burst tyres in a pothole...any comeback?

cyrusdvirus

Evening all,

Just wondering (while I'm waiting for Advance) if there's any comeback on the council regarding 2 burst tyres in a car eating pothole? Or am I just sh1t out of luck?

NBar

Take a photo of the pot hole and then report it also and then go in with your bill for damage etc and just wait for the long drawn out process and best of luck

Wishbone Ash

It can and has been done but you'd probably only be annoying yourself.

kona

where is it so i dont hit it!!

Armin_Tamzarian

It might be easier than you think to be compensated.
As the other poster said, take a photo of the pothole and keep the receipt from Advance.
Go to the relevant council offices and ask for the claims dept.
If you go and speak to someone in person you'll be alot more likely to
get the issue resolved swiftly.

MarkR

Put something in the hole to get an idea of scale before taking a pic (cd case / ruler).

Any signage leading up to it as well if applicable. Guy on another site I'm on got two bent alloys fixed by the county council.

cyrusdvirus

Pothole is on Tandy's lane in Lucan. The road there is PITCH black, no lighting, and this cavern is in the middle of the road. Whil i was on my way out of there there were 4 others changing wheels, inspecting undersides for damage etc.

Esel

AFAIK if pothole is new, council are not liable.

If old and they have previously repaired it, they are liable.

This info is all afaik.

littlejukka

if you do write in to the council, include a nice paragraph to establish if they have been lax in the repair of the road;

"Can you confirm that there have been no previous reports or complaints of damage to vehicles on this stretch of road/location which have not been addressed in the interim?"

if the pothole or road damage has been reported previously they are obliged to repair it within a reasonable timeframe. if they have been informed and ignored the danger, they are liable for any subsequent damage.

kona

gatecrash wrote: »

Pothole is on Tandy's lane in Lucan. The road there is PITCH black, no lighting, and this cavern is in the middle of the road. Whil i was on my way out of there there were 4 others changing wheels, inspecting undersides for damage etc.

sounds like a crater as opposed to a pot hole, dublin corpo are a fuppin joke,some of the roads around my area have to be 3rd world standard.
its sup par road materials used.
this government are a bunch of cowboys, its stuf like this that causes accidents, i nearly crashed today when i was accelerating one wheel hit a pot hole and pulled the car towards another.

cyrusdvirus

apparently tis there since saturday. Or at least that's what the guy who'se house i pulled up outside said. They're always at repairs on that road, and with the amount of building work going on around there (adamstown) it's hard to see sub standard materials being used.

Not meaning to speak ill of the dead but when Liam Lawlor was alive (he lives on this road) while it was narrow, it was never in bad condition

Seth Brundle

That road was crap when he was alive. Its just more crap now given the extra heavy traffic.

N8

littlejukka wrote: »

if you do write in to the council, include a nice paragraph to establish if they have been lax in the repair of the road;

"Can you confirm that there have been no previous reports or complaints of damage to vehicles on this stretch of road/location which have not been addressed in the interim?"

if the pothole or road damage has been reported previously they are obliged to repair it within a reasonable timeframe. if they have been informed and ignored the danger, they are liable for any subsequent damage.

see a solicitor add in the threat of a personal claim for injuries and inconvenience and the addition of legal bills, remove yourself from the equation and let the solicitor hunt it down hard for you....

Seth Brundle

I passed by it this morning. Its on the side as you travel from Lawlors towards our old friends in Maddens. It was almost completely submerged but I could see what appeared to be a crater in the middle of the road - it seems to be a big one!
No bollards/warning signs or anything!

ElNino

I think that if you can prove that the pothole was reported to the council and that they didn't instigate repairs within a reasonable time frame that they are liable. If you can't prove this then they may not accept liability.

I see no harm in writing a letter to them asking them to pay for your repairs. If you can get a solicitor to do this all the better.

cyrusdvirus

I have a few pics from this morning, one with my car in the hole, one with the side of the road i was on last night still flooded, just need to figure out how to post them here and I can show you

unkel

gatecrash wrote: »

I have a few pics from this morning, one with my car in the hole, one with the side of the road i was on last night still flooded, just need to figure out how to post them here and I can show you

You can attach them. Click on the paperclip icon and a new window opens. You can then browse for your picture files on your computer and attach them to your post

cyrusdvirus

The first one is my car in the pot hole, second shows the road on the side i was travelling last night, third is at work showing my car out of the hole to give an idea of the depth of the hole

kona

there was a pot hole that size if not bigger, beside trinity college/westmoreland street, on a bend, you didnt stand a chance, althogh they have thrown asphalt onto to, its still a **** job, why dont they just re-surface the major roads into dublin, they did north strand, but stopped before the howth road and clontarf road, which incidentaly are a bloody disgrace in a country that likes to think its 1st world.

SuzyS1972

A friend tried and failed with this - puncture - busted rims on the tyres and tracking out on his car.
He sent in photo's , mechanics report etc
The pot hole was there AGES and had been let deteriorate
He got back a letter from the council ( fingal ) stating some 10 pages of why they were not liable and more or less saying that pot holes were wear and tear
sickening :mad:

Esel

^ Probably a 'standard' letter from the Council.

Small Claims Court? Can you take a case like this there?

cyrusdvirus

Well got a slightly positive response this morning, at least they're not ignoring it. Will let you know if i get a cheque or a rather large slice of PFO pie!!

Gregor Samsa

esel wrote: »

Small Claims Court? Can you take a case like this there?

According to this page:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/courts-system/small_claims_court

The Small Claims Court can only be used when a consumer has "bought goods or services (or the service) for private use from someone selling them in the course of business".

However it goes on to say "Claims can also be made for minor damage to property", however given the first stipulation, I'd say that this instance of property damage wouldn't be eligible for consideration, but IANAL...

cyrusdvirus

phutyle wrote: »

IANAL...

I Am Not A Lawyer????

Gregor Samsa

gatecrash wrote: »

I Am Not A Lawyer????

Yep, that's it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IANAL

meathstevie

You have paid for using the road in the following way : VRT, Road Tax, Excise Duty on fuel. :mad:

mickdw

The law on it says that if it has deteriorated over time (wear and tear) that they are not responsible. However if it is a hole that has been poorly fixed previosly or any road works left in an unfit state etc then they are liable. if the fault was reported on numerous occasions to the council more than a few days earlier then you might be in luck because they then have two options... They admit they were not doing thier jobs and failed to fix it or they claim to have fixed it and it appeared again. If it appeared so soon after repair they are totally liable and if they failed to act you could have a case too.

cyrusdvirus

WOOOOHOOOOO

get home from work and a letter offering without prejudice €130.

only €30 short of what i paid..... Happy days!!!

mikemac

kona wrote: »

sounds like a crater as opposed to a pot hole, dublin corpo are a fuppin joke,some of the roads around my area have to be 3rd world standard.

Can't see how the corpo are a joke seeing as they don't exist.
South Dublin County Council cover Lucan OP though I'm sure you know this already

LarWright

I hit a "trench" in Lucan village a few years back and got compensation for Alloy Repair and new Tyre. Seems that South Dublin CoCo are the only council that pay out!!!

NUTLEY BOY

IANAL !!

Good news, bad news.

Here is S. 60 of the Civil Liability Act 1961. http://193.178.1.79/1961/en/act/pub/0041/sec0060.html

Liability of road authority for failure to maintain public road.

60.—(1) A road authority shall be liable for damage caused as a result of their failure to maintain adequately a public road.

[GA] (2) In proceedings under this section, it shall be a defence for the road authority to prove that—

[GA] ( a ) they had given sufficient warning that the road was a danger to traffic, or

[GA] ( b ) they had taken reasonable precautions to secure that the road was not a danger to traffic, or

[GA] ( c ) they had not a reasonable opportunity to give such warning or take such precautions, or

[GA] ( d ) the damage resulted from a wrong committed by any person other than the road authority.

[GA] (3) In determining whether a road was adequately maintained, regard shall be had in particular to—

[GA] ( a ) the construction of the road and the standard of maintenance appropriate to a road of such construction,

[GA] ( b ) the traffic using the road,

[GA] ( c ) the condition in which a reasonable person would have expected to find the road.

[GA] (4) In determining whether a road authority had a reasonable opportunity to give warning that a road was a danger to traffic or had taken reasonable precautions to secure that a road was not such a danger, regard shall be had to the standard of supervision reasonable for a road of such character.

[GA] (5) In this section—

[GA] "road authority" means the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough and the council of an urban district;

[GA] "public road" means a road the responsibility for the maintenance of which lies on a road authority and includes any bridge, pipe, arch, gulley, footway, pavement, fence, railing or wall which forms part of such road and which it is the responsibility of the road authority to maintain.

[GA] (6) This section shall not apply to damage arising from an event which occurred before the coming into operation of this section.

[GA] (7) This section shall come into operation on such day, not earlier than the 1st day of April, 1967, as may be fixed therefor by order made by the Government.




The bad news is that as far as I know S. 60 was never enacted. So, if S 60. was never enacted the local authority is not liable for failure to repair. Ergo, their offer seems reasonable.

The rationale is this. You can be negligent in two ways namely misfeasance or non-feasance. The first means doing something wrong. The second means doing something wrong by doing nothing. They are like sins of commission or omission.

Failure to maintain a road is a sin of omission and they are not liable for that.

If they actually created a danger in the road that would be a positive act of negligence e.g. digging a trench improperly and back filling it inadequately.

Before doing anything furter you might try contacting the claims department of Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurances (http://www.ipb.ie) and ask them if local authorities are liable for failure to maintain a road. I would like to hear what they say.