There is little doubt that we have just faced one of the toughest winters in a long while. Temperatures were lower than normal and the amount of snow we had was far greater than previous years. As many of you reading this may well remember, Britain almost closed down for a couple of days at the end of November / start of December due to the severity of the weather conditions. It was simply either impossible to get to work, or too dangerous to do so. It was not only businesses that suffered, our roads also suffered from the after effects of these weather conditions. Water filled into the cracks in our roads and then froze due to the cold temperatures. What this meant was that when the weather conditions began to improve, the ice began to thaw, and the cracks it had left behind made themselves apparent. Thus – many potholes were born! And it does not appear that we have heard the end of this either.
Your local council is responsible for maintaining their highways. They owe you a duty of care as a highway user, whether you are a pedestrian or a motorist, to ensure that the roads and pathways are safe to use. What this has meant is that your councils have faced an uphill struggle to maintain their roads having seen the many number of potholes that have been formed. Your council has to routinely inspect your roads – say, every three to six months – and where problems are highlighted they have to fix them. Because of the huge amount of potholes that have cropped up, councils across England have faced a hefty maintenance bill. In fact, the money spent is so high that the government has had to provide another £100million to help fix the potholes.
At The Injury Lawyers, we are only too aware of the perils of the pothole. Every week we hear of people who have either damaged their vehicles or injured themselves because of a pothole. It may be that they have not noticed the pothole, walked into it, and ended up breaking their ankle. At The Injury Lawyers, because of our years of experience in dealing with pothole claims, we are able to advise people who have sustained an injury as a result of coming into contact with a pothole.
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