What Happens When I Hit a Pothole?

What Happens When I Hit a Pothole?

It would appear that people like you and me have become so fed up with potholes that we are taking things into our own hands and attempting to repair them ourselves.  According to BBC News a series of websites have been set up to combat potholes.  For example, Potholes.co.uk details the locations of potholes and has links people can use to help notify the council of the potholes.  Such is the craze on this website that there was even a poem competition dedicated to potholes! And here is the winning poem:

‘When almost dusk and light turns grey, potholes greedily grasp their prey’.

The BBC news also reports that the website FillThatHole has seen its users report nearly 50,000 potholes, and as a result, nearly 15,000 of these have been fixed.  Granted, this is some way short of all the potholes being fixed; but it is something and can go a long way to ensuring that people do not get injured or damage their vehicles as a result of these potholes.  And further, as a FillThatHole spokesman has commented, ‘it places extra onus on councils to fix the problem because it is in the public domain’.  In other words, the council know about the problem and should adhere to their duty to ensure the safety of its highway users and get it fixed ASAP.

Some people are not satisfied with the current situation.  Certain people have suggested that we are doing the councils work for them when really it should be up to them to sort out our potholes, and they should know what is going on with their roads.  I disagree. Councils have miles and miles of highway that they have to look after.  Can we really expect them to know about every single defect in their area and be able to remedy this immediately?  I think most would agree not.  I think by using websites like Potholes.co.uk and FillThatHole we are helping ourselves by helping them.  The council have a tough job and we are making it easier and we are helping to ensure that more and more potholes are dealt with.  In turn this means that there will be fewer incidents involving potholes, and that could well be an incident you or me could have been involved in and could have been hurt in.

My advice is to get reporting those potholes! Get on those pothole websites and let the council know about problems with their roads.  Or maybe download a certain mobile phone ‘app’ that allows you to report potholes.  At the end of the day, it is like ‘doing your bit’ and surely that can only be a good thing.

In the meantime, if you have been injured as a result of a clash with a pothole, get in touch with a quality personal injury lawyer who can advise you on your possible claim for compensation.  At The Injury Lawyers our advice is free and there is no obligation on yourself to commit to anything – you therefore have nothing to lose.