Deadly pothole fiasco
Cyclist killed by crater that council had failed to repair... because worker couldn’t find it
A TRIATHLETE died when her bicycle hit a pothole which hadn’t been filled in because a repair team couldn’t find it.
Kate Vanloo, 52, was just yards from her front door when she rode into the four-inch deep hole, which was hidden by a puddle.
The mother-of-three was thrown into the path of a car and died at the scene of the accident in January 2016.
At an inquest last year coroner John Buckley recorded a narrative verdict which outlined the delays and deficiencies in the repair of the pothole – but the timeline of failures has only now emerged. Warwickshire County Council was the authority responsible for the road at Napton- on-the-Hill near the county border with Northamptonshire.
It had a contract with Balfour Beatty Living Places to deliver highway maintenance – which in turn sub- contracted the repair to tarmac contractor CR MacDonald Ltd.
CR MacDonald’s worker was sent to the country lane where the pothole was situated armed with GPS co-ordinates, two maps and a photograph of the hole showing a nearby farm as a point of reference, the coroner said.
But a Prevention of Future Deaths report which has now been compiled by Mr Buckley, the assistant coroner for Warwickshire, details how the individual failed to locate the hole. Instead, the worker filled in a pothole on a different road some three miles away, amending the paperwork to state the new location but not drawing this to anyone’s attention. The coroner said CR MacDonald then sent incorrect information to Balfour Beatty and Warwickshire County Council. This led both organisations to believe that the hole on Holt Road had been repaired on November 2, 2015.
The inquest at Leamington Spa last year had been told how the hole had been identified by an inspection ten months before Miss Vanloo died, and again in September 2015.
The inquest also heard that such ‘ category 2’ potholes should be repaired within 28 days according to the council’s policy. However, for financial reasons repair works were suspended between the end of July and the end of September 2015, which created a backlog of such repairs.
The pothole had been due to be repaired on November 2, 2015 – two months before Mrs Vanloo died. It was filled in within 48 hours of the tragedy.
In his report, Mr Buckley told the council: ‘In my opinion urgent action should be taken to prevent future deaths. The action should include an explanation of the steps you have taken to speed up the time it takes to repair potholes and what steps you have taken to track the progress of work orders that have been sent to Balfour Beatty Living Places for action.’
Mrs Vanloo, a member of the British Triathlon Federation, had been cycling home from a training ride with Rugby Triathlon Club when she died.
Bethany Sanders of law firm Leigh Day, which represented the family, said that following Mr Buckley’s report ‘we will now be investigating further legal action against the council as the body responsible for repairing the road.’
‘Track the progress of work’