If you are involved in a car accident caused by a poor or damaged road surface, you may be able to claim compensation from the local authority that is responsible for the road in question.
The local authority has a duty of care to carry out road inspections at regular intervals. These inspections should occur more frequently depending on the type of road and the level of traffic that uses the road. A busy town road should therefore be inspected more often than a quite country road.
The most common type of road defect that causes accidents are potholes. Unfortunately, roads throughout the UK are often blighted with potholes. Although the majority of these are likely to be fairly small and cause more of a danger to pedestrians rather than cars, there are still many large potholes which can cause severe accidents.
If your car accident has been caused by a damaged road surface, it is important to get evidence of the damage. The best way to do this is to take photographs of the area, ideally showing both the damaged road surface and the car. When taking any photographs of the damaged road surface, it is also a good idea to place an item in or by the defect in order to show the scale of the defect. Obviously a ruler would be perfect for this, but any other item can be used to show the scale, such as a can of drink, a CD case, etc.
If anybody witnessed your accident, it will also be beneficial in making a claim to take down the names and contact details of these witnesses. These witnesses can then be called at a later date to provide evidence that the accident was caused by the neglected road surface. Depending on the severity of the accident, the police may also need to be informed of the accident.
If you have been injured in a car accident caused by a pothole or other damaged road surface, you could be entitled to claim compensation for your injuries. Our team of UK solicitors specialise in no win no fee injury claims and guarantee 100% compensation. For a completely free consultation, call 0800 6783 601 or fill out our online form and one of our trained legal service advisors will call you back.
