F****** Potholes!

[UKJeeper]

Took out both RH tyres on the Volvo last night!


Rear tyre:



Front tyre (right edge of pic)



Pothole (60+ inches x 35 Inches x 5-6 inches deep)













Due to pothole, road surface is only this wide

[Martin Evans]

I believe you can claim for the damage against the Council (I know that cyclists, who have suffered broken wheels, have done so). If it's your own local council, I'd deduct it from the rates I wish you luck if you are going to pursue this.

It never ceases to amaze me, how they can take our money and then, when something needs doing, for which they are responsible, they plead poverty. If a business was run that way, Trading Standards would be all over them.

One of the roads near the shop has just been closed (Having seen the reason, I reckon the canal has been leaking and it has washed away the foundations of the road and the road has sunk). If things run true to form, it could be a year before anything is done. In the meantime, the bus service (If you can call it that) is suspended and at the nearest point, where people could catch a bus, on the A40, the bus stop has been scrubbed from the timetable, due to Health & Safety. Specifically there is no layby there (Yet other bus stops don't have laybys ) and the council can't afford one.....though they found £26000 for a skate board ramp (Don't start me on bi lingual road signs ), that is never and has hardly ever been used.

Sorry if my rant has gone a tad off topic but these vultures get under my skin. Seems to me they could do with a few fewer highly paid execs and more people doing the jobs, which they are paid to do by the ratepayers.

On the other hand, to be fair, I complained about some craters, within Merthyr Tydil borough, that were long overdue for attention and they were done. Not only that, they were done properly

[rich.]

good luck with the council... i burst 2 tyres on a borrowed trailer once, gloucester county council flatly refused to pay out

[tractorman]

There used to be a "ruling" that they would only pay out if they knew the pothole was there, which seems unlucky for the first person that hits one. I don't know if that has changed, but after the rain this winter, I would think it's pretty hard for any council to know about all the potholes at the moment.

I assume you hit it in the dark - we tend to play shy of them hereabouts and will stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so we can drive round them. One bit of road was fine in early January (before the Golf engine packed up), but it has quickly turned into something really nasty (narrow road with sharp bends and idiots that think there isn't anyone but them on the road). I suspect that, as it isn't a bus route (there's a weight limit on a bridge before you get to it), it won't be a priority. However, the alternative route (the bus route) is three miles longer. I suspect you can guess which road the buses use and I think you'll realise why there are so many potholes!

[Richard Moss]

There used to be a "ruling" that they would only pay out if they knew the pothole was there, which seems unlucky for the first person that hits one. I don't know if that has changed, but after the rain this winter, I would think it's pretty hard for any council to know about all the potholes at the moment.

If you were so minded, you could get a mate to report it now then wait about 2 days and submit your claim . As long as your tyre replacement receipt is dated after your mate's report then you should be in with a chance.

Note: of course,that the above could be considered fraud so I cannot condone it. Also, if you were to do this, check that they don't repair it before your claim!

[Martin Evans]

Now if the same principle applied to motorists and their cars, you would be Ok to drive on bald tyres, unless you knew about them being bald. Seems to me that it endorses councils' not bothering to inpsect the roads. Maybe if we spot any road faults, we should photograph them and send them in to the authority concerned

[UKJeeper]

Yes, at night (8:30pm). I knew there are potholes along that stretch of road (not well maintained), but this one had grown into a monster since i was last there. And the water in it made it look shallower than it actually was (in headlight light).

Considering making a claim, but as the replacements cost a me a whole £55 (for both), almost not worth the hassle.

[megadethmaniac]

council have to have a reasonable system of inspection and they determine what is reasonable. write a letter and ask for details of the frequency of inspection on that road and any copies of inspection records. If the 2 do not match then you could bring a claim if you are interested in doing so. I suspect that they will say yearly inspection and will have one for last year showing no pothole. If that's the case then unless it has been reported as an issue then they will get away with it.

I was a the Hare at Roxwell yesterday haven`t driven that side of Billericay in ages and was appalled at the state of some of the roads, particularly New London Rd IIRC.

[UKJeeper]

I was a the Hare at Roxwell yesterday.

Scared me for a minute. I thought the breakfast club season had already started! (but it's not until next month)

[zipgun]

Bet yer life government is stalling on repairing roads just to "help" the economy or themselves ..
Business is booming ! Lots of new tyre sales , car suspension parts, repair bills .. Hmmm...they think... We'll keep the "road tax dosh " ,
plus we'll have 20% vat of the total tyre and repair bills .. and we''ll say "we're skint , its down to local government to maintain roads therefore council tax can go up "
Same with the floods... Let's stall.. do nothing.. everyone will get new carpets, furniture ..building work.. Millions of ££ will be spent . Government gets 20% of it....