What if it happens to you?

If you are unfortunate enough to fall off after hitting a pothole, you’re going to have to prove that the local authority responsible for that particular road breached its legal duty to maintain it as set down in law (S41 of the Highways Act 1980) and that this caused you to fall off. How can you increase your chances of being successful? Like this:

1: Photographs

A picture speaks a thousand words. While you could stand up in court and describe to the judge in great detail about the crater you fell into, photographs will be way better. Get photos of the offending pothole as soon as you can, make sure the photos are in context, and if you can, measure the width and depth of the pothole with a tape measure in shot.

2: Witnesses

Often when someone falls off their motorbike, their instinct is to get up, say they’re fine and try not to hold anyone else up. However, try and take a few minutes to gather your thoughts and if someone did witness the accident, get their details – you will more than likely need a statement from them later.

3: Police

If you’ve taken a tumble and the police do turn up, get a reference number from them and details of where they are based. The country has different police forces and if you know where the copper is from, know the accident location and have a reference number, you can apply to the correct force for a police report if you need it.

4: Plan and get organised

In my experience, just about every applicable local authority denies liability (at least initially) following a pothole accident. However, don’t be deterred, as people do take on ‘The State’ and win. However, evidence is the key in winning your case, so get organised and plan how you are going to tell your story to the judge, so they can understand how you fell off and why it’s the applicable authority’s fault.