£900 claim refused by West Sussex County Council

by colin.minto@orange.net

23 Apr 2007

I have recently been refused under Section 58 of the Highway Act 1980, which in my opinion gives councils a 'get out of jail card free' to shirk their responsibility's to keep Britain's roads safe.

I had no option than to hit a Pot Hole in West Sussex because the alternative was a head on collision with a passing motorist.

It caused £450 damage to the Alloy and tyre of my Volvo S40 T5 and three hours of roadside downtime, which cost me £468 in lost consultany fees.

West Sussex County Council is hiding behind Section 58 with respect to a road which I counted no less than 128 individual repairs in a recent self assessment. They claim they only need perform one annual inspection on this road, but I will argue in court that a road with so many repairs, should be be flagged as an exceptional case and either recive more inspections or a complete re-surfacing.

I hope my plight can apply pressure for a complete review of Section 58 of the Highway Act 1980 amd am more than prepared to join your active followers to lobby Government etc.

I have a history of working with Government and Trade Associations and would like to think could add value to your mission.

I have a range of images which I will send in due course, but unfortunately do not have them loaded on my system yet.

Best regards.