Pothole has buckled my wheel

pavlovs_dog

At approx 19.00 hours tonight on my way home from work I hit a pothole.

This road is frequently allowed to get into a bad state of repairs before the council act to fill potholes. After the recent poor weather the road is in very poor condition and many of the pot holes, especially those on the edge of the road, are wide and deep.

The road in question is a single carriage A road with one lane in each direction. It has a 40mph limit and is unlit at night. It is surrounded on both sides by hedgerow and fields. There are very few places to pull in along the entire stretch of the road. It is heavily used by agricultural vehicles.

At the time of my accident, it was raining lightly. As a lone female on a pitch black road with no place to pull in, I didn't feel it was safe to stop (which would obstruct the road) to try and photograph the crater. I limped on the the first place where I could pull over and phoned my FIL, who fortunately was able to come to my rescue.

I initially thought I had a puncture, which would have been annoying enough. However upon removing the wheel we discovered that it had actually buckled on impact with such a deep crater.



This is the second time in 2 years that I have suffered damage to my car because of lax maintenance to this road. I chalked the first incident up as experience and swallowed the cost myself. I am not prepared to have to do that a second time when the state of the road in question is an ongoing concern. I want the council to contribute at least something towards the cost of replacing my wheel. But even in daylight, the nature of the road means that getting photographic evidence of the pothole is going to be dangerous. Am I fighting a losing battle here, despite how justified I feel in asking that they contribute towards the cost of repair?

paddedjohn

Stop near the pothole and put your hazards on while you take pics, you might upset a couple of drivers but they will get over it.

Crabman

Do you report potholes regularly via third-party sites (listed below)? I do on routes that I travel regularly (as do several others on this board) and it means that I and other drivers are protected against the cost of damage if the council chooses to do nothing about the defects.

If people don't reports defects, the local authority will most likely do nothing, because they have a statutory defence against claims.

I suggest you check the following sites to see whether the defect(s) in question have been reported:

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

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

http://www.fixmystreet.com/

If you can't find anything on these sites, you'll need to ask the council if it's been reported before.

Good luck with this.

pavlovs_dog

Crabman wrote: »

Do you report potholes regularly via third-party sites (listed below)?

I wasn't aware of those sites, I've always reported directly to the council, as I did this evening.

The road in question isn't flagged on those sites (perhaps people just don't know where to begin :cool:). About a mile along the road the council have put a dug up part of the road and a temporary lights are in place to control the flow of traffic. As one of few access roads to Cardiff airport, it has also been routinely and extensively gritted and ploughed over the past fortnight during the bad weather. The council would be hard pressed to plead ignorance (although the cynic in my says they will).

Following advice from HERE, I have composed a letter asking for certain information under the FoI Act. Will try and get pictures tomorrow to build my case.

Thank you to both of you for taking the time to reply, it is truly appreciated :T

Strider590

If you mention that this road is often bad and that you've hit a pothole there before, they'll turn around and say "well if you know it's bad, you should drive more carefully". Keep any emotional stuff out of any correspondence, mention only the direct facts and don't set yourself up for a fall.

thenudeone

I have obtained full payment for a council for damage caused when a large piece of tarmac bounced up from a pothole and damaged the sill as I was driving over it; so it is possible to make successful claims, but far from guaranteed.

I used my insurer's legal service, who did all of the legwork. But that will create an incident on the insurer's files, so you'd have to consider whether it's worth the increase in premiums.

pavlovs_dog

thenudeone wrote: »

I have obtained full payment for a council for damage caused when a large piece of tarmac bounced up from a pothole and damaged the sill as I was driving over it; so it is possible to make successful claims, but far from guaranteed.

I used my insurer's legal service, who did all of the legwork. But that will create an incident on the insurer's files, so you'd have to consider whether it's worth the increase in premiums.

Had a similar conversation with a friend in work today. I'm prepared to fight it as far as I can before I entertain risking my car insurance premiums.

I was able to take photos today, not only of 'my' pothole, but some of the many others to give indication of the state of the road. I'm entertaining getting OH to drive the route on Saturday so that I can film the journey and further document the condition of the road.

Took a tape measure as advised. From the first to last part of the crack it is over 3ft long and a foot and a bit wide. Full of water which makes it ever harder to see.

Thanks again for the advice and insight, this forum is a very valuable resource.

DUTR

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

Had a similar conversation with a friend in work today. I'm prepared to fight it as far as I can before I entertain risking my car insurance premiums.

I was able to take photos today, not only of 'my' pothole, but some of the many others to give indication of the state of the road. I'm entertaining getting OH to drive the route on Saturday so that I can film the journey and further document the condition of the road.

Took a tape measure as advised. From the first to last part of the crack it is over 3ft long and a foot and a bit wide. Full of water which makes it ever harder to see.

Thanks again for the advice and insight, this forum is a very valuable resource.

Before you get over excited , the council will have to be aware of the pothole before they can be liable.
People see potholes and do not report them, it is only when they are affected by it then they want the compo.

Blackjack_Davy

Looks like your low profile tyres are more susceptible to damage than the traditional type.

It's a national sport these days dodging potholes. There are potholes here that have been there since last winter. I've got most of them memorised so know how to dodge them but theres are new ones opening now, been caught out a few times.