Pot Hole induced accident - advice needed

PedalMonkey
PedalMonkey Posts: 54
edited August 2011 in Campaign
Hi

I was out for on a club ride on sunday, there were about 20 of us together and after doing my turn on the front I was heading to the back of the group, there was a call about a pot hole, the group moved right and blinded to it, I didn't move right enough (the chap in front nearly didn't either), the pot hole was 3 feet long, 2 foot wide, and about 6 inches deep ... I didn't stand a chance and the bike stopped dead and I went over the handlebars, amazinly I'm ok is, cuts crazes bruises on my side and back is it (I'm saying years of crashing mouintain bikes has trained me) , the bike frame appears to be ok but I'm not so sure after impact as it was enough to dent a set of campay shamal ultra wheels, bend the brake round on carbon bars and snap computer mount off

So to questions

1) Would you trust the frame, and if not what would you do ?
2) I've contacted the council, but all they said was sorry about your uinjuries, we will emergancy fill the hole

I'm not sure what to do next, as I am looking at anyway from £700 (for just the wheels) to a couple of grand plus if I replace frame and bars (pro strealths) .. not a money grabber, but feeling a bit down, not had it that long

Any advice, gratefully recieved

Chris

Comments

  • mouth
    mouth Posts: 1,195
    In a legal scenario, I believe the onus is on you as plaintiff to prove the pot hole was the cause. Legal advice is recommended my friend.

    Do you have CTC/BC insurance? Contact them for advice.
    The only disability in life is a poor attitude.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Get back with a tape measure / rule and camera and get a load of photos before it gets filled in. You can make a claim and it may or may not get settled. If it is a pothole rather than a pacth of road that has had some work done on it and not been properly re-instated you may struggle as the Highway Authority will just need to demonstrate that they have a reasonable inspection regime in place, that it has been followed and that the pothole wasn't there at the time of the last inspection (and that no-one has made them aware of it since). There will probably be a policy on what size a pothole has to be to require emergency repair but the sizes you describe are huge, especially the depth.

    I would get the frame checked out.
  • El Gordo
    El Gordo Posts: 394
    What's the legal impact of riding in a group? Surely been so tightly packed together that you're reliant on someone in front to warn you about obstructions is going to undermine the claim.

    I'm not saying you shouldn't ride in a bunch (I do it myself), just wondering if it would affect the claim.
  • dawebbo
    dawebbo Posts: 456
    If it was me, I'd be more pissed off with the other riders for not making clear that it was such a big hole.

    Hopefully it's just your front wheel that's had it. Knocking the shifters out of place doesn't necessarily mean that you've damaged your bars. Frames can usually be repaired if necessary and are just as strong afterwards.
  • PedalMonkey
    PedalMonkey Posts: 54
    Thanks guys

    Thankfully the guys I was with took loads of pictures of every, I forwarded them onto the council as the hole was about 3 feet, by 2 feet by 6 inches deep, the guys to the pictures with my wheel in and everything ... council just said 'emergancy fix in progress .. sorry about you injuries', I did think about taking it up with no win, no claim, but I spoke to my home insurance company and they are on the case ... they also want my permission for them to recliam costs from council ...

    Both Bars and Frame are carbon, so there is no way I am riding them without them being checked, an no way in mounth of sundays is anybody selling me a 'repair' ... so just going to have to wait and see the outcome, even if I get the money for the wheels I will be happy, shamals aren't cheap

    I'll post again ...
  • PedalMonkey
    PedalMonkey Posts: 54
    ... ps wheelies said that they just right of frames as the cost of checking is so heigh, and carbon so fragile, it's cheaper to replace, than check then replace
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    El Gordo wrote:
    What's the legal impact of riding in a group? Surely been so tightly packed together that you're reliant on someone in front to warn you about obstructions is going to undermine the claim.

    I'm not saying you shouldn't ride in a bunch (I do it myself), just wondering if it would affect the claim.

    Surely it's no different to riding in a queue of slow moving vehicles or even driving a car behind other vehicles?
  • El Gordo
    El Gordo Posts: 394
    Pross wrote:
    El Gordo wrote:
    What's the legal impact of riding in a group? Surely been so tightly packed together that you're reliant on someone in front to warn you about obstructions is going to undermine the claim.

    I'm not saying you shouldn't ride in a bunch (I do it myself), just wondering if it would affect the claim.

    Surely it's no different to riding in a queue of slow moving vehicles or even driving a car behind other vehicles?

    I'd agree, which is why the sensible advice for driving is to leave a decent gap between you and the car infront so you can see what's going on and give yourself time to react.

    As far as I'm concerned, riding in a group is fine but if you ride into a very large pothole because you can't see the road ahead then there is slim justification for a claim.
  • antster94
    antster94 Posts: 66
    Considered not saying you were riding in a group?

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