Bicycle Pothole Accident Claims

Welcome to the website of Boris Kremer, a UK personal injury solicitor handling compensation claims for cyclists, against local authorities, for potholes in the road

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Case study: Bicycle Pothole Accident Claim

I previously acted for a client living in London, who suffered injuries after the front wheel of his bicycle went down a large pothole in the roadway.

The client was a student of Fine Art and Sculpture. He was studying for his BA honours degree at Camberwell College of Art.

On the day of the accident, the client had been playing football with some friends. After that he had been shopping at a local supermarket in Peckham, south London.

He was riding home on his bicycle when the accident happened. It was 5.30pm, and the traffic was heavy. The weather was clear, although it was getting dark

The quickest route home was along the private supermarket access road. This joined Hanover Park, one of the main arteries within Peckham.

Unknown to the client, the road surface at the junction was punctuated with a hole. This measured about 2 feet long x 1 foot wide x 6 inches deep.

As he approached the junction, the client was travelling no faster than 10 mph. He was watching the traffic and did not notice the hole in the roadway.

Without warning, his front bicycle wheel went down the hole. The client was thrown over the handlebars and onto the ground.

He landed on both arms. His left arm took the full brunt of the impact.

He dragged his bicycle out of the road and lay on his back. He then telephoned an ambulance, which arrived in about 20 minutes.

His left arm felt very strange and completely numb from the elbow down.

The client was taken to Kings College Hospital. A plaster cast was applied from his left hand to his left shoulder. The diagnosis was a dislocated elbow.

We made a legal claim against the local authority, the London Borough of Southwark. They denied the claim quite strenuously, arguing that the supermarket was to blame.

Accordingly we claimed against the supermarket. They denied liability also. We therefore obtained an order against them for Pre-Action Disclosure. This revealed that they did not own the land in question.

Faced with this impasse, preparations were made to start county court proceedings. At the last moment before issuing proceedings, the local authority suddenly changed their stance, indicating that they wished to negotiate an out of court settlement after all.

A medical report was obtained from an orthopaedic surgeon. This was served on the solicitor acting for the local authority.

Detailed negotiations followed. There was continuing elbow stiffness. We said this would impede the client's future career as a sculptor. We demonstrated that the client had exhibited his sculptures previously, at galleries in London and New York.

Eventually a suitable damages figure was agreed between the parties, without the need for further litigation.

Comments about bicycle pothole accident compensation claims generally

This case illustrates several factors that often arise in pothole accident claims, where injuries have been caused to cyclists:

• Local authorities are inevitably short of money, which means that quite large potholes go unrepaired for long periods
• Their current tactic seems to be to "deny everything". Ultimately this is unconstructive, because it leads to much higher legal costs
• If local authorities made a full and frank admission of liability at the outset, then the parties would be able to co-operating in negotiating appropriate damages much more quickly

By all means contact me if you would like to discuss making a claim for compensation following injuries caused by a pothole on the roadway. I look forward to hearing from you.

Boris Kremer - personal injury solicitor, Sovereign House, Solent Way, Gosport, Hampshire UK. Tel: 0845 021 2222.

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Bicycle accident claim