With the lovely weather we have here in the United Kingdom, it is not surprising the amount of potholes that have appeared on the roads and pavements. As someone who commutes to and from work on a daily basis, I have experienced the far from smooth ride which often involves my car dipping down unexpectedly and rattling my very bones. However, potholes, although annoying, can be dealt with rather easily when in a car and usually do not pose an immediate risk of injury.
This is definitely not the case when you are not in the car, but on foot or a bicycle. Here at The Injury Lawyers we deal with a high volume of personal injury claims that have been caused by someone either tripping over a pothole, or alternatively, riding a bike when the front wheel gets caught and consequently results in the cyclist being thrown from the bike.
It is important to stress that these are not straightforward cases and therefore should not be approached lightly. One of the first things we require to assess is whether we are able to pursue your claim, are photographs are extremely important for this.
PHOTOGRAPHS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PHOTOGRAPHS! – I repeat to stress the importance of these. Ideally, we require a range of photographs to consider your claim, including:
- Close up photographs of the pothole
- Photographs including the pothole but from a distance showing the surrounding area
- Photographs of the pothole with an instrument or object showing measurements- The main instrument being a tape measure but also putting your foot can sometime be sufficient if a tape measure is not available.
- Photographs of your injuries.
You should, label them accordingly so we can determine which hole in the distance shots you have fallen in – as potholes are often never alone! Roads can be littered with them all over the roads surface, causing a significant hazard.
Council claims (which are what the majority of pothole claims are) are difficult in the sense that, if they can prove that they regularly inspect and maintain those roads, AND CAN PROVE THIS, it becomes a very difficult case as they are only expected by law to take reasonable steps to ensure the roads are maintained properly.
So if you have been injured as a result of disrepair of the roads or pavements gather your evidence and contact us today. We will seek the optimum amount of compensation possible and you keep 100% of your compensation as we work on our genuine No Win No Fee.
