Another pothole death

[reohn2]

In the light of Rhodrich's post,IMHO the thread should be locked until we know for sure the cause of this poor chap's death,if only for his family's sake.

[Vorpal]

I will leave the topic open for the expression of condolences. I've edited some stuff out. Apologies to anyone who feels they lost something of value.

[Flinders]

There is a similar chance to finding potholes in other parts of the road. In my experience, the part of the surface that takes the most weight, also takes the most damage. Yes, in a reasonably well maintained road, the very edges are more likely to have irregularities than the middle. But on a poorly maintained road, the biggest potholes are often right where I would ride in secondary.

I have noticed that as the roads round here have deteriorated over the last few years, I'm now seeing a lot of big, very nasty potholes in 'secondary' or even further out when previously pothole trouble would be mostly on or near road edges (this is a rural area and many of the roads I use don't have concrete edges). They also emerge in often very bad places for us, at junctions wherever vehicle tyres may spin, or turn. I think it's because they don't get mended fast enough any more, so due to the hydraulic pressure on them from heavy vehicles when it's wet, they rapidly get down to the hardcore level, leaving a very deep pothole with sheer edges; the worst possible sort for bikes.
This sort of pothole used to be fairly rare, now they are disturbingly common. There's no way of predicting where they are, and if there is a thin film of surface water, you can't see them at all.

(Ed: posted this as a reply without reading to the end of the thread, I hope it just reads as information and not in any way disrespectful.)

[Pete Owens]

There does seem to be an issue with repairing faults nest to manhole covers or grates. These have a habbit of reappearing - often within a few days and can be very deep and steep sided.

This is one I have been reporting for a decade:
http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/hazard/13325/history

[tim-b]

I recently came across a Coroner's Report regarding the untimely passing of Ralph Brazier and concerns with the way that highway repairs are categorised.
It will be hard reading for those who knew Mr Brazier, but I've posted the link in the hope that it may prevent deaths if referred to when potholes are categorised in the future

Link to the Report

RIP

[reohn2]

I recently came across a Coroner's Report regarding the untimely passing of Ralph Brazier and concerns with the way that highway repairs are categorised.
It will be hard reading for those who knew Mr Brazier, but I've posted the link in the hope that it may prevent deaths if referred to when potholes are categorised in the future

Link to the Report

RIP

From reading that report it begs the question,why was time and money wasted on an initial temporary repair and not a permanent one carried out in the first place,and why was the permanent one so poor?
Also why wasn't the fault given a higher safety status given that it was so bad/deep?

[MikeF]

Highways Inspectors for Surrey County Council are contractors and just report back to the CC. I don't think they consider cyclists - that's been my experience on the few things I've reported and that have been "inspected".

[Bowedw]

Potholes in our neck of the woods are not repaired with the same quality of material as in previous years. The basic material I am led to believe is recycle material and the tar is not the same but is a much lower quality, probably over concerns for the pollution, the tar banding is now just a tape, applied over the joint and not a decent tar banding. These repairs seem to deteriorate rapidly, leavingy all the disintegrated repair material around the pothole in addition to the original pothole.

[reohn2]

Highways Inspectors for Surrey County Council are contractors and just report back to the CC. I don't think they consider cyclists - that's been my experience on the few things I've reported and that have been "inspected".

From a cyclist POV it doesn't look good if you live in Surrey .
Unless this poor mans death does make a difference,we can but hope.

[reohn2]

Potholes in our neck of the woods are not repaired with the same quality of material as in previous years. The basic material I am led to believe is recycle material and the tar is not the same but is a much lower quality, probably over concerns for the pollution, the tar banding is now just a tape, applied over the joint and not a decent tar banding. These repairs seem to deteriorate rapidly, leavingy all the disintegrated repair material around the pothole in addition to the original pothole.

Same where I live(GM),with some repairs lasting less than a month

[Flinders]

Temporary repairs around grates in particular seem to last about a week before starting to collapse again. These potholes can be very deep, and have very sharp edges, both on the tarmac edge and the grating edge. Very nasty.

[thirdcrank]

There's a direct link here between the debate about the cost of care and the poor state of the roads. Local authorities are responsible for both and there's always the likelihood that the immediate requirements for providing care will be given more priority than the longer-term things like road maintenance. I can't see any way out of this when national and local government can each blame the other for the mess.

[reohn2]

There's a direct link here between the debate about the cost of care and the poor state of the roads. Local authorities are responsible for both and there's always the likelihood that the immediate requirements for providing care will be given more priority than the longer-term things like road maintenance. I can't see any way out of this when national and local government can each blame the other for the mess.

And of which is the direct result of government policy,ie;the austerity measures,to 'make the books balance'(though who knows when they ever did!
People's quality of life and indeed as in this case,life itself,the true cost is too high.

PS,I'm sorry if people think I'm turning the thread into a political football,but TBH what I'm seeing going on under this inept and hopelessly inadequate excuse for government truly is disgraceful.