But it’s not just vehicle damage you have to worry about in certain situations when it comes to driving over a huge gaping hole in the road. It’s very easy to end up with a whiplash injury as well as doing some damage to your car. Hitting a pothole at speed will cause your car to suddenly and violently jolt. The instinct to brake may also kick in afterwards as well, or you may lose control of the car if the hole has bust a tyre or damage your vehicle.
If you feel stiffness and pain in the neck, back, and shoulder area, usually around 12 – 24 hours after the accident, you may well be suffering from whiplash caused by driving over the hole. You should see a doctor as soon as possible and explain the accident to them so your medical records can show a record of what has happened.
The big question of course is can you make a claim for compensation?
This question is very difficult to answer. In accordance with the Highways Act 1980, the council must reasonably inspect and maintain their jurisdiction of highway. What is classed as reasonable is pretty much down to the council. However, as a rough sort of guide, you would expect that major busy main roads will be reviewed every one to three months, whereas a cul-de-sac in the sticks of Devon will probably only be looked at on an annual basis.
The problem with potholes is that they can appear in the short space of a few weeks. So if the pothole appears between inspections, the council have a special defence under Section 58 of the Highways Act. So even if that pothole has developed in to some kind of trench, causing considerable injury to you and serious damage to your car, if the council have kept up with their system of inspection and maintenance, they can defend the claim.
Unfortunately claims for potholes against the council are therefore very difficult to succeed with. You shouldn’t be put off from claiming though, as it’s always worth speaking to us about our No Win, No Fee agreement. The best thing to do is take photos of the defect at short distance, showing measurements with a rule or other measuring device, and some at distance to show the area and any nearby landmark.
Give us a call on 0800 634 75 75 and we will assess whether w can help you out on a No Win, No Fee basis.