Dam Pot holes !

[johnnyb47]

Hi.
This morning whilst traveling to work in my car I hit this horrendous pot hole traveling at 60 mph. The car made one hell of a noise as it crashed over it. In fact I thought it had caused some serious damage and stopped immediately to check it over. This was around 5 this morning so crawling around the car in the dark with a torch wasn't much fun. Thankfully no damage was done but I was curious to see how big this pot hole was to of caused such a cufufle.
As I got closer it was evident it was a bad one. The cars going over it were taking a right hammering. 8.30 I called the local highways agency and reported it ,only for them to tell me they will put it on there" list to do"
I wasn't happy that response and firmly put my foot down with them telling them it was a danger to road users. Either fix it today asap or close the section of road I demanded.I pointed out that if a cyclist or scooter/ motorcyclist hits this pot hole they will with no doubt be off on there back sides.
In the end my persistence must of paid of as they agreed to go there" now" and put a temporary patch over it.
Thankfully they kept there word as tonight on my return journey home it was sorted out..
This may sound a little dramatic but everybody at work mentioned it this morning.
A little persistence was needed on my behalf to get the highways division to get it sorted ,but hopefully it has saved someone from coming to any serious grief / injury on it today..

 

[sight-pin]

I'd keep an eye out for any adverse tyre wear just in case you've knocked the tracking out.

 

[johnnyb47]

That has crossed my mind too @sight-pin. It was a hell of a thud when I hit it :=(

 

[Dirk]

I'd keep an eye out for any adverse tyre wear just in case you've knocked the tracking out.

If the impact was that bad I'd have the tyre removed from the rim and have both inspected for damage.

 

[Randomnerd]

Get to your tyre guy and have rim checked. Worth a tenner for peace of mind.

 

[johnnyb47]

Thanks for the advice. I will drop the car in tomorrow at the tyre depot just to be on the safe side. :-)

 

[mjr]

And watch the road more closely next time? These potholes are getting increasingly common as the cuts continue.

 

[Dirk]

And watch the road more closely next time? These potholes are getting increasingly common as the cuts continue.

If more people reported potholes to their local councils maybe they would get seen to?
I report several every week to our council, using their online tool. They generally get seen to pretty quickly.
They can't fix stuff they don't know about.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Well done for reporting it. I have been riding through roadworks for over a year to work, and there are massive holes, creases and massive gulleys in the road. It's bad enough for cars, but for anyone on two wheels it's a real danger. Not to mention if you get drawn into the huge creases - I'm having to slalom across them so I'm not thrown off my line. I shall follow your example and report it today

 

[User42542]

If more people reported potholes to their local councils maybe they would get seen to?
I report several every week to our council, using their online tool. They generally get seen to pretty quickly.
They can't fix stuff they don't know about.

This!!

I work for a Claims Handling Firm, and predominantly work on highways claims, (Pothole damage, Slips, Trips etc) and 9/10 most claims fail on the fact that there were no complaints made to the council in between regular inspections. Everyone see's or hits them, but you will be amazed how few people report them.

 

[Dirk]

This!!

I work for a Claims Handling Firm, and predominantly work on highways claims, (Pothole damage, Slips, Trips etc) and 9/10 most claims fail on the fact that there were no complaints made to the council in between regular inspections. Everyone see's or hits them, but you will be amazed how few people report them.

This is the site I use for reporting problems. Other councils probably have much the same thing.
https://new.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/report-a-problem/

@Electric_Andy - This site probably covers your area.

 

[mjr]

I report them on www.fixMyStreet.com because the three local county councils hide the reports if you use their tools directly, then later victims of the potholes find it harder to prove the defect had already been reported. As well as them playing pass the buck near the boundaries, as well as with Highways England.

 

[Maenchi]

Helpful ! there are several potholes that I have to look out for and make sure I get the right line, which can mean 'taking the lane' and that can be tricky, after reading this thread I think I might just make a few reports .

 

[Dirk]

I report them on www.fixMyStreet.com because the three local county councils hide the reports if you use their tools directly, then later victims of the potholes find it harder to prove the defect had already been reported. As well as them playing pass the buck near the boundaries, as well as with Highways England.

A lot of councils don't use Fix My Street.
The app seems to have a lot of poor reviews.

 

[mjr]

A lot of councils don't use Fix My Street.
The app seems to have a lot of poor reviews.

If the council refuses to interface with FixMyStreet, it falls back to sending emails. Councils are not allowed to reject highway fault reports simply because they don't like the sending site. It would be especially brave to do it to a site originally commissioned by the government in Whitehall. At least, no council has dared take that argument to court yet AFAICT. The few examples I know through the cycling campaigns, the councils or their contractors have paid out rather than quibble about what site sent the report.

Some like Norfolk send a load of nonsense about how it would be quicker to use their own website, but it's unusably awful and those who have tried tell me it's no quicker, plus you often annoyingly get a reply saying a report has been merged with another report and then you can't see your own report any longer, let alone see if the other report was before or after yours!

I use the website rather than the app.