Dire state of the roads

[Audrey1955]

Writing this because I just wanted to vent my frustration at the state of the roads, potholes etc

Ive just came home from a freinds house, and went over what must be the biggest pothole ever. I went back to measure it.

5 inches deep, around 11 inches in diametre.

I went over it around 35 mph and the noise was horrendous. Just concerned, as anyone would be if they heard it, so was wondering if anything could be damaged, distored bodywork etc.

After going over it, it felt fine driving, but dont know if i should book her in a garage to get her inspected?

[jagnut66]

Hi,
You should report it.
You can take the council to court but the difficulty will be proving that any damage was caused by the state of their roads, though I believe that councils have been successfully sued in the past.
Which is why if you report it they will probably deal with it soon after........
Take pictures. (With a ruler to show depth / width if you have one handy.)
Obviously if there is any resultant damage on your car take photo's of that too.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

You can report potholes at fixmystreet.co.uk.

Might I suggest greater care and observation in future, as a pothole can easily rip a wheel off.

[jagnut66]

as a pothole can easily rip a wheel off.

If that happened you could definitely successfully sue them, as they are supposed to maintain our roads!
That's what we pay our taxes for!!
No excuses!!

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

You can't sue them unless it has already been reported and even then there is the time reasonably needed to repair it.

Yes we pay our taxes but you can't expect the councils to be out 24/7 on pothole watch. If you report them on the above website I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the speed which they are repaired.

Compensation claims will only put our rates up more in the long run and leave less money for repairing the roads, when all could have been avoided by some greater care when driving.

[Audrey1955]

You can report potholes at fixmystreet.co.uk.

Might I suggest greater care and observation in future, as a pothole can easily rip a wheel off.

It was night time, and some of the roads here are not that well lit at night. The road is a major one, and whilst the coucil cant be on patrol 24/7 I find it hard to believe that they havent spotted this, considering the town hall is on the same stretch of road!

I also didnt ask to be told to take greater care, i was merely asking on the potential damage caused

[ASL642]

I wouldn't worry unduly as Minors are rugged little beasts. If you notice anything which "feels" different in the steering when you next go out ask your local MOT testing station to put it up on ramps when they have a quiet minute and check it for you?

[lambrettalad]

just think of the poor motorcyclist who could be thrown a long way by a relatively shallow pothole.RIP

[liammonty]

Jowett, it's all well and good suggesting more care and attention, but the facts are that:

a) The state of the roads has deteriorated in general over recent years due to a lack of investment, and

b) you can't always spot a pothole, for example after rain, when they are filled with water.

It would be justified suggesting not claiming for damage if the councils did indeed keep on top of repairs, but I'm afraid they don't. Repairs are carried out in the most ridiculous manner too, for example, shovelling tarmac into a snow filled hole and then compressing it by backing over it with the flatbed Transit- that's how it's done in Chipping Norton . I lost a steering rack on one of my Minors due to a huge pothole last year, and believe me, I wasn't driving without due care and attention.

[mike.perry]

Don't get run over whilst photographing the pothole!
It is costing the councils millions to settle claims for damage caused by potholes. Probably more lucrative than whiplash injury claims.

[Audrey1955]

Don't get run over whilst photographing the pothole!
It is costing the councils millions to settle claims for damage caused by potholes. Probably more lucrative than whiplash injury claims.

Haha, funny you should say that, because i nearly did. Got plenty of stares. Must have looked like a nutter with my tape measure and camera

[aupickup]

if vehicles are coming the opposite way its sometimes difficult to avoid a pothole

[Coalmossian]

I can sympathise, but in many ways it's a miracle that councils actually manage to keep on top of things as well as they do! Their funding from central government keeps getting cut, they haven't been allowed to increase council tax for a good few years now, yet the cost of time, fuel, materials etc keeps on rising relentlessly.
I worked as a teacher for around 35 years, and when you work in the public sector you realise just what a shoestring the whole system works on, yet the public at large expect miracles. My wife's boss spends more in the pub per month ( on expenses of course, which ultimately means we pay for it!) than the Biology Department I worked in (in a city secondary school of around 800 pupils!) received to buy ALL its resources and photocopying for a year! It only worked because we, the teachers, bought stuff too!
So maybe we all have a wee part to play? We need to report potholes ( funnily enough I reported several this morning on rural roads and they were "fixed" in 3 hours in Aberdeenshire....now they're mini humps waiting to be compressed!) and we need to drive carefully and pay attention ( not criticising ANYONE here as I've burst tyres and damaged alloy wheels myself). Sometimes we just have to expect that these things will happen, unless we are willing to pay more taxes which I personally speaking am, if it will get everything back on track!
Ultimately we get what we pay for, and if services don't match our expectations then we have to lower the latter or pay more for the former!

[jagnut66]

I'm blowed if I want to pay any more in tax!

[Roni]

You may benefit from this bit of my motoring history.
Some years ago, on a back country road, I hit a washout caused by heavy rain. It was just after a tight corner and went the full width of the road so there was no seeing or avoiding it. The car hit it hard but seemed to come through unscathed. It drove ok and felt completely normal afterwards.
A few weeks later the car gave a quick violent wobble followed by the front wheel falling sideways. It was the wheel centre which had collapsed. There were signs of cracks that had been there a little while. They weren't all with fresh and shiny edges. It happened in the middle of the day in the middle of town outside the railway station so there was a bit of entertainment value for the on-lookers. Replacing the wheel with the spare, quickly, enabled me to drive away.
A few weeks after that there was a more sudden failure. The front of the car collapsed onto the road, at 30 mph. Steering became ineffective, brakes vanished and all I could do was pull on the handbrake and wait to see where the car would end up. Fortunately it ground to the left, partly into a driveway not hitting any parked cars. A tow truck took me home that day. The cause was the front hub flange, around the studs, shattering, again due to cracks. This let the wheel free complete with the brake drum.
All this happened on the same corner that had hit the washout. Minors are strong but do have limits. If I was you I would have a very close look at the components that took the impact. Tell the garage this story so they know what can happen. If any doubt, change the parts. I was lucky.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Hitting standing water at any great speed is like driving into an earth bank, so I can well believe that.

Yes, many of our roads are worse than the Third World but until they are resurfaced/repaired/whatever just keep an eye open for holes.

To the OP keep your eye on the front tyre wear and if there's anything unusual about the wear pattern have the steering geometry checked. Be careful, however, on which garage you use as the tolerances and toe-in won't be on their computers...

Also would be a good idea to grease your trunnions if you haven't already done so every 500 miles?

[JPX877J]

Come to Sheffield, then you can meet the definition of AWFUL roads....

Only place worse is the coach park at my second home, Alton Towers

[Matt]

and when you work in the public sector you realise just what a shoestring the whole system works on

Hmmm

I work for a private company, but 99% of the work comes from the government (up to 3 steps removed)... And you wouldn't believe the amount of money which is wasted/not utilised... I can't imagine its just the nuclear industry either, anything that involves doing the majority of work through contractors (like the company I work for).

There are contractors who sit around playing on the internet, being paid obsecene amounts - and then come in at the weekends at double time, to do some of what they were meant to do in the week... Nearly all of them drive newish posh german cars or sports cars. All of which is paid from our pockets.

Its not a case of paying more, we pay more than enough already, its a case of deploying it more effectively. Remember we are already taxed twice on most of our income (income tax, then VAT, then the others on top)

[Audrey1955]

and when you work in the public sector you realise just what a shoestring the whole system works on

Hmmm

I work for a private company, but 99% of the work comes from the government (up to 3 steps removed)... And you wouldn't believe the amount of money which is wasted/not utilised... I can't imagine its just the nuclear industry either, anything that involves doing the majority of work through contractors (like the company I work for).

There are contractors who sit around playing on the internet, being paid obsecene amounts - and then come in at the weekends at double time, to do some of what they were meant to do in the week... Nearly all of them drive newish posh german cars or sports cars. All of which is paid from our pockets.

Its not a case of paying more, we pay more than enough already, its a case of deploying it more effectively. Remember we are already taxed twice on most of our income (income tax, then VAT, then the others on top)

Around here, the council uses money like water. hundred of thousands spent on widening foot paths, thousands spent on some fancy metal railling, the list could go on and on. The road network, forget it. Its not had any investment for years.

[mike.perry]

Do I hear a whistle?