Have you been a passenger or the driver of a vehicle and have fallen victim to a whiplash injury because of a pot hole in the road? Maybe you are the owner of a bicycle and have been injured riding over a defect on the road? If you have had an accident and sustained an injury as a result then you could make a claim for compensation.
Your accident could even be related to construction work being carried out and the third party have failed to place hazard warning signs or cordons around the area. Exposed holes from work or ground littered with rubble can be equally as dangerous as a pothole defect.
Potholes normally develop over time due to adverse weather conditions. Accidents of this nature can leave you with injuries which may not only leave you feeling debilitated but may affect you financially too! If you hit a pothole in a car and you have sustained a whiplash injury you may not even become aware of the injury until a later date – common with a whiplash injury. Just make sure you seek medical help as early as you can. You may not think symptoms are related, but they probably are.
It is essential to identify the local body governing the area where your accident occurred. Under Section 58 of the Highways Act the local authority is responsible to regularly maintain and inspect roads and highways. The council have what is classed as a ‘reasonable’ time to discover and repair a defect. If a defect has previously been reported to the council and they have failed to repair it in good time, they could be liable for your accident. Councils become aware of such defects through regular inspection of roads and highways. It will therefore be necessary to obtain inspection records because if they can show they were not aware of the defect, they can defend the claim.
It is important to seek independent legal advice when considering pursuing a claim. If your claim is not processed in the correct way then you risk the claim being rejected. It is important to obtain photographs of the pothole or defect as these will act as supporting evidence towards your claim. It is also important to obtain measurements of the pothole as well.
Here at The Injury Lawyers we can act on your behalf guiding you through a hassle free claims process – give is a call on 0800 6364 75 75 for help and advice today.