Titmus Drive, Tilgate, Crawley

by kenluke

30 Jan 2011

I was called by a work colleague of mine in the morning to assist him in sorting a flat tyre on his BMW after he had hit a pothole (location unknown). After sorting his which did not cause any damage, we both went to join another work colleague at Tilgate golf club for an hour on the driving range. On the way back home at around 5.45pm when it was dark, I was travelling north along Titmus Drive from the golf course towards Tilgate parade in Crawley. I was around 10 metres from the roundabout by the shops at the end of Titmus Drive when I felt a large knock and a loud bang. I then knew that I had hit a pothole. I was only travelling at round 15mph due to approaching the roundabout. I continued by turning right onto Ashdown Drive and after 30 seconds, I could hear that I had a puncture and pulled over immediately. I inspected my tyres and found that the front nearside tyre was deflated. After jacking the car up to put the spare space saver wheel on, I could see that the interior rim of the 18inch alloy wheel on my Mondeo ST was badly dented and also cracked. The sidewall of the tyre was also damaged and I now have a large knocking coming from my front suspension. I returned to Titmus Drive and found a large pothole, approx 3 feet in length, 14 inches in width and 4 inches in depth. I will definitely be claiming this due to the severity of damage it has caused to my car and also to protect other road users by them filling it in. The pothole is directly in line with the tyre tracks on the road and is unavoidable if there is another vehicle in the other lane. Due to approaching a roundabout and the dark weather, it is not easily visible either. AVOID!