More pothole problems...
Thank you for printing my story about pothole problems (Midhurst & Petworth Observer, July 1 & online), however there is more to be said and I hope to get that opportunity.
People understandably care more about potholes if they have been affected by them directly, but I would argue that we are all at the mercy of potholes during every road journey.
Cyclists swerve out in front of cars to miss potholes and if a car was in the process of overtaking the cyclist, this causes real danger to the cyclists. Motorcyclists travelling at speed with unmarked potholes are an accident waiting to happen.
Indeed I do not believe that potholes have not caused accidents, injury or even death so far but is anyone collating those details to present to the council?
Roads often do not have space either side for motorists to take evasive action to miss potholes, so what is the answer? Should all roads be restricted to 30mph until potholes are a problem of the past to avoid accidents?
The council should be pointing out dangerous potholes to us, with signage pointing out potholes and fluorescent paint sprayed around and inside the pothole, so as to be seen at night, enabling motorists to quickly calculate the width and depth of a pothole.
This would go some way to assist in avoiding damage to cars, cyclists, motorcyclists and people. This should be an absolute minimum.
We have become complacent about potholes but they are a very dangerous silent trap-in-waiting with the potential to cause death when travelling in a vehicle at national speed limit speeds on A-roads. I suspect that many people reading this may have suffered damage to their cars and perhaps tried to claim compensation from the council. I’d be interested to hear if anyone got anywhere as I cannot even get a reply.
BEVERLY LAW Tillington, Petworth decisions on our behalf about what to prioritise?
A thorough shake-up is required about what matters and how much we value it. If other local authorities can do it, why can’t we ?
JOHN ROBBINS
Duncton