Pothole at speed = new tyre & tracking @£140 - help please

Johno100

5 successful claims out of 600 in Birmingham over the last 3 years

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/drivers-seeking-damages-over-potholes-5458515

alastairq

If the edge of the carriageway isn't clearly defined [ie, kerb or edge line]....which is usually the case on narrow rural roads, then I don't think you'll get much joy from the LA or HA.

If there was an edge line...and the hole was to the right of it, then maybe there is a case for you...but to the left [or, on the edge of the tarmac] I think you'll be lucky?

Was there a centre line road marking?

I also suspect the LA will look at how much you contributed to the incident?

DUTR

loopybetty wrote: »

Thank you both, yes I agree, and in a sense I feel awful for wanting to claim - but the road surface was not safe and blew the tyre instantly.

I will report it to them anyhow - as I would not like anyone else to have the same, on a bendy rural road with not many save places to stop and change a tyre! Well a farm driveway.....

Thanks for the link

I do hope you come back with an update, if there are no paint marks around the pothole, chances are the local road authority were not aware of the pothole, so cannot be deemed responsible, trouble is people think it's somebody else's doing to report the potholes, however until they are victim to any damage then they are concerned about them, although the post above mentions about claims from BCC, those are potholes that were reported.

Pc_Crash

alastairq wrote: »

If the edge of the carriageway isn't clearly defined [ie, kerb or edge line]....which is usually the case on narrow rural roads, then I don't think you'll get much joy from the LA or HA.

If there was an edge line...and the hole was to the right of it, then maybe there is a case for you...but to the left [or, on the edge of the tarmac] I think you'll be lucky?

Was there a centre line road marking?

I also suspect the LA will look at how much you contributed to the incident?

Of some relevance...


stjohnschambers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/AC-DC-v-TR-v-Devon-County-Council.pdf


OP, perhaps if motorists claimed for the damage that they have to pay for, then the roads would be better maintained.

alastairq

Indeed...although there are counter-arguments from elsewhere..

Last year, not far from my abode, a large, heavily -loaded bulk grain artic fell on its side across the [main, A-class] carriageway.

We came across the event shortly after it happened [but, Police in attendance].

The artic trailer was on its side, diagonally across the carriageway.

The tractor unit had become separated, and was nose-down in the ditch on the opposite side of the road.

No other vehicles were involved.

From visual evidence [of wet tyre marks, etc] I could see the lorry had 'slipped off' the tarmac carriageway [which was itself in good order], and the wheels had become trapped in the soft soil verge.
The visual evidence suggested to me, the driver had tried to force the left wheels back onto the tarmac, the tractor unit had abruptly regained the carriageway, and this abrupt steering movement had the effect of making the trailer roll on its side..[the pigeons would have had a field day]...

Whilst the LA later filled in the deep tyre ruts left at the edge of the tarmac, they did so with the same soft soil as the surrounding ground.

AFAIK, the LA have not been held to account at all, over this incident.

With regards to edge lines?

My thoughts were really applicable to carriageways where there is an absence of any sort of road marking..either edge, or centre?

In that instance, what, or where, is the width of the carriageway?

I have to say, given the OP's account of why the pothole was hit....if any of my students had done similar [whether stuffing wheels in pots, or losing mirrors in hedgerows]....I would have cast serious doubts on their skills of 'awareness & anticipation of the actions of other road users'.....and of 'forward-planning', ie, where is the best place to meet that another vehicle, given what it is [expected] to do?

Basic driver skills?

In the case quoted above, the damaged road surface was of considerable [and obvious, in my view] length.

Driving skills are looked at, as well[whether discounted, as above, or taken into account as elsewhere?}