137 replies to this topic

[Fran]

In our increasingly litigious society, councils in England and Wales spent more on compensating drivers for damage caused by potholes than on actually repairing them in the year 2007-2008.

Whilst that may be good for some individuals, as a society, it is madness.

Prevention is invariably better than cure, so this is just a reminder that you can report potholes to Bucks Highways on 0845 230 2882. Ones that are at least 300mm by 300mm and at least 40mm deep get priority. No guarantee that they'll fix them, but it's in everyone's interest to encourage them to do so before they get dangerous and expensive.

[roob_the_doob]

you can report potholes to Bucks Highways on 0845 230 2882. Ones that are at least 300mm by 300mm and at least 40mm deep get priority. No guarantee that they'll fix them, but it's in everyone's interest to encourage them to do so before they get dangerous and expensive.

Would any Icelandic banks lend us the money to fix them?

[hyposmurf]

Im still waiting for some around greeenway to be fixed.However I guess they are done in the order they are reported/severity.They have spent some time this year resurficing white hill and roads/pavements.Not just filling the holes but resurcing entire strips,which makes alot more sense.They seem to be more proactive this year,regarding potholes, maybe they havent blown their budget this year too early.

[Alan]

In our increasingly litigious society, councils in England and Wales spent more on compensating drivers for damage caused by potholes than on actually repairing them in the year 2007-2008.

Whilst that may be good for some individuals, as a society, it is madness.

Prevention is invariably better than cure, so this is just a reminder that you can report potholes to Bucks Highways on 0845 230 2882. Ones that are at least 300mm by 300mm and at least 40mm deep get priority. No guarantee that they'll fix them, but it's in everyone's interest to encourage them to do so before they get dangerous and expensive.

Some disrepair is the fault of utility companies who should be held to account.

[hyposmurf]

Some disrepair is the fault of utility companies who should be held to account.

Yes I feel they should be held to account over their shoddy work.Should be made to repair entire strip rather than just fill the odd holes they dig up and also return to refill once the tarmac has settled.

[Fran]

I agree with the comments about utilities companies. I think the council is supposed to be told when they dig up the road and to inspect the repair, but I'm not sure it always happens. And worse still (though perhaps not at present) are the large building sites where the relentless comings and goings of heavy vehicles damage nearby roads and pavement.

Anyway, apparently Bucks spend an extra £3.25million on repairing potholes this financial year and in that time, the number of claims from drivers has fallen by a third. Whilst I'm glad they're not spending as much settling claims, I can't say I've noticed a significant improvement in the roads.

See BFP article.

[Alan]

Station Rd was worked on last year, I think and the still didn't complete the job properly:(

[roob_the_doob]

Whilst I'm glad they're not spending as much settling claims, I can't say I've noticed a significant improvement in the roads.

£3.5M probably doesn't go very far spread across the whole of Bucks. And they may not have done a perfect job, but we've definitely benefited from the resurfacing of Station Road. It's easy to forget how we used to have to keep on the lookout for wheel-sized potholes all the way down. It's now possible to drive down the hill and concentrate on driving.

[Fran]

£3.5M probably doesn't go very far spread across the whole of Bucks.

Very true. But the good news is that because they're spending more on repairs for the many they're wasting less on compensation for the few.

we've definitely benefited from the resurfacing of Station Road. It's easy to forget how we used to have to keep on the lookout for wheel-sized potholes all the way down. It's now possible to drive down the hill and concentrate on driving.

The bits they've repaired are certainly an improvement, but there are still plenty of sizeable potholes on Station Road, especially near the bottom (which I have reported, but don't let that stop anyone else doing so too).

[Ado]

Whilst I understand the sentiment of this post unfortunately reality bites! My wife hit an unmarked pothole in White Lion Road on Wed Night and it has cost us £175 in damage. I WILL be claiming this from the council.

I agree that they should then pursue a utility company for this if they are found to have made a shoddy repair on the road. However I am more concerned with having potentially lost £175 through no fault of ours that we can ill afford at the moment.

[Fran]

I wouldn't want to comment on an individual case, but were I to damage a tyre in a pothole, I would consider the following:

• The most efficient council, with the biggest budget and a huge team to check all roads weekly for potholes, would still not be able to fix, or even mark, every one as soon as it happened.
• Council budgets are limited; the more spent compensating individuals (not just re potholes), the less there is to spend on anything else.
• Could I have avoided the pothole - safely - if I had been more attentive?
• Some things are just bad luck.
• Is puncturing a balding tyre that ought be replaced soon different from damaging a new one?
• Does damaging an expensive tyre on an expensive car give one more or less justification for claiming than a cheap tyre on a cheaper car?
• Would the amount of my time and effort required to pursue the claim be worthwhile?

[David P]

A lot of good points there, Fran, to which I would add:

- should I really be claiming against the tyre supplier? Hitting the sort of potholes we get around here in a big car at less than 40mph should not damage a brand new tyre.

[hyposmurf]

Not only the claims from damage to vechiles but the danger caused should a vechile loose control on a road due to poor surface or a bike/motorbike hit a pothole and fall in front of a vechile.The chance is very low but still there.Quite often see drivers altering their road position to avoid a pothole.

[Fran]

Not only the claims from damage to vechiles but the danger caused should a vechile loose control on a road due to poor surface or a bike/motorbike hit a pothole and fall in front of a vechile.The chance is very low but still there.Quite often see drivers altering their road position to avoid a pothole.

A good point, except that I think it is actually two different scenarios:

• If a driver alters their course to avoid a pothole in a way that causes an accident, then that accident will (invariably) be the driver's fault.
• If a large pothole makes a biker skid or fall, then it's probably the pothole's fault (though not necessarily the council's, if it's a newish pothole).

[Ado]

I wouldn't want to comment on an individual case, but were I to damage a tyre in a pothole, I would consider the following:

• The most efficient council, with the biggest budget and a huge team to check all roads weekly for potholes, would still not be able to fix, or even mark, every one as soon as it happened.
• Council budgets are limited; the more spent compensating individuals (not just re potholes), the less there is to spend on anything else.
• Could I have avoided the pothole - safely - if I had been more attentive?
• Some things are just bad luck.
• Is puncturing a balding tyre that ought be replaced soon different from damaging a new one?
• Does damaging an expensive tyre on an expensive car give one more or less justification for claiming than a cheap tyre on a cheaper car?
• Would the amount of my time and effort required to pursue the claim be worthwhile?

Unfortunatelty though these are individual cases. It has obviously never happened to you. My wife hit a pothole in the normal driving area of the road. Why should we be held at fault for that to the tune of 3 weeks food shopping money for my family? Maybe it is not realistic for the council to maintain roads to perfection, I can't comment on that. But if damage is done via a medium that is their responsibility then they should be liable for the damage.

Let me ask you this if someone crashes into your car would you expect to claim for the damages? Would you foot the bill yourself as maybe you could have avoided them? Or because it is just not possible for all drivers to drive to perfection? Or just bad luck?

You also seem to making some far fetched assumptions on all but the first of your starred points. I would answer them in relation to our incident as follows;

* My family budget is far more limited than the councils. In any event a limited budget should not absolve responsibility. Imagine if car/plane/house manufacturers claimed the same point of view!
* My wife could not have avoided this as it was in the normal driving surface of the road and unmarked.
* It is bad luck. Why should this be my bad luck and not the councils who have responsibility for the surface?
* My wifes tyre is 2 months old and in perfect condition thank you. It was not damaged, only the wheel. Where do you get this generalisation from?
* The value of a damaged item has no relevence as to who is responsible. My wifes car is an 02 reg and NOT expensive!
* Yes.

I don't think you can say that you cannot comment on individual cases and then give some very specific an individual comments. Maybe you could afford to lose money over an incident like this? I can't. If there was no pothole there my wifes car would not be damaged. Are we to be financially responsible for faults in the road.

I'm going to stop now and take no further part in this thread as I'm going to start getting shirty and that's not me.

[Fran]

I am sorry if you're upset. That was not my intention at all.

I knew nothing of the details of your wife's incident, the state of her tyres, the age or value of her car, let alone your family circumstances until your most recent post. Such details are none of my business, which is why I explicitly said I did not want to comment on an individual case.

All my points were general ones that I would weigh up if I should have such an incident and I was thus suggesting others bore in mind too.

I made no suggestion as to what the answer should be in any individual case as I have no way of knowing.

[hyposmurf]

A good point, except that I think it is actually two different scenarios:

• If a driver alters their course to avoid a pothole in a way that causes an accident, then that accident will (invariably) be the driver's fault.
• If a large pothole makes a biker skid or fall, then it's probably the pothole's fault (though not necessarily the council's, if it's a newish pothole).

Yes I see where youre coming from but isnt it sad that people look staright away at where the blame lies after an incident and not maintain the roads in the first place.
If a biker had an accident due to a poor road surface, I doubt they would have much of leg to stand on(Council not biker) when you look at the rest of the roads maintained by the council.They are in shoddy repair,been left for so long and had so many utility companies digging them and adding to the patchwork of road surfaces.

[Eaton]

It seems to me that the people most at fault are the contractors who resurface the road, the contractors who repair the potholes or even the council who employ the cheapest (probably) company to do these jobs not the motorists who damage their cars or the cyclists who damage their bikes or themselves if/when they hit a pothole.

I know roughly where the potholes are on the roads that I regularly use, however now that the nights are darker, some streetlights have been turned off and the weather is getting worse it's not always easy to see them particularly when you are blinded by some idiot driving with his highbeams on or the pothole has filled up with rain. I expect there to be the odd pothole on some of the side roads/country lanes that I use but strangely they are often in far better repair than the main roads, whether that's because there isn't the heavy haulage vehicles or the volume of traffic I don't know but what I do know is that the road surface is often rougher but without the potholes.

[147]

A thought that has occured to me over the last few years is. Pot holes are appearing on roads where they never appeared before, these roads now have chevroned areas seperating the traffic (eg White Lion Road) this narrows the carriageway forcing all traffic to wear the same stretch of tarmac, whereas a wider carriageway would have vehicles following the kerb, the white line or the centre of the carraigeway.

[Ado]

Oops, I feel abit of a twit! My sincere apologies to all especially Fran for having a go which was unjustified. Just hit me at the wrong time! I think it is an excellent thread to provoke thought and discussion on the topic and I had no cause to get snappish.

Sorry!

Ado

[David P]

Oops, I feel abit of a twit! My sincere apologies to all especially Fran for having a go which was unjustified. Just hit me at the wrong time! I think it is an excellent thread to provoke thought and discussion on the topic and I had no cause to get snappish.

However, I should probably add my apology to Fran's.
You seem to be saying that a, presumably alloy, wheel was written off. That must have been some pothole?

[Fran]

Thanks Ado, but there's no need to apologise; we all have off days and can get the wrong end of the stick.

[Eaton]

Whilst I understand the sentiment of this post unfortunately reality bites! My wife hit an unmarked pothole in White Lion Road on Wed Night and it has cost us £175 in damage. I WILL be claiming this from the council.

I agree that they should then pursue a utility company for this if they are found to have made a shoddy repair on the road. However I am more concerned with having potentially lost £175 through no fault of ours that we can ill afford at the moment.

I think that the hole that your wife hit is the one mentioned on the front page of the Amersham Examiner this week (sorry I can't find anything on the Examiner website about it so can't post a link). It was, apparently, caused by Three Valleys Water and was on White Lion Road at the junction with Cumberland Close. If it is the same one then your wife was not alone in damaging her car!

[Kiff]

However, I should probably add my apology to Fran's.
You seem to be saying that a, presumably alloy, wheel was written off. That must have been some pothole?

That happened to me in Little Chalfont (Nightingale Road)... nasty deep pot hole with a sharp edge, travelling at ~40MPH or less and it cracked the alloy and damaged the tyre. I went to claim but the CC sent me to BT who sent me to their subcontractor who inturn sent me to their subcontractor who insisted on photo's that I didn't have (and couldn't get). It cost me around £300 - all because of shoddy contractor work

I had no chance to avoid the hole due to other traffic, the width of the road and the fact that it was concealed by a puddle.

If it ever happens again I'd know to record the exact location and take photo's of the damage, the pothole, the time of day etc. etc. etc.

[Omnia]

In our increasingly litigious society, councils in England and Wales spent more on compensating drivers for damage caused by potholes than on actually repairing them in the year 2007-2008.

Whilst that may be good for some individuals, as a society, it is madness.

Prevention is invariably better than cure, so this is just a reminder that you can report potholes to Bucks Highways on 0845 230 2882. Ones that are at least 300mm by 300mm and at least 40mm deep get priority. No guarantee that they'll fix them, but it's in everyone's interest to encourage them to do so before they get dangerous and expensive.

I am finding it very difficult to measure the sizes of potholes with all these cars on the road

I am from Aylesbury myself, and I never see potholes. So I think it really depends on the local council and how important they see different areas. Obviously all the money raised by the car parks does not go back into funding repair of roads, etc in Amersham.

[Fran]

Roads, including pothole repairs, are the responsibility of Bucks CC (you can ring Chiltern District, but they put you through to Bucks CC), so presumably it shouldn't matter which bit of the county you are in? Then again, I work in Aylesbury, and now you mention it, I don't notice as many potholes there as I do near home in Amersham, so perhaps Bucks allocate a certain amount to each district and Chiltern should be fighting for a larger share?

[hyposmurf]

Roads seem to be less busy in Aylesbury and Im sure there are many more new roads than in Amersham,due to all the new developments going up.

[Fran]

Roads seem to be less busy in Aylesbury and Im sure there are many more new roads than in Amersham,due to all the new developments going up.

Surely you mean that the other way round?

Rush hour roads in Aylesbury are dreadful and there are huge new developments there - both residential and commercial.

[hyposmurf]

Anyone else becoming more frustrated by the potholes lately?There seem to be alot more appearing and not many being filled in.Berkamsted Road in Chesham is terrible and outside Guido's in Amersham there are some holes to.I've reported holes over 6 months ago ,but they are still left unfilled.

[Alan]

Anyone else becoming more frustrated by the potholes lately?There seem to be alot more appearing and not many being filled in.Berkamsted Road in Chesham is terrible and outside Guido's in Amersham there are some holes to.I've reported holes over 6 months ago ,but they are still left unfilled.

There's a few in White Lion Rd.