Ask any UK motorist what his/her greatest concerns are, and he/she will more than likely reply "Potholes".
A few days ago I backed The Compact Royce Mk 2 out from my garage, pointed her towards the road, and heard the most horrible metallic 'clanking' noise from the back right hand side. It didn't seem to affect the car's ability to drive, so I continued my trip amongst dreadful noises, then called my garage man on my return.
A week or so previously I had inadvertently hit a very deep pothole not 50 yards from home, and the shock went right through the car. I now know what had happened.
The rear right hand side coil spring had snapped in two, and my man recommended that he change both left and right at the same time; which he did.
I notice that the pothole has since been filled-in, so there must have been a lot of complaints. The evidence has gone.
British roads are a disgrace. Not only are they thoroughly overcrowded but potholes are everywhere. When driving one doesn't only need to be wary of other cars and pedestrians, one also has to look out for huge regular potholes as well.
The one I drove over cost me 300 smackers! Thank you Brighton Council.
p.s. No, I shan't be asking for compensation; they wouldn't pay!
We know all the potholes on the island, at the moment, and can avoid most of them, most of the time. Ours are temporarily fixed and gradually reappear or are covered in cement and the result is a bump instead of a hole.
ReplyDeleteI see the EU has provided millions to fix our island road system. I wonder when they'll start.
My commiserations on your car repair. That was a very expensive pothole.
Yes, very annoying. But thank goodness it wasn't something really serious.
DeleteWe suffer with pothole-itis here too although at least the TT Course roads get fixed every year before the racing begins.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for that. A bike crash at 200 mph would be very different to my driving over a pothole at 20 mph.
DeleteMy husband wrecked a wheel and tyre a while ago on a road that I knew well ( he didn't use it very often and it was dark and wet!). The place that he did the damage had been dangerous for weeks . He did make a modest claim , originally for £60 as he bought the new wheel on ebay, and the council concerned sent a solicitors letter asking various questions......so that probably cost more than he was claiming!! The final claim was just under £200 and was eventually paid. It might be worth trying to claim if you can be bothered!
ReplyDeleteI think our council are more interested in advising children how to change sex than they are about roads.
DeletePothole damage to suspension cost me a sizeable sum to get my car through its MOT recently. One particular road I frequently use has around 1.5 miles where the surface is just disintegrating, looks like faulty repair work as it was only resurfaced a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteThey just fill-in the holes with a bit of Tarmac and hope for the best.
Delete"50 years from home" Do you mean light years or actual years? 50 light years from Earth you will find the Mu Arae solar system. The star is sometimes known as Cervantes.
ReplyDeleteP.S. One light year is 5.88 trillion miles.
Woops, I need to employ a proof reader! Thanks for letting me know.
DeleteI drive the same roads most of the time and already know all the potholes on the road and know how to get around them. Sometimes if I come home at night I still go into them.
ReplyDeleteIn France I drive to my supermarket every week (about 20 kms). There are hardly any cars, and no potholes. We simply have far too many cars here.
DeleteThe potholes were so bad in some areas in New Orleans that people started planting flowers in them...
ReplyDeleteHa ha; good for them!
DeleteQuite a few of our main roads and secondary roads seem to have been resurfaced over the last couple of years. The local roads on urbanisations (mostly without a pavement and no street lighting) have been left unattended for decades - the one I live on was last resurfaced about 20 years ago - before half the houses were even built. Some roads have trees growing out of the tarmac and pot holes are a special feature on all of them! It's quite common for householders to have to pay towards resurfacing, which is why nothing is ever done.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be an international problem. It's about time the world did something about it.
DeleteIt appears potholes are currently not a priority and leadership needs to know people are dissatisfied. When they get enough complaints, something might be done.
ReplyDeleteThey're probably hoping that motorists themselves will do the patching-up.
DeleteWe just had a massive front end repair due to potholes. None of us are immune :(
ReplyDeleteInfuriating, isn't it. I shall be extra careful in future.
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