Pothole damage in guess where - Meath!

[mcgon1979]

cool SG. I think the letter I wrote though would have been pretty much impossible for the RSA to pass the buck. It was more about Road Safety then about the ridge in the road itself. I knew they were not gonna fix it, but I was hoping they would get the council in gear. worked for me anyway. hopefully Laura will get results. Either way, I would be astonished if that road was not repaired within a week or two.

[optical illusion]

Would you look at what the cute whores did...





Well I'm fooked now, how am I going to argue that? They filled in every other pothole on the road too...

Oh and this from boards.ie doesn't help...

welcome to the club!

I have had a lot of experience of writing letters to Meath Coco for tyre/car damage over the past few years, and to be quite honest with you opticalillusion, (and this kills me to admit!), i have given up!

Approx 6 damaged alloys on two of our cars, same amount of tyres, one broken strut, one cracked shock, alloy repair fees and tow fees, evidence (photos, receipts, measurements and even witness accounts!)... and in all my time, i haven't got a penny back from Meath Coco!

You wont get anywhere via the legal route either, (im sorry to say) and it will end up costing you solicitor fees in the end if you press ahead... believe me, i know.

They will just claim non feasance (act of god). Give any local solicitor a ring on monday and they will confirm this.

One of my costly potholes was even marked for repair (yellow road paint circled) when i hit it but they still claimed non feasance

I would put it down to experience and move on unfortunately, as i can confirm that you wont see a penny from the feckers!

P.s. Jesus, that is quite a bad hole! are they burying anyone in it? (its fecking deep enough!)

[Dragonheart]

Well suppose you could wait and see if it settles as tarmac naturally does but I wouldnt hold my breath. If it did then you could say it wasnt filled properly even though you did warn them. Its a disgrace that you couldnt get reimbursment for that even though the hole is obviously not a weathered hole, anyone can see its man made, even from what the post from boards.ie said, I'd still ask advice on it if I was you, just to be sure.

[paulkenny]

Hi all,

Was just wondering how we could take on the county councils on this issue. One way would be if everyone could report pot holes in their locale to their local county council then have the fact that they did so recorded in a publicly accessible database, maybe some sort of mash-up with google maps would do the trick. In fact one could have the recording of the incident on the website automatically send emails to relevant county council regarding the pothole.

When someone like Laura has an incident where the pothole damages their car they can check the website to see if anyone has previously reported the pot hole to the council and if so then the council cannot claim the non-feasance defence.

What do ye reckon ...would this work?? I guess the main blocker to this would be achieving a decent level of participation from the public in reporting the potholes.

p

[mcgon1979]

well that didn't take long for them to get the finger out eh? 2 days?

[Mickthepieman]

Go for it, we should all stick together on this one.

Maybe we could try and get some kind of legal insurance or representation for the members of our group, I say our, because although I have only been on the fto-Ireland website for a few days, we all have one thing in common FTO's
and the love of the open road.

If the cost was low enough maybe we could try.

[kona]

hi laura
i know that road very well as i live in athboy,
hard to believe but that is actually the best bit of surface between navan and athboy.
there is a section about 2 mile on the navan side of your pothole that is terrible.
i passed it twice in one week and the first time there were 3 cars pulled over changing wheels and the second time there were 4 cars pulled over.

i drive a work van for my job and even though i have a digital camera in it, they gave me a disposable camera to use if im ever involved in an accident. im fairly sure that digital photos are not much use in a claims court.

by the way what are you driving so i can keep an eye out for you?

[optical illusion]

Good idea Paul, but the council would never participate. Means they'd have to get the finger out more. And more proof = more claims.

I don't see why a digital camera wouldn't stand up in court, if I got the pictures printed off and there was no date on them sure no one would know the difference.

Kona - you're right, that stretch of road is well surfaced, that's what I stated in my original post, and why I wasn't expecting it to be there!

That little green car in the photo is mine - Betsie - a skoda felicia.

I assume you have an FTO...? Don't get home much though, I have to beg if I want 2 days off in a row...

[optical illusion]

Letter I'm sending tomorrow:

With regard to Ref: one can only base ones defence on non-feasance if there have not been any previous repairs to the location. It is clear from the photographic evidence supplied that the pothole in question was repaired at some point and it is the repair/reinstatement that has failed. From the evidence supplied it is also clear that the surface has collapsed due to this patch of road having been worked on before - possibly after laying pipes or cables. It is obvious that the pothole has appeared due to the negligence of the council in repairing it previously. I ask you to reconsider your decision based on the above information. I will pursue this claim further if a satisfactory outcome is not achieved.


I'm also contacting Joe Duffy, I'll keep ye updated!!!

[mcgon1979]

Letter I'm sending tomorrow:

With regard to Ref: one can only base ones defence on non-feasance if there have not been any previous repairs to the location. It is clear from the photographic evidence supplied that the pothole in question was repaired at some point and it is the repair/reinstatement that has failed. From the evidence supplied it is also clear that the surface has collapsed due to this patch of road having been worked on before - possibly after laying pipes or cables. It is obvious that the pothole has appeared due to the negligence of the council in repairing it previously. I ask you to reconsider your decision based on the above information. I will pursue this claim further if a satisfactory outcome is not achieved.


I'm also contacting Joe Duffy, I'll keep ye updated!!!

Now your talking Laura!!!! Thats exactly the route I'd be taking myself. Why let them away with it. Keep the pressure up.

[soc]

But a road authority are liable for negligence in the execution of their duty. In other words, they are liable for misfeasance.

Section 60 will provide certain statutory defences for a road authority; and the factors to which regard must be had in determining whether a road is adequately maintained are set out.

Laura, this is an important point to bear in mind should the council claim they have not previously repaired the road - they have a duty of care regardless. IMHO this pothole looks so large it would have take considerable time to form. Also the rest of road surface looks cracked and in the process of collapsing - they should have repaired this long ago regardless of whether it was mentioned to them by joe public - they have a duty of care which includes monitoring condition of road surface.

But bear in mind (as has already been stated) they do have to deal with 1000's of bogus claims every year so it's somewhat understandable that they have a policy to intially deny all responsibility - not a defence but a necessary evil on their part due to the amount of scheming idiots in our society.

[optical illusion]

McGon - wooooo! Thanks for the encouragement!!

Soc - I see where you are coming from.

You'll never guess what guys... I just discovered yesterday that the back wheel is f**ked from it too, I've been driving around for 3 weeks with a huge bulge in my sidewall! I was so concerned about the front wheel I never bloody checked the back!!! Exact same as front wheel, alloy bent and everything. God must have been with me for that tyre not to have blown out...

ARGHHHHHH!!! Another new frikkin tyre that I can't afford!!!!

[optical illusion]

Update:

Well, not really but... letter was sent to them last week by registered post... they are taking an awful long time to reply...

Maybe they are ACTUALLY reviewing it now instead of sending a template to me the next day...

[optical illusion]

Got a letter today. The bastards still won't pay up.

Small CC, Trim, methinks? I'm getting so lazy though especially now that I'm moving to Limerick in a week...