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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)

Following our previous posts regarding the dangers of potholes, and the claims arising from injuries sustained in pothole accident we were very sorry to hear of the accident involving Olympic Gold medallist Dani King.

Dani was injured in a crash when a fellow cyclist hit a pothole during a training ride. King, 23, was taken to hospital by ambulance, and has suffered 5 broken ribs and a collapsed lung, but was fortunately well enough to tweet from her hospital bed ‘Crashed out of training yesterday resulting in five broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Being looked after by the amazing NHS ICU in Wales’.

Dani's father has said that Dani feared spinal damage after he crash, reporting that she was put on a spinal board following the incident. Dani could not feel her feet at one stage, and said to her father she was frightened to cry because she thought she was going to die she was in so much pain.

Dani was out with her usual training partners when one rider hit a pothole concealed by a puddle, bringing down a number of riders in the group. The Olympic and World track champion hit the ground, with another rider falling on top of her.

She is a columnist for the Times, and they reported that she has previously written of her awareness of the dangers of cycling on the roads:-

‘I ride my road bike everyday of the week anyway for the track, whether that’s riding to the track and back or on a training ride.There’s always going to danger on the roads, where you’re sharing space with cars, and it is more likely that you’re going to crash but if I thought too much about that I’d be a nervous wreck. Worrying about crashes won’t help me’.

We have previously written about claimants who have successfully pursued claims in respect of injuries caused by potholes – please see our article about here.

Dani thanked her followers for their messages of support and said that she wished the British riders good luck in the track cycling World Cup in Mexico.