Twice Bitten in Blackpool

by joed

29 Mar 2011

In December last year, my wife drove over a pothole in Blackpool on a poorly lit road. This caused the front right spring of my car (which she was driving) to fail, and in doing so the sharp broken spring ripped off the front right tyre. Damage amounted to a total repair cost of over £250 (including parts and labour). There are so many deep potholes in Blackpool, you can find your attention is focussed on avoiding them which from a road safety perspective is very dangerous. I was upset at what happened last year, but we didn't realise that we may have had a claim against the local highway authority (Blackpool).

To cut a long story short, this morning at around 11am, I was driving my wife's car ( note the reverse of the situation in December) when I too was unable to avoid a long thin pothole near to a busy junction on Watson Road Blackpool opposite Ullswater Road (the pothole was about the width of the front tyre ) -on coming out of the hole, the car shuddered followed by a heavy grinding sensation and terrible noise from the front wheel. I sensed immediately what had occurred. Fortunately there is a garage nearby which I was able to' limp' the car to. It is now being inspected for damage to the suspension and front right tyre ( which is only 1 month old). I suspect this will be another large bill for repair - hopefully the tyre will not require replacing which would save around £85.00.

I am now thinking of making a claim for this incident as I have been informed that the highways authority have responsibility for maintaining the road in a fit condition so not to cause damage or accidents to vehicles.

I am taking your advice and will return to the scene to obtain a photograph of the pothole ( there are many others near to this also) - the road is a bus route and well used by other traffic. Lots of spending by Blackpool on street decoration and unneeded ' French style' mini roundabouts but little evidence of spending on road surfaces over the past year or so.