On average there is one defect for every 110 metres of road in the UK, putting cyclists at serious risk of injury, especially as recent government figures revealed that there has been a 200% surge in the levels of cycling in the UK during lockdown.
Manchester-based law firm, Slater Heelis, has experienced a notable rise in cycling related injury, loss of earnings and property damage claims in the last six months; not least because of the toll winter has taken on the roads but also from the fact that more people than ever have taken to two wheels for commuting or leisure during lockdown.
Simon Adamson, Partner & Head of Personal Injury at Slater Heelis advises on how to make a cycling accident claim:
What should you do if you’ve had a pothole related cycling accident?
Under the Highways Act 1980, local authorities have a duty to maintain the highway, and that duty means making sure that the roads and pavements are not dangerous.
The first thing we would advise is to get some good evidence of the defect which caused the fall. If you have your smartphone with you and you’re in a condition to do so, take images of the pothole, the resulting injuries and bike damage. If there are any passers-by who have seen the accident, ask if you can get their details, as it will be important evidentially later on. If you’re too injured to take pictures yourself, send a friend or family member to take photos for you.
The measurement of the defect is also helpful, so try to get some indication of that on your photograph, perhaps with a 50 pence piece or a ruler to show scale. It is a question of degree with these types of cases, the more significant the defect, the more chance you have of claiming successfully.
If you have been injured and visit hospital or your GP, make it clear to the person you’re seeing what happened and make reference to the fact that it was a pothole that made you fall and suffer an injury. This means that when we come to make the claim later on, we can obtain those records which will support the claim.
Is there a time limit following your accident when you can contact a solicitor to make a claim?
We would recommend you contact a solicitor as soon as possible. There is a legal time limit of three years to actually issue court proceedings, but clearly contacting a solicitor before that time is well advised. Evidence is important and the longer you delay, the less chance there is of contacting vital witnesses and obtaining evidence of the road conditions, which may change over a period of time.
In the first instance, a solicitor can advise on whether the evidence you have gathered is sufficient and if not, advise you to get more photographs that show the significance of the road defect. They can also direct you to the right authority to report the pothole to.
What are the most typical injuries sustained from potholes in your experience?
Every accident is different, but typically for a cyclist it can be a head injury, a collarbone injury and various fractures. The element of speed involved means that these injuries can be extremely serious. On that point, wearing a cycling helmet, whilst not a legal requirement, is recommended to minimise the extent of head injuries. Insurance companies will argue that failure to wear a helmet should lead to a deduction from damages recovered, even if liability for the accident is accepted.
Is the council always at fault for every pothole injury?
Whether a pothole is dangerous is fact specific, it is a question of degree – the depth of the pothole, the height difference etc, but it also depends on context and an experienced solicitor is best placed to assess whether a defect is significant enough to support a claim.
Local authorities may argue that they have inspected the roads on a regular basis, to avoid being liable for an accident of this type. Each council will have its own policy, but inspection records will involve photographs and measurements of each flaw and a record of how regularly these checks have taken place.
Does the depth and size of the pothole matter?
In simple terms, the bigger the better in terms of the prospects of the claim succeeding. The deeper the depth, the greater the chance of success.
We can obtain the inspection documents from the local council for over twelve months before the accident. Even when they can show that the highway was inspected before the accident, we can challenge the quality of those inspections depending upon the circumstances. It’s also interesting to look at what actions have been taken by the local authority after the accident. Repairing the defect may support the claim as evidence of the danger of the defect. Failure to repair within a reasonable time may cast doubt over the quality of their inspection procedures.
Has there been a rise in cycling claims?
We’ve seen a significant rise in cycling claims, partly because there are more cyclists on the road. The increased usage of smartphones and helmet cameras, means that there is greater evidence available which assists in assessing the merits of a potential claim.
As cycle lane provision increases as a way to improve road surfaces used by cyclists, the duty on local councils to maintain these cycle lanes is high, because individuals can’t avoid potholes when they’re limited to the relatively narrow cycleway. This is another area where we are expecting to see an increase in claims.