Planet Pothole Day. Let’s kick asphalt.

1 thing unites drivers across the land – their loathing of potholes.

But it’s not a purely British phenomenon. Final year’s National Pothole Day, organised by Street Repairs, caught the eye of beleaguered motorists across the globe.

Scarred streets and ragged roads are, it appears, a universal problem – which is why right now is Planet Pothole Day.

The aim is to raise awareness of the issue and encourage governments to invest severe money placing it right.

Not only will smoother surfaces minimize put on and tear on cars, it will also reduce accidents and enhance safety for all road users – including cyclists.

How to report a pothole

You can report any nasty potholes you come across – or crash into – in the tool beneath. This need to encourage the authorities to repair the problem.

And to get involved by means of social media, check out @StreetRepairs and the #WorldPotholeDay hashtag on Twitter…

Now read this – How to make a claim for pothole harm

Planet Pothole Day. Let’s kick asphalt.

Planet Pothole Day. Let’s kick asphalt.

One thing unites drivers across the land – their loathing of potholes.

But it’s not a purely British phenomenon. Last year’s National Pothole Day, organised by Street Repairs, caught the eye of beleaguered motorists across the globe.

Scarred streets and ragged roads are, it seems, a universal problem – which is why today is World Pothole Day.

The aim is to raise awareness of the problem and encourage governments to spend serious money putting it right.

Not only will smoother surfaces reduce wear and tear on vehicles, it will also cut accidents and improve safety for all road users – including cyclists.

How to report a pothole

You can report any nasty potholes you come across – or crash into – in the tool below. This should encourage the authorities to fix the problem.

And to get involved via social media, check out @StreetRepairs and the #WorldPotholeDay hashtag on Twitter…

Now read this – How to make a claim for pothole damage

Planet Pothole Day. Let’s kick asphalt.

Planet Pothole Day. Let’s kick asphalt.

1 issue unites drivers across the land – their loathing of potholes.

But it is not a purely British phenomenon. Final year’s National Pothole Day, organised by Street Repairs, caught the eye of beleaguered motorists across the globe.

Scarred streets and ragged roads are, it seems, a universal dilemma – which is why right now is Globe Pothole Day.

The aim is to raise awareness of the problem and encourage governments to devote serious money putting it right.

Not only will smoother surfaces lessen put on and tear on vehicles, it will also cut accidents and improve security for all road customers – such as cyclists.

How to report a pothole

You can report any nasty potholes you come across – or crash into – in the tool beneath. This need to encourage the authorities to fix the issue.

And to get involved by means of social media, check out @StreetRepairs and the #WorldPotholeDay hashtag on Twitter…

Now study this – How to make a claim for pothole damage

Planet Pothole Day. Let’s kick asphalt.

Can you dig it? Britain’s £3m pothole compo crisis

Potholes are a massive difficulty for motorists and nearby authorities alike.

Not only do they price motorists and councils millions of pounds in repair bills, the RAC Foundation says councils paid out a lot more than £3 million in compensation in the last monetary year.

Claims up, payments down

A total of 48,664 claims for pothole harm were produced in 2013/14, which is an improve of 2,525 on the number of claims made in 2012/13.

And despite the fact that just below a quarter (23%) of claims have been actually upheld, this nevertheless came at a price of £3.2 million to regional authorities.

Even so, although the number of claims improved, the quantity paid out by neighborhood councils actually fell by £1million as the average pay-out for pothole damage dropped from £357 in 2012/13 to £286 in 2013/14.

The typical admin price for a claim, whether successful or not, also dropped from £150 to £147.

Here’s how the figures for 2013/14 break down (2012/13 figures are in brackets)

Bigger image

It’s unlikely that claim rates reflect the true scale of the difficulty as numerous motorists will be reluctant to make a claim due to the laborious claims process and the comparatively low good results rates.

Some may possibly not even be aware they can claim against their nearby authority. And some issues caused by potholes – either in one go or gradually more than a series of incidents – might be interpreted as standard wear-and-tear or routine structural harm.

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “These figures are probably to be the tip of the iceberg. Many drivers will be put off by the time involved in claiming against a council, and several councils do their very best to deter claimants coming forward.

“But the fundamental difficulty lies not at the doors of our town halls but with central government. In spite of occasional 1-off grants associated to periods of harsh climate, they are just not providing councils adequate funds to hold their road ne2rks up to scratch.”

He added: “In England, local authorities themselves estimate the upkeep backlog to be about £12 billion yet more than the past 5 years spending on roads in genuine terms has dropped 22% across England and Wales.

“Worn-out road surfaces do not basically result in damage to cars they are also potentially lethal, specifically for 2-wheeled road users.”

How to report a pothole

While we can not do anything to reduce the amount of red tape involved in generating a claim for pothole harm, we have teamed up with Street Repairs to make the process of reporting a pothole a lot easier.

Simply fill in the form under and your local authority will be in a position to add the pothole to its list.

And with the pothole reported, you can then go about generating a claim, so make confident you read How to make a claim for pothole damage.

Can you dig it? Britain’s £3m pothole compo crisis

How to report a pothole

The UK’s roads are in a state of disrepair – not only is the government looking at a £12billion repair bill to bring them up to scratch, motorists are shelling out about £100million a year in repair bills due to damage triggered by potholes.

And as if that wasn’t adequate, neighborhood authorities are paying out much more than £30million in compensation claims made as a outcome of poor roads.

So potholes are proving a extremely pricey dilemma for all concerned.

The difficulty is, if the council doesn’t know the hole is there, it can not repair it. So it is the responsibility of all road users to report a pothole so it can go on the repair list – and join the current potholes which, if bundled together, would occupy 295 square miles of our green and pleasant and increasingly pockmarked land.

Here’s how you can very easily do your bit…

Reporting a pothole

If you hit a pothole, instead of just cursing at the state of the road and going on your way, report the difficulty to the local authority.

To make the reporting approach a entire lot less difficult, we’ve teamed up with Street Repairs to bring you this handy tool – just fill in the blanks and your neighborhood authority will be alerted to the dilemma and hopefully fill in the pothole…

Now read this – How to make a claim for pothole harm

How to report a pothole

National Pothole Day

Today is National Pothole Day – an awareness campaign aimed at highlighting this increasing blight on Britain’s roads, the damage they can do to vehicles and the potential safety hazard they pose.

The campaign has been organised by StreetRepairs.co.uk and it’s hoped a social media bomb using the hashtag #nationalpotholeday will help whip up interest.

The size of the pothole problem

The UK has a pothole problem 295 square miles wide and rising – that’s almost twice the size of Birmingham – which is costing motorists around £100million a year in repair bills, according to figures from the RAC.

The breakdown recovery service has also revealed that in 2013 call-outs involving broken suspension and damaged wheels were up by 2-thirds, with more than 28,000 incidents recorded.

Furthermore, a recent study from TyreSafe found there has been a significant increase in the number of motorists who believe one of their tyres has a slow puncture. In many cases though the pressure loss is a result of air escaping from cracked wheel rims that have been damaged by driving over potholes.

And it’s not only motorists who are being hit in the pocket as figures from the Asphalt Industry Alliance estimate that local councils in England alone will have to splash out £12billion juts to get the roads back up to speed – twice the amount the government has put aside to fix the problem over the next 6 years.

The rise of the pothole problem

There are 2 main reasons why the UK’s pothole problem is getting worse – weather and money.

Potholes are caused when moisture gets into cracks in the road and then expands as it freezes, something that has been particularly problematic in recent winters when temperatures have dropped dramatically.

The holes then get bigger as vehicles drive over them and damage the structure of the road below the surface, and are further damaged by continuing freeze-and-thaw conditions.

And then there’s the fact that many local authorities simply don’t have enough money to repair the potholes – Leeds City Council, for instance, is facing an estimated repair bill of between £90million and £100million – and any repairs that are carried out are just short-term fixes rather than long-term maintenance.

Avoiding potholes

Hitting a pothole even at relatively low speeds can damage tyres, wheels and steering alignment.

Hit one at high speed and you can easily lose control of your car.

So when driving, make sure you keep a look out for potholes and an eye of your speed, especially in wet weather when deep potholes can be hidden beneath puddles. And keep plenty of distance from the cars ahead to give yourself a better chance of seeing any potholes before you hit them.

If you do hit a pothole, let the wheel roll freely over the hole and try not to hit the brakes as this can place more stress on the front suspension. And holding the wheel in the correct ’10 to 2’ position at all times gives you a better chance of keeping control of your vehicle.

If your vehicle is damaged by a pothole, you may be able to claim against the local authority – my article How to make a claim for pothole damage explains what you need to do.

National Pothole Day

Pothole Claims Up in Ohio This Year

Much more Ohio motorists are searching for repayment from the state for pothole damage to their automobiles, almost tripling the number of claims filed in 2013.

The Dayton Everyday News reports almost 300 pothole harm claims have been filed statewide so far this year, outnumbering final year’s total of 110 claims.

Clerk of the Ohio Court of Claims Mark Reed tells the newspaper the court doesn’t track how many claims are successful, but estimates about half of motorists win some compensation.

The state permits drivers to file claims for harm caused from potholes, but they must prove that the Ohio Department of Transportation maintains the road and that the state was aware of the hazardous road circumstances.

Drivers who are denied reimbursement for pothole harm need to also spend court fees.

Copyright 2014 Related Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

« Prior write-up

Michigan Town OKs Liability Insurance coverage, Reinstates Police Department

Subsequent report »

2 AIG Subsidiaries File to Redomesticate From Pennsylvania to Illinois

Like this post?

Subscribe to our free email newsletter.

Pothole Claims Up in Ohio This Year

Pothole Claims Up in Ohio This Year

Much more Ohio motorists are looking for repayment from the state for pothole harm to their automobiles, nearly tripling the number of claims filed in 2013.

The Dayton Daily News reports nearly 300 pothole harm claims have been filed statewide so far this year, outnumbering last year’s total of 110 claims.

Clerk of the Ohio Court of Claims Mark Reed tells the newspaper the court doesn’t track how several claims are effective, but estimates about half of motorists win some compensation.

The state permits drivers to file claims for damage triggered from potholes, but they should prove that the Ohio Division of Transportation maintains the road and that the state was aware of the hazardous road conditions.

Drivers who are denied reimbursement for pothole harm need to also pay court fees.

Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may possibly not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

« Earlier report

Michigan Town OKs Liability Insurance, Reinstates Police Division

Next post »

2 AIG Subsidiaries File to Redomesticate From Pennsylvania to Illinois

Like this post?

Subscribe to our cost-free email newsletter.

Pothole Claims Up in Ohio This Year

Pothole Fever: Much more Americans Support Higher Gas Taxes With no Understanding What They’re Genuinely Paying For

Half of American drivers want to pay greater federal gas taxes although assuming the government will use all of that further income to repair the country’s neglected roads and bridges.

In a new poll by AAA that interviewed more than 2000 drivers final month, 52 % said they were prepared to spend much more per month for “better roads, bridges, and mass-transit systems.” More than 2-thirds of drivers mentioned the federal government needed to spend much more money on transportation, and 21 % stated they’d have no issue shelling out one more $ 10 or much more each and every month to help. (To illustrate the wide swing in final results, in a Gallup poll last year asking similar concerns on raising state gas taxes, 2-thirds of Americans were against the concept.)

At concern is the Highway Trust Fund, established in 1956 to preserve our then-revolutionary interstate highway method founded by President Eisenhower. The fund is completely paid for by fuel excise taxes that haven’t been raised since 1993. They’re at present set at 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel, and due to the increasing fuel efficiency of new vehicles, inflation, and ever a lot more miles traveled, the fund is in trouble. By late August, the Division of Transportation estimates that the roughly $ 77 billion balance will drop to zero unless Congress bails it out when a lot more, which is what usually takes place. AAA is lobbying Congress to assistance a gas-tax hike, which is what Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) has been trying to get passed because December. By 2016, Blumenauer desires to set gasoline taxes at 33.3 cents and diesel taxes at 39.3 cents. The bill is sitting in a committee.

But regardless of whether out of naiveté or ignorance to what the Highway Trust Fund actually funds, absolutely everyone hoping for all of a sudden improved roads and freshly painted bridges from a big cash infusion is mistaken. Considering that 1970, the fund has been split in 2 to pay for mass-transit programs and has because been ransacked for unrelated projects that haven’t and will not do something to fix federal highways and bridges. Beyond money for subways, bus depots, and bike lanes, the Highway Trust Fund is a one-stop shop for government billboard PSAs and media buys, all-critical $ 1 million studies on why headlight glare bothers our eyes, and racial-profile instruction for police officers that alone cost $ 7.5 million per year from 2005 to 2009.

---

---

That’s not counting the $ 566.5 million guaranteed to the DOT this year for motorcycle safety campaigns, driver’s ed applications, and the National Driver Register that lets police track your infractions anyplace in the nation. Then there’s bonus cash passed to states for seat-belt and youngster-seat usage, plus far more cash for ferries, fuel-cell-powered buses, public transport on Indian reservations, and so forth. Whilst all these applications almost certainly help in some way, they don’t directly maintain or increase the physical condition of our federal highways and bridges—the really core argument of these in favor of greater gas taxes.

Does the Highway Trust Fund want much more funds? Positive, it does—and frankly, so do we. AAA says larger gas taxes will “prevent extreme upkeep delays” if they’re “spent wisely.” But with hundreds if not thousands of non-highway projects siphoning off the account, that promise is not an innocent assumption, it’s misleading.

Pothole Fever: Much more Americans Support Higher Gas Taxes With no Understanding What They’re Genuinely Paying For