That would be able to look at several detailed photos of a pothole and explain in a professional capacity the damage they see, what will happen to the hole in the following days with traffic pounding it and whether or not they would consider it dangerous?

I’m of course happy to pay for your time or skill swap/return the favour.

I hit a huge pothole on a busy main road 76 x 59cm, 15cm deep. Bike was written off. Police attended saying the hole was a danger to life but the council aren’t accepting that and want another third party opinion.

Any help or directions where to ask would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys

Damn! Are you ok? If it wrote off a bike, you must have taken a knock as well.

On your question, Babtie/Jacobs Engineering used to do the highways inspection for a large chunk of the UK, or at least they did back in the early 00’s. They might still be around and able to help.

https://www.jacobs.com/locations/europe

Not sure which of the UK locations would do that work though or if they still do CVI/DVI.

Cycling UK are good in these situations – are you a member? Even if not, there may be help available.

highway authorities have a maintenance and inspection regime and within this they have a set criteria for what they deem as ‘intervention level defects’ it can vary between authority but in West Sussex it is 20mm depth of pothole in the footway but in carriageway it is 100mm. Each council will have their standards online too.

Having worked within the industry for 17 years I’d be surprised if the local authority took responsibility for a 15mm pothole, with the size you mentioned too.
Also if it is on their inspection regime and they can say they are aware of it and it does not meet their standards their hands are clean too.

Without seeing the pothole it is hard to say, but generally the edge will just wear more making the hoe wider, and with water ingress that will break up the base and the pothole get deeper – this is much worse in winter.
They’d likely just saw cut into a square and patch it.

Apologies just re-read it and saw it was 15cm.

Check their inspection standards, make sure you have some photos also and raise a claim through their website.

If you are a member of BC or Cycling UK then they can pursue the claim for you and will have access to experts?

Cycling UK use Slater and Gordon.

Hey guys thanks for the replies 🙂

Willard – I’m fine, sore wrists from the impact through the bars but I managed to stay on, using my MTB skills on the roadie. Frame got a HUGE crack from the impact, fork too, wheels dinged/tyres blown. I’ll check your link, thank you.

addy – thanks I’ll check it out!

rbs365 – sounds like you have the experience to assess! I’m knee deep in the law and the councils policy etc and am fine with all that, I just need a pros description on the condition, potential for worsening and wether it’d be considered dangerous or not. Can I email you some pictures? My dimensions are in centimetres by the way, 15cm deep, not 15mm :-/

Thank you! 🙂

MoreCash – thanks I’ll check out BC too

I can’t see a local authority taking much notice of some bloke you know through a forum, even if they are a Civil Engineer (speaking as an ex-Civil Engineer). But, that hole sounds ridiculous, report it and get a claim in for damage and injury.

What you need is an expert witness who specialises in highways.

If you review this you may find someone who can prepared to help – unlikely to be cheap though!

https://www.jspubs.com/expert-witness/si/h/highways/

Which have a good guide for pothole claims

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-report-a-pothole-and-claim-compensation-abaJj0n6mEar

Summary

Step-by-step summary: How to claim for pothole damage

1. Collect all the evidence of pothole damage that you can. Make a note of exactly where the pothole is, and take photos showing the depth of the pothole and any damage caused when you hit it.

2. Report the pothole to your highways agency or local authority. Find out who is responsible for maintaining the road and report the pothole to them.

3. Keep all receipts for repair work. If you’ve had to get damage to your vehicle or bicycle caused by a pothole fixed urgently, keep all receipts. If you haven’t needed to get the damage fixed urgently, get a quote.

4. Make a claim. Check the specific claims protocol of the authority as they may require you to provide certain information prior to making a claim.

5. Negotiate with the council. Don’t be afraid to negotiate with the council on costs for repairs.

6. Appeal a rejected claim. If your claim is rejected, ask to see details of the council’s road inspection reports to see whether the council did follow it as they should have. If it hasn’t, appeal the decision.

7. Take your pothole claim to the small claims court. You can also use the small claims court to pursue your claim, but we suggest you seek legal advice first.

More detail on the link. May e member only but free trial membership is available.

Hey thanks again all for your replies!

Jakester that’s exactly what I need, thanks.

I’ve already claimed and have been rejected. Council say they identified the pothole the day before I hit it, and assessed it as not dangerous so marked it for repair within 5 days as per their policy so aren’t liable.

My argument is that the size and location of the hole renders it dangerous to cyclists, so they should’ve repaired it same day or at least put an advance warning sign up.

The policeman attending considered the hole a threat to life and put a warning sign in place and ordered an immediate repair, which the council carried out… although if the council acted sensibly the day before with a sign or a repair, the incident wouldn’t have happened. So stupid to delay a repair to a dangerous defect. I’m lucky to not have been thrown off the bike in to traffic. They really don’t care about us kids! 🙁

Should have contacted Wanksy – it works have been repaired quicker then!
https://www.facebook.com/WanksyRoadArtist/

IANAL but if the Police deemed it a danger to life and the council then filled it in the day after, there is quite a strong argument for it being dangerous.

If not, why did they feel the need to repair it so quickly and at no doubt great expense as it won’t have been in the plans etc.

Maybe it depends how you are approaching it. If you are being civil and stating facts etc rather than shouting ‘I could have been killed’ etc, you have half a chance in court. Damages to the bike at least.

Guglielmo,

I’ve worked in the highways field for 20 odd years. I’d be happy to take a look and feedback…

Topper

You might like to cite the case or Ralph Brazier, my club mate. I will say that at 15 cm deep and written off bike, you were lucky. Without a doubt the single worst cycling day of my life.

If it is a danger to life the council have 24 hours to fix it. No quibbles.

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/BRAZIER-2017-0090.pdf

I am guessing, but being a major A road, they added some filler and it will have been squeezed out by the weight of traffic. When they fixed the Weybridge pothole, they rebuilt the road and substrate around the drain cover, and five years later it is still perfect. I ride over it weekly 🙁

EDIT Give Leigh Day a call. They acted for Ralph’s family and will be familiar with the case. If you don’t have insurance, they’ll most likely still act for you given the circumstances.

https://www.leighday.co.uk/our-services/personal-injury/cycling/

Ti Red… I’m so sorry 😢 Literally crying now for Ralph, his family, you and his friends. My sincere condolences 😥

Twonks – exactly, that’s part of my case too. But so far the council just avoid the fact that it must have been reclassified as dangerous so repaired straight away, they just stick to the fact that it was arranged to be repaired within 5 days and it duly was.

The loss of Ralph really puts how serious this is into perspective, something really needs to be done on a consistent and national level 😥