I saw the drain cover sticking up before I hit it.  But I still ran over it.

 

So it was no surprise when the ride became a bit rough.

 

Both nearside tyres were flat, so I called out the RAC.

 

While I was waiting a Ford Focus parked just beyond me and changed a wheel.  Then a white car drove past with an obvious flat.  Then another car stopped and had a good look round – and carried on – he was OK.

 

While the RAC man was valiantly trying to plug the holes and keep air in the tyres another chap stopped.  “I’ve just fitted my spare.  There are another six back there! You'll be busy."

 

I limped to the nearest tyre dealer, with a stop half way for the RAC man to get a bit more air in.

 

At the dealer I met the woman from the white car, who had driven there on her flat one.  Of course the dealer didn’t have any tyres I would want, so I had to buy a couple of cheapies.

 

A small comfort to know I’m not the worst driver in the world.

What bad luck.

Many years ago a friend of mine hit a drain cover end on (like a sharks fin.)

It sliced through his mini's gearbox, and cut the brake pipes, so he couldn't even stop.

I clipped a rock in Wales and tore a hole in the sidewall and wheel. Only issue is, the spare was also dead. Ironically it died a day or two earlier.

 

I put the rock back on the wall.

 

RAC man said there workload had gone up a lot since no spares were issued for this sort of incident. Of course I know I was meant to have a good spare, at the time I was prissy about running expensive tyres and smarting from a pzxero nero loss... now I was two down, missed the pub and realised I'd left my coat at home...

 

I've seen a few grids up in sheffield last few days, stopped and kicked one back in. 

 

Unless you drive off kerb not a lot to avoid them.

Where are those thieving tinkers when you want one....

 

I've seen a few grids up in sheffield last few days, stopped and kicked one back in. 

 

That'll be our 'friends' at StreetsAhead doing their gully cleaning. Shame they seem to forget to put things back properly and how they found them

Had similar a couple of years back on the M1 where a load of us all hit the same pot hole, got punctures and were sitting in a row on the hard shoulder waiting for recovery to the nearest tyre place. Highways Agency didn't care...

That'll be our 'friends' at StreetsAhead doing their gully cleaning. Shame they seem to forget to put things back properly and how they found them

Surely the council/contractor would open themselves up to compensation claims. (?)

Surely the council/contractor would open themselves up to compensation claims. (?)

 

Before I got the Yeti got run off the edge of a country lane by an on-coming lorry just where there was a 4-5 inch drop from edge of tarmac to the grass verge. Blew out the tyre. Submitted a claim to the local highway authority - West Sussex County Council with description of the incident, location and photographs including one with a ruler showing the depth of the drop arguing it was a highway defect that should have been picked up on their routine inspections.

 

Lots of correspondence later WSCC were still adamant it was not a highway defect ad they would not pay for the tyre. The only course of action would have been small claims court with all the time and costs involved so I reluctantly let it go. The next time there was maintenance in that road - a load of tarmac had been put down to smooth the drop from the carriageway to the verge. So was that a defect being repaired or a waste of council resources?

 

The despite having the tracking checked twice the car never felt as though it was driving as it should and soon after I changed it for the Yeti. But I did read somewhere later on that WSCC has one of the lowest rates for admitting liability for damage caused by highway defects and I can see why. So it does seem that whether or not it's worth pursuing a claim is, as the papers like to tell us, a post code lottery.

When I contacted the HA they said that it had happened since their last inspection and that the last inspection was done within legal timeframes so not their fault. I argued that they were on scene when I hit so were aware and that if they had closed the lane or put a warning on the overhead signs I would have been able to miss it. Their vehicle was parked on the hard shoulder and the overhead signjust said "Incident slow down". If it had said "hole in lane 1" or something more useful it would have helped. They closed the lane while I was sitting there waiting for the AA...

After three letters they simply said that I should seek legal advise if I wanted to take it any further and that they wouldn't reply to any further correspondance about the incident directly.

For the cost of two tyres on the Fiesta I was driving at the time it wasn't worth the hassle and time off work just to make the point so I, like you, gave up. I'm sure that's their plan anyway...

I shall fill in a claim form and send it off to see what happens.  But I'm inclined to think I won't get anywhere.

 

Perhaps I was the first to come across the hazard.  With all the people stopping after me and no-one already waiting where I was.  Tyres are consumables - at least I didn't dent anything.

Does it take a death and subsequent coroners investigation and report of council negligence to get them to take it seriously.

Ratepayers/taxpayers could be liable for massive liabilities if found to have been a 'contributer' .......they must be an unimaginative lot.

Yes I will join the club as well. Mk 4 Cortina coming off the M1 near Barnsley a drain cover somehow shot up and hit the underside of my car as I drove over it. A few miles on and the oil warning light came on, there was a hole in the sump, it took four days before the car was back on the road. No one as usual would except any responsibility

SWMBO was tipped of her motorbike a few years ago, when turning off a main road into a side road in Bedfordshire.

The joint between the two bits of Tarmac was about 2 inches wide and an inch deep and she ended up in A+E with a broken finger. Had to have her wedding ring cut off too.

Bike was a financial write off.

We got the same response as those above... "Inspected within guidelines, blah blah blah"

Wasn't having that as claiming on own insurance would have been costly.

Fortunately the insurance co were very good and sent a surveyor to inspect the road, who's report backed our claim.

They pursued BCC on our behalf.

Result: we won, got paid out for the bike, bought it back and repaired it for less than £300

Having worked in a local authority for many years (but no longer) I would suggest the problem is that those responsible for assessing claims see it as their duty to defend the council against all claims, no matter whether they be legitimate or not. And the relevant officers can afford to spend the time arguing because firstly all the time they are rejecting your claim then the council still has the money and secondly they are being paid by the council so they might as well be doing this rather than something else. If it goes to court then "the council" will pay the court costs and provide a solicitor if necessary. You on the other hand are having to pursue your claim in your own time and at your own expense, including bearing the costs of your own legal costs if you decided to go to court. And if the council won't budge from its position that's probably the only recourse you have. So , recognising it's not a level playing field, the judgement has to be how much of my own time and money can I justify in pursuit on what may be only a couple of hundred pounds when the council has, for all practical purposes, unlimited resources to fight me. It's not really surprising that against some councils a successful claim is as rare as hens' teeth. This slightly cynical view may not be true of all councils, some may actually decide to put their hand up when in the wrong and settle quickly, but I suspect they are in the minority. (And so far no one has spoken up to say "I made a successful claim...."

I've also heard stories claiming that all people are equal before the law.

I wonder where that fantasy originated.

so far no one has spoken up to say "I made a successful claim...."

See my post above...

I won