A recent review of the state of Britain’s roads has shown that Councils will be borrowing, on average, a massive £14 million to cover the cost of repairing potholes. Across Greater Manchester alone it is anticipated that the repair bill will exceed £50 million.
Potholes have always been a problem and have caused numerous accidents which have led to a large number of personal injury claims.
We all moan about potholes and the effect that they have on our cars but a man from the Wirral has taken the fight against potholes in to his own hands. He is calling himself ‘Captain Crater’ and he is on a mission to shame Wirral Council into tackling its pothole problem.
Captain Crater has launched his own Twitter page in an attempt to highlight the disintegrating road surfaces in the Wirral area. Captain Crater is posting photographs of the worst potholes using the hashtag #itsallgonetopot.
Wirral Council has responded to the masked crusader by informing the public that the cold winter is to blame for the potholes that he has highlighted and they have already been flagged up with the highway maintenance department and action will be taken.
Captain Crater was spurred into action when he returned to the UK to live after spending time in Bulgaria, which is one of the poorest countries in the EU, and he states that their road network is in a better state of repair than ours.
Captain Crater was driving his parents when he drove over a large pothole that he could not avoid, he was so annoyed that he got out of his car and took a photograph and when he started noticing more and more he set up a Twitter page as a social media experiment. Captain Crater says that he has had a big response to his photographs with several re-tweets, people following him and commenting on his pictures and he is hopeful that further and quicker action will be taken by Wirral Council.
As we are all aware, the Government is looking for ways to reduce spending and therefore all councils have had to reduce the amount of money they put into repairing the highway. Most roads in England and Wales are the responsibility of the local council and they are the defendant in most personal injury claims that arise out of pothole injuries. Last year, in the Greater Manchester area alone, councils paid out approximately £8 million in compensation to those suffering injury as a result of an accident involving a pothole.
There has to be substantial investment into Britain’s road network to improve the problem with potholes and Captain Crater may kick-start the maintenance work by Wirral Council (we wait with baited breath).
Potholes do cause substantial damage to our cars and to individuals. If you find yourself injured as a result of hitting a pothole in your car, on your bike or even falling down when running or walking please contact us for advice on whether you are able to make a claim for any injury and loss suffered.
By trainee solicitor, Laura Wilson
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