21 January 2015
Potholes - what can you do if you suffer an injury on your bike?
Following last weeks National Pothole Day - we look at the issue from the point of view of the innocent cyclist
- injured as a result of a pothole.
Some of you may recall the widely
reported case of Alan Curtis, who received £70000 in compensation following a
particularly nasty accident with a pothole in Rickmansworth. His full story can
be found here: http://bit.ly/1rnYPch
If you come off your bike as result
of hitting a pothole, and suffer an injury, do you have a right to claim
compensation? The answer, as so often in legal matters, is - it depends.
Councils
owe you a duty of care to maintain the roads – this means that they are
responsible for the maintenance and repair to keep the highway ‘in a fit state
to accommodate the ordinary traffic which passes or may pass along them – that
is cars, lorries, buses, motorcycles, cyclists etc'
So
far so good. But does that mean that if you have an accident caused by a
pothole you have a claim?
As with all claims – each will be
dealt with on its own merits, and a judge would consider whether the highway
was in a dangerous condition. The Judge will consider whether it was forseeable
that the condition of the highway could give rise to an injury.
Over the years, in tripping claims,
it has become accepted that a defect of over 1 inch (the height of a 50p piece)
on a pavement would satisfy this test. With potholes in the road there is no
such clear criteria - and evidence is everything.
In practice this means that you
should take photographs of everything, preferably showing measurements. You
need to show not only the width of the pothole, but also it's depth. The
position of the pothole within the road will also be important so - as long as
it is safe you would want close up photos showing measurements -and photos
showing the pothole's position in the road.
So -
if it's a 'big' pothole are you home and dry?
Unfortunately not! Under Section 58
of the Highways Act a highway authority may, in its defence, prove it had taken
such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to ensure that
the highway was not dangerous.
In practice this means that the
highway authority would need to provide evidence of regular inspection and
maitenance to show that they had taken reasonable steps to detect each defect
and repair it within a reasonable time. What is considered reasonable will
depend upon the nature and character of the particular road - the size and
position of the pothole.
It's not unusual for claims to be
rejected in the first instance - but take Mr Curtis' claim as an example - when
you have a good case it is worth pursuing to the end.
For help and advice with any Cycle
Accidents please visit cycleaccidenthelpline.com - or our associated blog -
which has many helpful articles. Alternatively call 0800 7569708 - free (from
landlines)
