Potholes are a common feature on public highways all over the country. They come in all shapes and sizes; whilst some are only a few inches deep they can grow to a number of feet in width! If you have ever suffered a personal injury as a result of a pothole in a public place, you could be entitled to make a claim.
The Law
Whether you can win a claim predominantly boils down to what is classed as reasonable. This can be difficult to interpret and often leaves potential claimants confused as to whether they have grounds for a successful claim. It is useful to have knowledge that the duty is to maintain the highways and take action if a defect is dangerous enough.
Reasonable Danger
Those in authority for maintaining a highway need to take action in the instance of a defect in that area if that defect is seen to be a ‘reasonable danger‘ to the public. This means that the size of a pothole and the severity of any defect can affect the success of your claim. Any pothole or defect must be deemed bad enough to be classed as ‘unreasonable‘ for a successful claim.
As an authority only has to maintain a road to a ‘reasonable‘ standard, lawyers commonly use the ‘one inch rule‘ when determining reasonability in relation to potholes. This generally means that the pot hole should be at least one inch deep. Providing the injuries incurred have been suffered as a result of a pothole of this kind you could be entitled to make a claim.
Section 58
It is worth noting at this point that claims occurring in more rural areas can be more difficult to pursue. A rural area is likely to be inspected much less frequently than busy main roads for example in cities and this is regarded as ‘reasonable‘; because of this an authority may be able to defend a claim. It can prove to be an uphill struggle to make a successful claim where the accident has happened in a rural area.
Reasonability in relation to how well a road is maintained will be determined by; the expected usage of the highway; the appropriate standard of maintenance for that highway; and the state of repair the highway would be expected to be in.
These would be things to consider when in contemplation of making a claim, and the special defence the council has is under Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980.
