'Crater' pothole leaves couple stranded for eight hours on return from holiday
A mum has told how a "crater" pothole shredded a tyre, leaving her stranded with her husband by the roadside for eight hours as they returned home from a family holiday.
Becky Parker had just arrived back in the UK from Spain with her husband Lee and children when the tyre burst on Yarnfield Lane in Stone, Staffordshire. She said that the tyre on the Mercedes was "shredded" and the wheel's alloy was also "destroyed".
The 39-year-old had driven home to Yarnfield from the airport to drop off her twin 16-year-old daughters before heading out on a food shop at around 5.40pm on Thursday, December 28. But just two miles into her journey, Becky and Lee were left stranded at the side of the road after hitting the pothole.
She claims she then watched as four other motorists hit the same pothole at speed. "It was like a crater in the road, and my car has bounced at it with force because it’s a 60mph road. I’m amazed that the five of us didn’t get severely injured," said Becky. "I thought it was a blowout initially, so I had to get to a point of safety. It completely shredded the tyre, and the wheel repair guy has put a new wheel on that, but it has buckled and destroyed the alloy to the point where I may need a new alloy completely. It’s just completely off-road at the moment; I can’t even use it."
It comes as a Mirror investigation has revealed the shocking extent to which the UK's roads are riddled with dangerous potholes, as councils spend millions on compensation payouts. All across England, Scotland and Wales, motorists are plagued by potholes. Whilst most amount to little more than an eyesore and an uncomfortable drive, some cause further complications, damage and even lead to people suffering serious injuries - which then lead to claims and expensive payouts.
Dad fears for daughter's life as teen endures pothole hell that 'could be fatal'
Becky and Lee Parker (Stoke Sentinel/BPM Media)
The car had to be towed away (Stoke Sentinel/BPM Media)An emergency tyre repair cost Becky £170, but the wheel was damaged so badly that the car had to be towed away around 2am, meaning Becky and Lee were stuck for eight hours. They hired an Uber to get home and retrieve their other car, and took turns driving back home to check on their children.
Becky says that no repair centres were open due to the Christmas period. She claimed that "there are loads of potholes" on that part of Yarnfield Lane between the M6 and The Fillybrooks, and that while emergency repair teams attended the following morning to patch the hole, the repairs only lasted two days before the pothole returned. "Now I’ve got to wait for an alloy repair centre and pay a few hundred quid," she said. "I’ve called round for some quotes today, because it would be in excess of £200 to hire a vehicle. I’m at home with children during the holidays with no access to a car."
The Mirror has found that a single pothole swallowed up £4.25million with councils across England, Scotland and Wales having coughed up more than £32million on ruined roads.
We sent a freedom of information request every council responsible for roads, asking for their top ten payouts for potholes, be it vehicular damage or personal injury. The results show people left with multiple serious injuries, from broken bones and lacerations, to lost teeth and neck injuries, to councils forking out £32,164,629 in damages. The RAC have warned that this "lose-lose situation" will simply continue unless central government steps in to help struggling councils.
From the FOI, asking for top ten payouts from 2010 to present, 139 councils responded with usable figures, while others refused to reveal how much they’d paid out, citing reasons such as data protection concerns. Other local authorities however gave wider information, going beyond the top ten payouts to provide their full expenditure. Not all the payments come directly from council coffers as some have insurance in place that means they pay a premium and the rest - sometimes millions more - is paid for.
Nonetheless, the £32 million is merely scratching the surface given it covers only the top ten payouts made by local authorities - with the true figure likely to run into millions more. The highest payout, by quite some margin, was made by Kent Council which saw £4.25million swallowed by a pothole in Maidstone. This mammoth payout came just three years after the council had paid out £250,000 in relation to another pothole in the same town.
The pothole was reportedly repaired the following day (Stoke Sentinel/BPM Media)
Becky claimed the pothole was like a "crater" (Stoke Sentinel/BPM Media)Becky has made her own Freedom of Information request to the council to see how many reports have been made on the particular road where her car fell foul in the last month. She says she cannot put a claim into Staffordshire County Council until she has had the car repaired, because she does not yet know how much to claim for.
David Williams, cabinet member for highways and transport, told Birmingham Live: "We have one of the largest road networks in the country and keeping our highways in a good state of repair remains an ongoing and costly challenge. This is why we recently announced an extra £30 million highways investment over the next two years as well as an additional £5 million for pothole repairs.
"Our highways crews have been in action throughout the Christmas period responding to over 100 incidents and carrying out numerous temporary and permanent repairs to the roads. All reported issues are inspected as soon as possible and assessed for their severity. Any defect which poses an immediate risk is dealt with as a priority.
"While we cannot comment on individual cases for compensation, we do have a robust process in place when assessing claims. There are a variety of factors that will determine whether the council is liable for damage to vehicles, not just the existence of a pothole, and we have a duty to Staffordshire tax payers to ensure all claims are fair and appropriate."
Anger on 'UK's worst road' where takeaways won't deliver due to crater potholes
Staffordshire County Council has been approached for comment.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
