Well, one front n/s wheel and tyre trashed LCR...

[neilmac]

Just got back...driving up the A331 from Aldershot to the M3..about 1/4 mile from the Aldershot junction going northbound...when I see a big hole coming up on the n/s on the dual carriage way......then bang....out goes the front tyre...managed to swerve and save the rear.....pull over and there is one bent alloy and a flat tyre...brilliant...one good £120 tyre trashed and one alloy bent. My wife is 35 weeks pregnant so it wasnt the best 30 mins changing the wheels in the pitch black. Lucklily some people stopped in front of me and were going back to take pictures of this 'hole' as it took out both their front and back tyres and alloy's....upon there return they said it was a 1 metre long whole about 5 inches deep!!! on the inside lane of a dual carriageway!!! They called out the police and got a police report when it happened to them an hour earlier.

Get home, phone highways for surrey and the reason no one is fixing it is because they cant decide who owns that bit of road - surrey or rushmore!!

If they dont do something soon they are going to have a nasty accident to deal with!

So anyone got any experience of claiming damages back from councils with respect to damage to vehicles caused by poor highway condition?

I'll post some pics of said wheel tomorrow...too dark now....

Do you reckon I should whack it into stealer and get the suspension checked? I mean it put a dent about 4 inches long in the alloy?

 

[Ant FR]

Get a copy of the police report, there ain't much the council can argue then, But don't wait on the money,a s it will take ages as ay governmebt crap does.

 

[Big_daddy]

Yeh Get Your Suspension Checked, As Well As You Wishbone Rod And Steerin, As It Bent You Alloy Asume The Tracking Must Have F**cked Up

 

[neilmac]

Get a copy of the police report, there ain't much the council can argue then, But don't wait on the money,a s it will take ages as ay governmebt crap does.

Yeah luckily the woman who called the police is going to give me the report number...she is also a witness to what happened to my car...so reckon there wont be any problem on them having to accept it happened.

Wont wait on the money - Im sure they are going to take there time....will get the car sorted asap.

 

[neilmac]

Yeh Get Your Suspension Checked, As Well As You Wishbone Rod And Steerin, As It Bent You Alloy Asume The Tracking Must Have F**cked Up

Tracking isnt too bad but yeah - I reckon getting it all checked is best - will see what I can sort tomorrow.

Pain in the arse though.

 

[Nathanio]

Must have been a hell of a bang! Tyre pop or just destoryed the carcass?

Makes you wonder what the hell we pay road tax for!

 

[Scotty_b]

My mate works for a London council and basically they have to do roads surveys every so often and if they flag up the issue and don’t fix it you can clam, if they haven’t done one in a certain time period they cant be held responsible. I will see if i can get some more details if you like?

Pain in the ass when it happens, they all seem to blame each other

 

[neilmac]

Must have been a hell of a bang! Tyre pop or just destoryed the carcass?

Makes you wonder what the hell we pay road tax for!

Too right mate.....its hard suspension at the best of times let alone in a hole....shocking road condition.

Hard to see in the dark but the tyre was intact...so Im guessing its popped around the buckle....do you reckon the tyre is knackered now or can it be repaired...in fact can the alloy be repaired?

 

[neilmac]

My mate works for a London council and basically they have to do roads surveys every so often and if they flag up the issue and don’t fix it you can clam, if they haven’t done one in a certain time period they cant be held responsible. I will see if i can get some more details if you like?

Pain in the ass when it happens, they all seem to blame each other

Really? Well the police think the council are breaking there code by not maintaining the highway...apparently the AA man said it had been like that for two months so I reckon Ive got a good chance of getting costs back from them....hope so anyhow.

 

[matt_s]

You've spoken to the highways agency and they have acknowledged they already knew about it so it's not a question of have they done the road survey or not.

You might have to wait until they decide who owns it but it should have been fixed first and then they could have sorted out who was paying for it.

 

[panholio]

Sting them for everything you can mate.

This sort of thing is a joke, there are holes in some roads in Leeds, that if I wasn't local and didn't know they were there, could cause the same sort of damage. And the council do **** all.

You sound like you have a strong case, I'd persevere as much as possible and write to your MP and local paper.

 

[neilmac]

My mate works for a London council and basically they have to do roads surveys every so often and if they flag up the issue and don’t fix it you can clam, if they haven’t done one in a certain time period they cant be held responsible. I will see if i can get some more details if you like?

Pain in the ass when it happens, they all seem to blame each other

You've spoken to the highways agency and they have acknowledged they already knew about it so it's not a question of have they done the road survey or not.

You might have to wait until they decide who owns it but it should have been fixed first and then they could have sorted out who was paying for it.

Good point - reckon Ive got a good case.....pretty poor on there part.

 

[Nathanio]

Too right mate.....its hard suspension at the best of times let alone in a hole....shocking road condition.

Hard to see in the dark but the tyre was intact...so Im guessing its popped around the buckle....do you reckon the tyre is knackered now or can it be repaired...in fact can the alloy be repaired?

I would say prob no sounds like a 4in dent would be f88ked! Sorry mate but for safety sake (specially with mum and due baby) get a new tyre and alloy just in case something did happen.

 

[neilmac]

Sting them for everything you can mate.

This sort of thing is a joke, there are holes in some roads in Leeds, that if I wasn't local and didn't know they were there, could cause the same sort of damage. And the council do **** all.

You sound like you have a strong case, I'd persevere as much as possible and write to your MP and local paper.

Watch this space...cos Im going to give it everything I have.....Ive paid my road tax, endless tax on fuel.....on a dual carriageway this is the least acceptable place for a hole of that size....its too dangerous.

 

[neilmac]

I would say prob no sounds like a 4in dent would be f88ked! Sorry mate but for safety sake (specially with mum and due baby) get a new tyre and alloy just in case something did happen.

Yeah...I'll will get it looked at tomorrow and see if it is repairable...tyre prob isnt...like you say though..I wont take any chances....

 

[RikH]

i work indirectly for the Highways Agency and have recently myself had similar tyre blowout

1. Find out for sure who is responsible for the road
2. Have full photographic evidence of the hole and the damage to your car
3. If you cant wait for payout to car going get tyre replaced/wheel etc and encl copy of the invoices you have paid
4.do not let it drop

In my case i hit an errant brick on the m606, i got nothing as the Highways are clear from this, the person that dropped the brick is who i shld of got the payout from-and as that brick could of been there 30 minutes i got left with the 150quid bill as what is dropped errantly is not the liability of councils or HA. Potholes and cat 1 and cat 2 defect ARE!

you will get the money, but it will not be easy
do not let it drop

 

[neilmac]

i work indirectly for the Highways Agency and have recently myself had similar tyre blowout

1. Find out for sure who is responsible for the road
2. Have full photographic evidence of the hole and the damage to your car
3. If you cant wait for payout to car going get tyre replaced/wheel etc and encl copy of the invoices you have paid
4.do not let it drop

In my case i hit an errant brick on the m606, i got nothing as the Highways are clear from this, the person that dropped the brick is who i shld of got the payout from-and as that brick could of been there 30 minutes i got left with the 150quid bill as what is dropped errantly is not the liability of councils or HA. Potholes and cat 1 and cat 2 defect ARE!

you will get the money, but it will not be easy
do not let it drop

Thanks for the advice mate.

Im working on 1. and will be back onto that tommorrow.
The women who is in contact with me who had two blow outs..has pictures which she is forwarding to me.
3. I will have to do this - its going to run for a while Im sure.
4. No chance....I never ever give in when I believe I have a case.

 

[RikH]

no problem mate, it will also help if you take your own pics

do the following-;

measure the depth of the hole
put something like a coke can in the hole to show relative size
maybe put a newspaper in the photo or callender on your camera to prove when it was

 

[Scotty_b]

Really? Well the police think the council are breaking there code by not maintaining the highway...apparently the AA man said it had been like that for two months so I reckon Ive got a good chance of getting costs back from them....hope so anyhow.

Im not sure if the highways are governed by the same rules as the local councils so i could be wrong but i will check with him on monday

 

[neilmac]

no problem mate, it will also help if you take your own pics

do the following-;

measure the depth of the hole
put something like a coke can in the hole to show relative size
maybe put a newspaper in the photo or callender on your camera to prove when it was

Well the women who came back has some pics and Ive since been informed they were filling the hole at 9pm last night. I also now now that there had been 19 '999' calls made about incidents related to this hole - Im thinking there is enough smoke here on this one that I will be getting compensation. I didnt know this but apparently until someone actually has an accident the police cant make the highways do anything to the road....shocking.