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Cratermass
I am currently suing our local County Council for the replacement of damaged front and rear tyres on hitting a large pot-hole in the A38 near Burnham-on-Sea, last summer, and I would like your input as to the validity of the Council's defence and any possible arguments I might use when in court. The case is being heard in the Small Claims Track of the County Court. The Council has engaged a firm of solicitors to fight the case (at a cost probably far in excess of the cost of replacing my tyres), and they are relying on a clause in the Highways Act which states that as long as there is a regular time-scale of reviews to the road surface they are covered by the terms within the Act. In this case, the regular review time frame is 30 days, and the last review undertaken prior to my incident was 21 days previous. They also allege negligent driving and excessive speed as a contributory factor.
Asked on 7 February 2009 by
Answered by
Honest John
To succeed, you need to prove that the council was made aware of the potholes prior to your incident and did nothing about it. If they were made aware and did nothing they are still negligent, regardless of their inspection regime. Alternatively, if you can prove that the potholes were there at the time of the inspection and were missed, you also have a case. Otherwise you probably don't. The best advice is at www.potholes.co.uk
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