• This topic has 33 replies, 30 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by dazh.
Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • Hit pothole, went flying. What to do?
  • loddrik
    Free Member

    Out riding before and hit a pothole which sent me absolutely flying. No serious injuries and am not the sort of person who wants a fake injury payout. However my front wheel now has a big dent, along with my knee. Can I get the council to get my wheel fixed/replaced and if so how do I go about it.

    The offending pothole…

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    If it’s been reported and they’ve done nothing I believe you have grounds for a claim.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Get up dust yerself down, stop greetin’ and don’t ride as close to the gutter next time.

    Lesson learned.

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    trail_rat
    Free Member

    was it your skateboard wheeled bike you were riding ?

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    If the council had been made aware of the pothole, or should have been aware due to their own checks on the road, then they are potentially liable for any damage.

    If they have done all they are legally required to do to find and sort potholes, then they are not.

    Not excusing the council if they are liable, but you were riding pretty close to the kerb to hit that though.

    sandwicheater
    Full Member

    Can I get the council to get my wheel fixed/replaced

    No idea. The thought has never crossed my mind. When i’ve hit pot holes it’s because i’ve not paid enough attention.

    Take in the chin and move on is what i’d do.

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    Get up dust yerself down, stop greetin’ and don’t ride as close to the gutter next time.

    Lesson learned.

    This^^

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    The gap between the yellow line and the kerb is not a bike lane

    soobalias
    Free Member

    how deep is it?

    not that its relevant, im just interested.
    sorry to hear you have a wibbly wheel and a boo boo on your knee, get well soon.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Hold the front page!

    Scouser in not having encyclopaedic knowledge of compo regs shocker!

    bombjack
    Free Member

    was it your skateboard wheeled bike you were riding ?

    😆

    loddrik
    Free Member

    And just notice have a load of rips in my Paramo jacket!!

    It was a busy road, I kept left.

    perchypanther
    Free Member

    Buy a fat bike?

    Really makes the potholes come alive.

    ransos
    Free Member

    If the council had been made aware of the pothole, or should have been aware due to their own checks on the road, then they are potentially liable for any damage.

    This. They’re required to carry out an inspection regime and to act on any reported problems. If they’ve done so there is no basis for a claim AFAIK.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    ferrals
    Free Member

    I know someone who got compensation for the steering on his car being knackered because of an unavoidable pot hole. Unfortuantely no idea how he went about it but must be possible. However that one is very close to curb and drain cover so could be argues you should be outside it anyway. It also would surprise me if councils had one rule for cars and another for push bikes

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    bit like tuesday night – in the morning there was no pot hole when i came in .

    when i went home all the rally drivers were out tearing along the back roads at 60+ as they often do …. there was a pot hole the size of my land rover in the road.

    pootling long i saw it and used the wheel of my car to manuver round it…

    there were 6 cars in the road ends and lay bys soon after with 1 or 2 flat tires each and i imagine damaged alloys …. facebook was alive with people looking to blame/claim off the council….(bearing in mind common sense says we have had alot of flooding followed by cold weather – you might want to slow down on the back roads)

    the pot hole was repaired with in the alloted time from first report to when council has to pay out.

    The tyre repair co’s will have been on lobster this week.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    t was a busy road, I kept left.

    Clearly an effective strategy for avoiding mishaps.

    aracer
    Free Member

    I’d think it more likely that councils would argue you should be riding to the left of a pothole in primary riding position 🙄

    If it’s been reported or they should have inspected and the council haven’t repaired it within the required time you can get compo, if they’ve done all they’re required to you won’t – and if they’re not doing what they’re required to I don’t see why you shouldn’t get your essential repairs paid for (though I’d not be getting a council to pay for scratched bits in the same way I would for car drivers who knock me off). Though in any case report it (I presume all councils now have online reporting systems for this) as it might be new and they should fix it.

    MrGreedy
    Full Member

    Though in any case report it (I presume all councils now have online reporting systems for this) as it might be new and they should fix it.

    Yup, regardless of anything else, make sure you report it and save anyone else damaging their bike (or worse) in the same way
    http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    It was a busy road, I kept left.

    Must have been a quiet period when you took the pic 🙂

    Seriously though there are reasons for not riding in the gutter, this is one of them. You need to leave yourself room for things like er potholes.

    I’d phone the council and thank them for teaching you a valuable lesson 🙂

    I’m surprised a pot hole that size would send you flying though.

    oldnpastit
    Full Member

    Learn to bunnyhop….

    globalti
    Free Member

    We tried to claim for a wheel rebuild off Lancashire, we sent photos of the pothole, which was over the required 50mm deep. After many months they sent us back a massive enevelope filled with all the pothole reports from the last year, to prove to us that nobody had reported it so therefore they couldn’t be held liable. They concluded the letter by challenging us to go to court, knowing we wouldn’t bother for a £50 claim. To55ers. It must have cost them well over £50 to write the letter.

    jimfrandisco
    Free Member

    Can’t understand why so many people giving the OP grief about riding in the wrong place, not being able to avoid it etc etc.

    If this hole was anywhere on a road that was causing damage to cars then people would be up in arms and it’d be front page of the local rag.

    Bloke on a bike mentions on a bike forum something that could be a legitimate danger and other cyclists queue up to say it’s all his own fault…

    ferrals
    Free Member

    Dont think it’s necessarily his fault – but think the council will say it’s his fault if it gets them out of paying!

    Euro
    Free Member

    Learn to bunnyhop….

    Don’t you mean pay someone to teach him how to bunnyhop? Skills course is required… Yada yada best upgrade yada yada eva.

    jimplops
    Full Member

    My dad managed to get repair costs when he hit a pothole and broke a spring.

    traildog
    Free Member

    Bloke on a bike mentions on a bike forum something that could be a legitimate danger and other cyclists queue up to say it’s all his own fault…

    Or an alternative way of saying it:

    Cyclists queue up to offer advice on avoiding such a mishap in future.

    The advice is: Report pothole. Don’t cycle so close to the kerb in future.

    amedias
    Free Member

    It’s not so much telling him it’s his fault, more advising on easy ways to avoid this kind of thing in future, I’m sure it won’t be the last pothole he comes across…

    The reporting procedure is there for cases like this, and if there’s a valid cause for claim then then there is a process to do so, but we also need to recognize that the roads in this country are crap, and sometimes damage appears rather quickly (between inspections) and it’s impossible for every hole to be filled in a timely manner.

    The gutters are a terrible place to ride, not just because of holes, but because of drain covers, debris etc. before you even get into discussions about road positioning with regards to overtakes and mixing with other traffic, and personally if I’d hit that pothole and damaged my rim I’d be blaming myself, not the council, no matter how long that hole had been there, but I can see how other people might easily hit it.

    prezet
    Free Member

    Try to go around puddles like that – as you’ve experienced you never know what’s underneath. There was a story going around last week of that poor lady who hit a pothole under a puddle, got bucked off and into the path of the car behind her.

    I doubt the time/effort involved to claim from the council will be worth it. Just take it as a lesson learned.

    Speshpaul
    Full Member

    “They concluded the letter by challenging us to go to court, knowing we wouldn’t bother for a £50 claim. To55ers. It must have cost them well over £50 to write the letter.”

    That’s the bluff. Win or lose it will cost the council much more than you. So they will pay in the end.

    Went through this a few years ago with a big claim on my SiLs car.
    Hole reported 3 times in 10day before hand. long story, taking a long time to settle. But with it for the amount recovered.

    A bike alloy wheel rim? Probably not worth the hassle.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    If the council had been made aware of the pothole, or should have been aware due to their own checks on the road, then they are potentially liable for any damage.

    If they have done all they are legally required to do to find and sort potholes, then they are not.

    but we also need to recognize that the roads in this country are crap, and sometimes damage appears rather quickly (between inspections) and it’s impossible for every hole to be filled in a timely manner.

    This is true.

    Please bear in mind that any money you claim will most likely be retracted from the fund available to make such repairs in the future. Local Gov is not cash rich these days, but by all means report it so that no one else falls foul of it.

    ransos
    Free Member

    Hole reported 3 times in 10day before hand. long story, taking a long time to settle. But with it for the amount recovered.

    That’s the important bit: the hole was reported but the council didn’t fix it. Not the same as globalti’s case.

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