Pothole - Personal Injury... claim?

Quentin

AdrianC wrote: »

Yes, perjury is often a great idea.

Where do you get that cynical comment from my post?


Post traumatic amnesia is hardly ever permanent.

ChumLee

Quentin wrote: »

Maybe your memory of the event will come back and you will clearly remember hitting that pothole you have evidence has been recently fixed.

You seem to know a lot about this type of thing, so is the recently repaired pothole really proof of anything? The council may only have been informed of the defect to the road followig this incident. So it would not establish negligence.

Quentin

ChumLee wrote: »

.... so is the recently repaired pothole really proof of anything?.

There is an MSE article on pothole claims if you want to learn more about them:


http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/pothole-claims


And more discussion here:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5108150

ChumLee

Quentin wrote: »

There is an MSE article on pothole claims if you want to learn more about them:


http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/pothole-claims


And more discussion here:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5108150

And three direct quotes from that are


Of course, you can only claim if the authority was at fault.

And if the authority was negligent

there are sadly many instances where claims are rejected too.

So I'll ask you again, a post incident repair is proof of what?


At the minute the only evidence is he fell off on a road where there was a pothole.

k3lvc

CSales wrote: »

There was damage to the bike, which was three weeks old at the time (gear shifters smashed, saddle torn, rear wheel needs straightened/replaced, massive scratch on the pedals)

Did you reverse into the 'pothole' ? Surely at 25mph if there was enough force to throw you from your bike this must have been caused by the front wheel entering the pothole or at least being distorted in the ensuing accident.

Personally with no other evidence/witnesses I'd expect this to be defended robustly

CSales

thanks for the input folks. Unless a memory comes flooding back then I think i'll leave it be. in my OP i stated I hit a pothole at around 25mph, however there is no recollection of this, the last thing I remember is freewheeling down the hill. I only stated this as the police advised it was the most likely scenario.

I doubt even the 'balance of probabilities' would apply in this case.

Thanks again, it's good to read others opinion on it.

arcon5

Report the pot hole to the council irrespective of how you proceed

lincroft1710

May I respectfully suggest you find another form of transport?

You have had 2 accidents in 2 years, resulting in serious injury both times, neither of which appear to be caused by your negligence. You may like cycling, but cycling doesn't appear to like you.

Having head injuries both times is worrying.

custardy

AdrianC wrote: »

If you hit the pothole hard enough for you to lose control, wouldn't the front wheel be damaged? Yet you don't mention it.

k3lvc wrote: »

Did you reverse into the 'pothole' ? Surely at 25mph if there was enough force to throw you from your bike this must have been caused by the front wheel entering the pothole or at least being distorted in the ensuing accident.

Personally with no other evidence/witnesses I'd expect this to be defended robustly

not always. If the wheel stops. The forces are transferred through the bike by the rest of the bike pivoting forward on the front axle.
I have had a bike stop dead in a similar situation and the wheel was undamaged.

Ebe_Scrooge

CSales wrote: »

Hello, some advice needed...

I hit a pothole in the road (probably doing 25mph or thereabouts). .

That's a fair old lick on a bike.

This is going to sound rather confrontational, but ... if you're going at that speed, shouldn't you be looking ahead and anticipating hazards ? Just as a motorist should be. I'm sorry, I'm not meaning to belittle your injuries. But if you make a claim, and win, who's paying for it ? Me, the tax payer, that's who. And you, via your taxes.

It comes down to whether the council was aware of the pothole. If they've previously been made aware of it, and failed to rectify it, then maybe. If they weren't aware of it, then I think there's little you can do.