Advice regarding Crash (Pothole, Broken Wrist, Club Ride, Road bike content)

Hi All.
So on Sunday I was out on a group ride when I hit a pothole and came off my bike.
I have suffered a broken wrist and hit my head pretty hard when I came down along with all the regular road rash (shoulder, knee, elbow, ass, hands)

The car behind me stopped as well as the group I was out with, the ambulance arrived and took me away to be treated. I feel okay but it was my first proper fall from a bike so feel shaken from it.

I have been signed off work for 2 weeks and my bike needs some work and helmet replacing too.

Cutting to the point do I have grounds to make a claim for the losses to me?

I hadn’t thought about it and I’m not massively keen to do it but one of the nurses treating me mentioned it and said that she would in my position and she’s known other patients in my position that have. A couple of non cycling friends have mentioned it too. I just put it down to “One of those thing” and want to move on but IF I can claim the money back that I’ve lost/spent then it would help.

I was on the back of the group and didn’t see it coming I can’t remember if it was pointed out or if I was riding alittle offline, it was really windy that day. Apparently I tried to correct my fall but was just a passenger after I’d hit it. Obviously we were riding close to draft so I’m concerned if i’m able to put forward a claim they may strike back and say that I didn’t have enough vision ahead because obviously we were riding 1/2 wheel distances (7 of us). I’ve not discussed it with members of the club yet because one of you may come on and say “No I’m not entitled to anything” or “It won’t be worth it”.

At minimum I’d just like to get the pothole repaired so it doesn’t happen to anybody else in that particular one, but the loss of wages and repair costs that I will encounter to fix my bike up would be a bonus.

Any advice regarding this or anything else please feel free to contribute.

Interesting one this. My natural inclination would be to say it’s cycling, suck it up, but when my daughter broke her wrist running backwards during a warm up for gym their insurance covered it without batting an eyelid. I would be tempted to talk to the club secretary to see if they know what the insurance covers before going in heavy

I think you’ll struggle.

The pothole claim thing is subject to fairly strict rules, and it would need to have been reported to the council and then they would have to have enough time to repair it.

In addition, I suspect any lawyer worth his horns and red pointy tail would make mincemeat out of any claim seeing as how you were riding in a tight formation and had purposefully limited your vision of the road and your reaction time.

At most get something of the council for repairs and potentially loss of earnings. The UK roads are a disgrace so i have no bones about councils being held to account for the shoddy work they sanction.

I couldn’t tell if you are also trying to get at potential for claim against the club, if so then NO. I don’t do road cycling myself, and i’m not part of a paid club, but i do a lot of guiding locally off my own back. I’ve had people injure themselves out with me, thankfully nothing too serious, but if anyone was to start putting in claims against me i’d bin it and everyone else would loose out. (they’d also fail i might add)..

I think you can only claim from the council if they have been made aware of the pot hole, other than that, its up to you to either claim from the club or the riders involved, other than that I can only see it as your responsibility for draughting and not allowing yourself a view of the road.

I tend to crash on the mountain bike more when Im too close to the rider in front and cant see clearly what is coming up, so i cant blame someone else, its my choice of line etc.

It depends. IIRC (having trashed a wheel/fork in a pothole), if you can show that the council knew about the pothole and didn’t repair it, you may have a claim.

This site may be useful.
http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

Hope you heal up soon…

Have you checked if its already on http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ ?

I downloaded the app to report some horrendous ones near me, but already listed and unfixed for over a year. Its a choice between risking punctures and falls over these huge craters, or riding in the middle of the road and putting up with frustrated drivers honking and trying to overtake.

* something I should have mentioned is that I want no negative impact on the club. They have been so supportive of me and helped me big time at the time.

Yea this is exactly as I was thinking (RE top 2 posts). I will contact the council to make them aware of what has happened to fingers crossed prevent this from happening in that particular pothole again.
The more I think about the what ifs the more I get frustrated, an inch either way and I might have got away with it but such is life.

I get a chance to “upgrade” my Sora shifters from the stupid thumb toggle up buttons to last years model with the duel finger push things?!

If it hasn’t been reported then they will just brush you off – if it has been reported then they will cough up as legally they are obliged to.

also have a look at fixmystreet.com most stuff that gets reported here gets actioned very swiftly.

Sui it is listed on that site you posted last.
Pothole
Strava

I can’t tell from the maps but think they pretty much match up?

http://www.bikeline.co.uk

or get a copy of any cycling mag, plenty of bike solicitors in the back pages, the council, have a duty of care to all users of the highway, unles they can prove your negligence.

Keep a record of all expences, bike and helmet and clothes costs,along with alternative bike hire, while youyurs is getting repaired.

Strava of accident ride, does anybody else think they match up?

* Edit, my bad it seems a bit off

Did you have a clear view of the road ahead or were you unsighted by other riders.

Why did you not swerve to avoid the pothole — were you blocked by other riders?

I would say you are on pretty shaky ground either way.

Im going to go against the tide here and suggest that the council do have a duty to maintain their roads and that damage arising (if it can be shown that it was related to the pot hole) will be paid for by the council. They will also be keen to avoid any legal action as the costs they will incur will be substantially increased as soon as lawyers are involved.

Of course, they may not immediately troop around with a big wad of cash, but a few persistent letters (after their initial early rebuttal) should do the trick. Here is a link to a BBC Report from a couple of years ago – link

The councils may spend a fair bit on compensation but nothing compared to the amount they should be paying to keep the roads in good condition.

This might also help – its for car drivers but i cant see why it would be different – How To Claim

Good luck – and keep us informed!

Let me put this to you .

Would you be claiming if you hit the pot hole because you were driving too close to the car infront that you didnt have time to see it ?

Effectively riding in formation thats what your doing.

This is why its important you signal potholes when you ride with others and also why as at the back you follow wheels and dont half wheel or deviate much from the line of the rider in front , your view is limited the only piece of road you know to be safe is the spot the rider in front has covered

WTF?! This is nuts. You need to suck it up, accept responsibility, learn that drafting can be dangerous, and stop thinking about a move which will only add to the depressing ‘where there’s blame’ culture that’s helping wreck this country.

I’d say you’re on very shaky ground – any decent lawyer will simply say that you were unsighted by virtue of riding in a bunch and may even try to pass the “blame” to your fellow cyclists for not signalling it.

For it to stand any chance of success, you’d have to show that the pothole had been reported but had not been dealt with. The council just have to show that they’ve inspected the road at “reaosnable intervals”. If they’ve inspected the road within the last 6 months and no-one has reported that hole, they’re home and dry. In fact, if it was reported and was dealt with, they’d simply say that the road condition had deteriorated again.

In spite of the common perception of “compensation culture”, it’s actually incredibly difficult getting anything out of councils these days, they’re well on top of that game now.

(I do of course appreciate that you’re not out to milk it, not insinuating anything – by all means try your luck but don’t expect much in the way of response).

I’m not sure it would even cross my mind to get compensation.
Chalk it up as a bad day and move on.

There are strict rules with regards to pothole claims. I work for the solicitors who represent the CTC (cyclists touring club) so we deal with a lot of these cases.

I am not a solicitor I deal with the medical side of the claims process and I would say just make sure your wrist is fully recovered – some wrist injuries can grumble on for a long time and not be as simple as first thought

If you want to talk to someone who knows a bit more drop me an email (in my profile) . . .and before anyone says anything I won’t get a referral fee for introducing you as they are illegal now (look up lord justice jacksons reforms if you don’t believe me) – sorry had to add that as I know that some view us as the lowest of the low!

WTF?! This is nuts. You need to suck it up, accept responsibility, learn that drafting can be dangerous, and stop thinking about a move which will only add to the depressing ‘where there’s blame’ culture that’s helping wreck this country.

I’m with you wl, this culture of blaming everyone but yourself for an accident in the hope of getting a few quid makes me sick. dsb181 have you considered suing the riders in front too for not pointing out the hole or maybe the tarmacing company for making the road too rough or maybe havea pop at the paramedics too for not using your favourite type of plaster for your booboo’s.

Rule 5, that is all.

I’m not going to take it any further, thank you all for the advice that you haven given me.

I hadn’t thought about claiming until a couple of people mentioned it then just whacked it into google and couldn’t get much light on the matter hence my post on here. I’m phoning in tomorrow so the council are aware of the accident and hope they fill the pothole so it doesn’t happen to anybody else (one of many thousand in the country I know but still fingers crossed 1 less).

I was more than aware I would get one or two morons replying, wl you take 1st prize. Please re-read what I wrote. I was only ever going to try and claim for a new helmet, my bike to be fixed and the money I’ve lost from not working, I apologise for trying to “Bring the Country down”, you have obviously had a worse day than me after reading your rant, Horlicks is good for you on an evening like this one.

Again thanks to all for taking the time, it’s been interesting to learn different point of views.
Stay safe.

WTF?! This is nuts. You need to suck it up, accept responsibility, learn that drafting can be dangerous, and stop thinking about a move which will only add to the depressing ‘where there’s blame’ culture that’s helping wreck this country.

Agree..

crazy legs…inspection period of 6 months isn’t necessarily correct. The grade of road determines the inspection period. a back road doesn’t have to be inspected as often as a busy A road. Solicitors costs have been vastly reduced under ‘jackson’ and the 100% compensation from claims is virtually non existent under the new reforms.

Councils are pretty much on top of this now and not many claims succeed. A claim against the club would be extremely unlikely to succeed (for which they would be insured if they were an affiliated club of a BC and/or CTC).

the council sets the standards as long as the defect is within their spec you are going to fail. Try, by all means but don’t expect success.

I managed to trash a wheel by hitting raised metalwork at the bottom of a puddle, claimed and the response was we know we inspected it, but the hole isn’t big enough for us to worry about.

I was riding home along the A4 last night past heathrow and hit a pothole so hard it forced the bars out of my hands. Fell forwards onto the bars and just managed to steer with my shoulder! This after a 35 mile club ride fast paceline. It was dark, i had 500 lumens of light and just did not see it. A car stopped to ask if i was ok as i swerved so badly.

If i’d gone down, i would be onto my ctc or bc solicitors immediately. I tried to report it to tfl, but gave up when they did not call back after leaving me in their queue for 20min.

Personally, i think you should have grounds to claim for losses. Your club will have no liability if it is like ours. That is explicit.

Couldn’t be bothered to read all the replies, or even the whole of the original post but…
Don’t be ridiculous, you are on a bicycle and you rode into a hole in the road. You live in England, this is to be expected. You have my sympathies, it must suck for sure but you were definitely doing something wrong. Tailgating?
Get well soon.

Lol. Read it right first time ta. You were drafting – even a claim for a new helmet would be laughable. You’re clearly bonkers.

I tried to report it to tfl, but gave up when they did not call back after leaving me in their queue for 20min.

Don’t phone. Use http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

Easy, fast, and there is a searchable record of the pothole being reported which may help someone else if they come off on it.

I don’t think the OP has a claim due to drafting. Claims can sometimes be made though. Going to the Small Claims Court to defend an action would cost a council more than a claim for bike damage.

http://potholes.co.uk/stories/view/2196/SUCESSFUL_CLAIM_IN_THE_END/type:Success_story

registered it on there, along with about six others already in the locale. I can sue them when I fall off next week, right?

The drafting does complicate matters, but if you treat the group as a whole, as we do for red lights, I still have some sympathy-but perhaps not as much.

Mine was a “just riding along”, hit something that was invisible.