HOW BIG IS A HOLE

AND WHY IT MATTERS

THE ACTUAL POTHOLE I FELL OVER

This is a post, not especially related to writing, but, in another sense it is, as the consequences of tripping over this particular “hole” broke my arm, which curtailed my whole life for several months, not just my writing.

I wrote a Substack post about it, explaining the difficulty of typing with one hand on June 24, 2024, called “HOW TO TYPE LIKE A WOUNDED BIRD”.

The previous week, on June 15, 2024, I tripped and fell over a pothole. Not a pothole on any road, but one in a pedestrianized street in a town centre.

Apologies to all who are reading this and don't live in the UK. What I am writing applies to the UK only, although I'm sure other nations also have the same problem with holes in the road.

As a result of tripping over this hole in the pavement, I fell heavily on my right arm and broke it. Lucky for me, I did not fall forward and break my dental work. That would have been massively expensive to fix, in addition to a lot more painful and seriously denting my beauty (such as it is).

I naively thought that the case for being compensated for this accident hinged on my being able to prove I was, indeed, injured.

A GOOD CASE OF PURPLE AND BLACK

There was no question of that. I was taken to hospital by ambulance, I had photos of the bruising (championship purple and black) and I had the discharge papers from the hospital. It detailed that I'd had x-rays, my right arm was broken at the neck of humerus, and who had treated me. It had every piece of information that I would need later to prove that I was not just “trying it on” and pretending that I'd been hurt.

Little did I know that proof of the injury was the least important part of the compensation process.

Even though both my husband and I were in a stressed state of shock, he did have the presence of mind to photograph the pothole in question, and even set his eyeglasses down next to it so that its dimensions could be determined in relation to the width of the glasses. Yes, indeed, the hole was roughly 8 to 10 inches long and about 2 inches wide.

But..... how deep was it? We did not measure the depth of the hole, as it was full of water at the time. It had rained that morning. If the hole was empty, I'm not sure we would have thought to measure it, but, be that as it may, we did not get any measurement of the depth.

Here is the crux of the story: if you are ever injured due to a pothole (in the road, the pavement, or anywhere else) what determines your case for compensation, is THE DEPTH OF THE HOLE.

Nothing else matters. It varies from county to county in England as to what is considered to be so deep a hole that you put in a claim for compensation. Some counties require it to be deeper than 20mm, some 25mm. Whatever the case, you must have proof of the depth.

So, be sure to measure it. I can't imagine anyone being so well prepared that they carry a ruler around in their handbag or tucked into their wallet. But if you can use a comb, a pencil, a pen, or anything at all to mark the depth in relation to your item, you have a leg to stand on, both literally and legally.

Unfortunately, it took nearly a year and a whole forest of trees felled for paper for me to find that out.

I submitted a claim to the county council for the town in which I fell. After many phone calls, they said, “Oh no, it's not us. It's the Highways.”

So I duly filled out the online paperwork for the Highways Department, thinking that they would weigh up the facts, see the photos, and hospital admission papers and make me an offer.

They did no such thing. What they said was, “Oh dear, we are so sorry. We cannot be held responsible. Here is the Highways Act of 1980, Section 58, which states we cannot be responsible for every defect in the road.”

They also said that someone from their department had “walked that stretch of pavement” on June 4, just 11 days before I fell, and there was no problem. I suspect that person had a quick whizz through, as the hole was deep enough to trip anybody. The pothole was in a pedestrian area in the centre of the city, so it didn't have any heavy vehicle traffic which might have damaged it in those 11 days.

So, claim denied.

I wasn't taking that lying down. There was not even a white or yellow marking to warn people of the hole, so I did not think they were in the right.

I took my claim to a “No win: no fee” firm of lawyers who specialize in personal injury. I thought they would be real rottweilers and that they would make sure I got the compensation I deserved.

Not so.

Apparently law firms can take a great deal of time to be sure that they get all your details and facts in order (in my case, nearly a year) and then come back with the same verdict I'd already received from the Highways Department.

I cannot receive compensation for one reason only. That is because the depth of the pothole in question is not known. Nothing else matters. Not broken arms, broken dentistry, pain and suffering, recovery times, hospitalization. Nothing but the depth of the blasted hole.

You'd think they would have known that before we got the ball rolling, that if the depth of the hole was not known, they would not be able to get any compensation of any kind. I'm not sure why they took on the case, as it was a lot of work for them, and for me, nothing at all, except months of filling out paperwork.

I had already told them the depth of the hole was unknown because of it being full of water. So, how could either party (the highways or myself) prove it wasn't deep enough to warrant compensation?

But the law firm took it on, worked diligently, asked a million questions twice, only to say that the highways still deny liability.

As I was told, “Even if they can't prove the depth of the hole, neither can we, as there is no photographic evidence.” So, they are in the clear. I am out about 600 pages and 8 months of patience.

The moral of the story, as I said earlier: if you fall because of a pothole, or have your car, your bicycle damaged, or if you are physically damaged yourself, MEAURE THE DEPTH OF THE POTHOLE.

Nothing else matters.

At least with no win, no fee, I am not out of pocket. That really would have added insult to injury.

I hope this is of help to someone who might, sometime in the future, tangle with a pothole. I would appreciate your comments.

The injured party,

Rose