I live in Sheffield and for those who live here too or have visited the place, you will be familiar with the dreadful state of the city's roads. I have never come across anything like it outside of a third world country. Whilst driving, I find myself staring at the road surface just in front of the car and dodging left and right to avoid the worst of the craters. Nevertheless, from time to time the inevitable happens and I drive through one. Well, I went through one last night and it's taken a little chunk out of my alloy and torn the sidewall of the tyre. I'm reluctant to just put up with it because the car is fairly new (bought it last year) and the tyres alone are =A3350 each (I know this because I was unlucky enough to get a nail in one after just 2500 miles!). The question, then, is: do I have a decent chance of getting the council to foot the bill for this? If anyone else has had success in a similar situation, I'd appreciate your input. I imagine that getting a photo of the offending hole with a ruler for scale would be a good starting point, but what kind of response do people think I'm likely to get from the council? Could they be considered negligent because of the of the very existance of this pothole, or would negligence require that they had been informed of the hole and had done nothing? One additional factor: the hole first appeared (in slightly smaller form) some time back when some works were being done on the opposite side of the road. I am guessing that some of the plant that was being moved around when the road was dug up caused it, but it was not made good when the contractors left (they only fixed up the side of the road that they had been working on). Presumably, some council bod signed off that the job was a goodun when the contractors had finished and tidied up, so surely that introduces an element of negligence?
Sheffield roads are a perfect justification for buying 4x4s, even if you don't intend to go off road. I used to think the folks I saw in them were gas guzzling fools, but not any more.
Regards, Jim.