The
Law on Potholes
If a highways
authority cannot demonstrate that they have a reasonable system of maintenance
in place they are likely to be liable for any injury caused to road users who
suffer injury due to disrepair.
In our
experience, while all highways
authorities these days have a maintenance policy which takes account, for
example, of how heavily used a
particular road may be, they can fall
down on implementation of inspections and repairs.
Often local authority
will deny liability in a pothole claim and whenever they do so they are duty
bound to provide disclosure of their maintenance records. We always closely analyse such records to
identify any failure in the inspection regime that gives rise to a breach of
duty.
A recent case
Over the years Dowse
& Co have run many successful claims
for cyclists injured by potholes.
In May 2012 one of
our clients was cycling home along Seven Sisters Road at about 10pm. There were a number of bricks missing from
the surround of a drain cover at the time and this hole was concealed by
rainwater. Our client’s front wheel was
trapped in the pothole and she was thrown over the handlebars, landing on the road.
Following a letter of
claim, on this occasion Transport for
London admitted liability no doubt because their maintenance records were poor.
They did not argue
that our client had contributed to the accident by not keeping a proper lookout
of the road surface in front of her because the pothole was concealed
underneath rainwater and it was night time.
Damages
Our client recovered
£4,500 damages.
Besides her physical
injuries, she developed travel anxiety
relating to cycling for nearly 12 months and lacked the confidence to return to cycling.
Cycling had been her
main form of transport and as a consequence we were able to submit a claim for
purchase of a weekly Oyster card for a 12 month period. That item of loss alone totalled nearly £500. TfL did not argue about the loss because our
client was able to supply a full set of records referring to her Oyster card.
If you have an
accident make sure you take some decent photographs shortly afterwards of the pothole
as evidence. Sometimes we can also get evidence from witnesses who live on the
street who can say how long the road have been in poor condition.
For further advice
contact one of our personal injury lawyers – Patrick Spence or Myles Hickey on
020-7254 6205.
