it is a little more serious than first thought. Apparently he has broken the top of the tibia off, the bit that attatches to the cruciat ligament. So he is going to be off for a while.
I'm going to try to find out exactly where he did it so I can get some photos of said potholes for him.

I would be taking photos/witness statements (if any) and then contacting solicitors via the CTC (not sure you have to be a member first though) because with a broken limb and possible financial issues involved it is not sufficient for the council to state that a 6 monthly check absolves them of some blame for the accident.

It does take some time though - I am currently pursuing a case against my local council whose refuse collectors decided that they would do a three-point turn at the bottom of a hill with a sharp bend on a tight country lane. Result = fall & fractured elbow joint for me. Two years ago now and solictors have advised me to accept part responsibility in that I was riding at about 25 mph down the hill (lucky me, I was being cautious and it could have been 40mph or so on this steep hill). I was fortunate that I did not lose out financially at work and whilst I do not necessarily like the 'where there's blame there's a claim culture', it was a damn stupid action on their part in my view.

In a similar vein councils have a responsibility to road users to ensure that their roads are well maintained. I'm not a legal expert but I'm pretty sure that there would be some case to answer on the council's part.

Good luck.

Lillywhite

BoboGib wrote:

I'm going to try to find out exactly where he did it so I can get some photos of said potholes for him.

He will need to demonstrate that the Highway Authority are neligent in their duties under the Highways Act 1980.
If your friend is a member of either the CTC or British Cycling then they might take up the case, on his behalf at no cost, provided they consider he has a good case.

Atomic Clegg

Hi,

Be sure to take plenty of pictures, as previously mentioned. Make sure that they include close ups of the pothole and then take some wider shots which allow the council to identify where the pothole is located.

The general rule is "the 1 inch rule"- this applies to the depth of potholes on footpaths etc. However, on the road the "test" is a little tougher. The pothole will have to be a good 2-3 inches deep in order to possiby make a claim for compensation for injuries, which your mate is fully entitled to do.

When you take the photos, if possible, try to take some with a tape measure in shot. Showing the widths of the pothole and also if you can the depth. This may not be possible if the road is a busy one.

Take these photos along to a solicitor who will take the claim on on a CFA basis (no win, no fee to me and you) and see how you get on, it wopn't cost anything to try.

The injuries sound quite bad and it is worth a shot.

Also don't report to the Council until photos taken, they have a habit of getting straight out and filling the pothole and denying all knowledge.

I hope this helps.