A cycle accident claim has resulted in a West Yorkshire man being awarded more than £2,000 in accident compensation due to being thrown from his cycle after hitting a road pothole.

Peter Lodge, 52, of Hebden Bridge was thrown from his bike after he hit a road pothole which had developed around a metal water valve cover installed by Yorkshire Water. He successfully claimed for his cycling accident against Yorkshire Water which left him shaken and with cuts and scratches.

Mr Lodge felt that he had been lucky saying about the poor road condition, “While this is obviously unpleasant for drivers, cyclists not only risk having a nasty fall but could then easily be hit by a car. I hate to think what might have happened if I’d been thrown off my bike just an hour earlier during the rush hour”.

In this case Mr Lodge successfully sued the water authority as it had been deemed to be responsible for the road defect, however it is more common for the highway authority to be responsible. If you have had a similar accident and can establish that the authority has not carried out their duty then you may be able to make a cycling accident compensation claim also.

A cyclist wishing to make a compensation claim for injuries or property damage caused by a defect in the road surface, such as a pothole, would usually need to prove;

• firstly – that the defect was the cause of the accident
• secondly – that the defect was a hazard to road users.

A highway authority has a statutory duty under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highway. In order to establish a breach of duty under section 41 of the Highways Act a Claimant must usually prove that the accident was caused by an “actionable defect”. Whether or not a defect is classified as a hazard is a matter of interpretation by a trial judge.

A typical defence of your claim may refer to section 58 of the highways act, which aims to demonstrate that the authority had taken reasonable measures to ensure that problems such as potholes were found and dealt with swiftly.

Clearly from what we have touched on above you can see that this type of claim is potentially a legal nightmare and so if you have had a cycling accident it is important that you contact a solicitor such as ourselves as soon as possible so that your case can be assessed and vital evidence can be gathered. The scenario above is typical but of course other aspects can come in to play as every accident is unique in some way. For this reason it is important to ensure that your solicitor has a specialist interest in this field as it can be quite complex. Myers Lister Price Inury Lawyers have a great deal of expertise and experience in cycling accident compensation claims.

If you would like to talk to someone about your cycling accident compensation claim please call us on 0161 926 9969 or Email us now at info@mlpsolicitors.co.uk for a free, no obligation consultation with one of our expert accident compensation solicitors Manchester at Myers Lister Price Solicitors.