Injury after hitting pothole

[Banjo]

Hope your injuries heal quickly Ushills. Personally I treat potholes a yet another thing to keep an eye out for. Cash strapped councils have to make hard decisions where to spend the council tax payers money. Not saying you are wrong in considering claiming , just saying there are two sides to this and give it some thought.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I'm not sure why people are advising you to claim.
There will always be potholes. Some will be larger than others.
Ghastly things happen.

From a health and safety poster at work: "accidents are caused, they do not happen"
Ok, maybe this is a wee bit over simplified, accidents will happen even if you take precautions, but a pothole big enough to cause a cyclist to loose a front wheel should at least have a hazard cone on it, or something. Could this size of pothole not damage also a car?
Potholes are not an act of God (insurance term). Council tax, or whatever tax revenue allocate to road damage, is high enough to expect us to have ghastly road surface related things fixed asp.
Best wishes, Ushills, for a speedy recovery. Yes, claim their socks off if you can, why not try to get some of the money that you will need for the dentist and the bike.

 

[rusky]

Also bear in mind that the NHS will only offer you a denture for the missing teeth so if you want implants or a bridge you'll have to pay privately & it's likely to cost around £500 a tooth.

 

[screenman]

I have known people fall off bikes on nice flat smooth roads, how big was the pothole? a hole big enough to damage a wheel was big enough to see.

I have a good idea and it does not involve turnips, why not all those supporting a claim just send the guy a donation, because your tax bills are going to be increasing in line with the amount of claims you are encouraging.

I blame the USA for this stupid litigation society.

 

[ColinJ]

I am quite happy for Calderdale council to stop sending out full-colour brochures several times a year telling us what they are spending our money on, and I would like them to spend the money on fixing the roads instead!

As for claiming for damage caused by potholes ... This is not the same as 'the ladder manufacturer didn't tell me that falling off ladders is dangerous'-type claims. It is a way of forcing councils to face up to their moral and legal obligations.

I got one extremely dangerous local pothole fixed by threatening to expose the council concerned if anybody was injured hitting it after I'd reported it. That hole was hidden by the camber and increasing slope of the road until the very last second and it was bang in the middle of the line that cyclists take on an extremely fast descent. It was about as bad as they come. The hole had been marked by the council but had remained unfilled for over a year and had got bigger and bigger in that time. They did nothing about it, despite being aware of its existence. My threats got it filled in 24 hours and I consider that a proper use of council taxpayers money - the council will not now risk spending £5,000,000 on a lifetime of carers for a quadriplegic ex-cyclist who hit that hole - it no longer exists.

 

[jowwy]

If you had hit that pothole on your car, which caused you to puncture the tyre and crash. Would you claim then or would you put it down to pathetic driving and lack of observation.

I would say it was the latter, some questions should be asked in relation to the accident at hand, but forget about the obvious helmet question as its irrelavent.

 

[numbnuts]

Get well soon

 

[Paul J]

Sounds nasty I think most of us have hit a pothole at some time and injured ourselves to a greater or lesser extent. Would you expect to be paid if it was raining and you slipped on a drain lid blaming the council for installing it. Roads are supplied for us to use, how we use them is our responsibility.

 

[RoyPSB]

If I was looking at potentially thousands of pounds in repairs, dental bills etc. I would definitely be claiming. Most of us don't have that sort of disposable income/savings.

 

[ushills]

Thanks for all the replies positive and negative, to answer some questions I was wearing a helmet, I was watching out for potholes and wasn't zooming through the water and holes carelessly.

The one I hit was on a regular route and partially hidden due to a rain puddle, I passed the bulk of the puddle in the middle of the road about 2inches into the edge of the water and that was the problem having gone back today the hole is around 6-9 inches deep and you can just see the white paint where they are planning to repair it at some point. TBH I didn't expect a hole to be that close to the edge.

In this picture the pothole is the closest one, not the large flood, and I was in the middle of the road mindful of the road conditions well away from the edges and perceived hazards.




The next is a close-up of the hole and the white paint.

 

[Alun]

Sounds nasty I think most of us have hit a pothole at some time and injured ourselves to a greater or lesser extent. Would you expect to be paid if it was raining and you slipped on a drain lid blaming the council for installing it. Roads are supplied for us to use, how we use them is our responsibility.

It's is the council's responsibility to repair potholes, as they are defects. A drain lid is a different matter,it is not a defect. If however the drain lid was missing, or raised/sunken it might be then be the council's responsibility.
If I remember the law on negligence correctly, is there a duty of care owed, has that duty been broken, has loss/injury been suffered?
Hope the OP recovers soon.

 

[I like Skol]

I'm sorry to the OP but seeing your pictures I still side with the no claim stance here. That doesn't look like an A road or even a B road, it looks like a minor country lane and puddles tend to collect in hollows and potholes.I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a road user to slow down to a speed suitable to the conditions. It seems you rode through standing water on a clearly uneven back road without considering the possibility of pot holes being concealed. In fact, I could almost take the view that you recklessly ASSUMED that the road surface you couldn't see was in good condition.

Sh*t happens, learn from your mistake and get on with your life?

EDITED for spelling

 

[fossyant]

I must add you'll be lucky if the council even consider it.

 

[Alun]

I had assumed that it was a more major road until I saw the photos, however 6/9 inches is a substantial hole which the council seem to have been aware if they marked it in white paint, but on the other hand if it's on a "regular route" perhaps the OP should have been aware of the road's condition and this might affect the result of any claim.

 

[jowwy]

Thanks for all the replies positive and negative, to answer some questions I was wearing a helmet, I was watching out for potholes and wasn't zooming through the water and holes carelessly.

The one I hit was on a regular route and partially hidden due to a rain puddle, I passed the bulk of the puddle in the middle of the road about 2inches into the edge of the water and that was the problem having gone back today the hole is around 6-9 inches deep and you can just see the white paint where they are planning to repair it at some point. TBH I didn't expect a hole to be that close to the edge.

In this picture the pothole is the closest one, not the large flood, and I was in the middle of the road mindful of the road conditions well away from the edges and perceived hazards.




The next is a close-up of the hole and the white paint.

i'm sorry mate but looking at those pictures - i would side with the council - its a b road with puddles, that you rode straight through without due care and attention.

was there anyone else on the road? why didn't you go down the middle avoiding the puddle?