What to do if you hit a pothole while cycling

The UK’s pothole problem is bad and getting worse, with a recent report by Alarm revealing 24,000 miles of road will need essential maintenance in the next year. While hitting one in a car may mean a trip to the garage, if you are cycling the outcome can be far worse.

A BBC 5 Live questionnaire found half of almost 5,000 cyclists had suffered a pothole-related accident, with 1,516 injured as a result, 207 of those seriously. More than 10% of respondents said they missed work because of a pothole crash, and 31% were put off cycling. This survey was backed up by a mass freedom of information report from Cycling UK, which revealed cycling pothole crash compensation claims to councils in England and Wales are 10 times higher than motoring claims because of the higher risk of personal injury.

Although the government announced a £100m boost to its pothole fund on Monday, the work will no doubt take a while to complete. If you are unlucky enough to hit one, there are things you can do to ensure you and your bike are safe, and gather the evidence to make a claim, if necessary.

The first thing to do is check you are OK, and get out of the road to safety.

Before you leave the scene, if you can, photograph the hole. Afterwards, you can report the defect on Cycling UK’s Fill that Hole website, which alerts the relevant roads authority. They are then duty bound to fix it.

Cycling UK’s senior campaigns officer, Sam Jones, says photographic evidence from the time of the incident, or as close to it as possible, is crucial if you are to make a compensation claim – using a recognisable object for size.

“We’ve heard in the past of people reporting a hole to the highway authority and then going back to take a picture for evidence and then finding it filled,” he said.

“Having looked at loads of pothole pictures, you could be forgiven for wondering what the fuss is about as they don’t always look that bad. Add in something to give perspective – a coin, tyre lever etc – and the depth of the problem becomes apparent.”

Making sure your bike is safe to ride

After a pothole collision it’s advisable to get your bike checked by your local bike shop in case there’s damage you can’t see, such as within the headset. Claire Beaumont of Condor Cycles advises a few roadside checks before riding off.

“The first thing to do is inspect your front wheel and fork,” she says. “Those are the two components that will take the brunt of the impact.”

“Get off the bike, lift the front up, and spin the front wheel. If the rim is wobbling against the brake block you need to get it trued, or possibly replace it.”

Wonky wheels can rub on the brakes, wearing down the wheel rim; what’s more, the wheel could be cracked from the collision, and unexpectedly collapse.

“If the wheel is sitting closer to the frame than before, the fork has been pushed back from the impact.” In this case, she says, the bike shouldn’t be ridden.

“On carbon forks damage is most likely where the fork meets the wheel – the narrowest point. If you see that, stop riding the bike immediately,” she says. “Look for cracks or chips, and run your hand across the area. If it is spongy or soft the bike is not safe to ride.”

Check your mudguards, because once cracked or loose they can stick in the wheel without warning, or throw up stones.

The worse the crash, the more extensive the damage to your bike is likely to be, and if you’ve come off, remember to check the frame carefully. Damaged steel frame tubes can be replaced, but with aluminium it’s often cheaper to replace the whole frame. You can have any undamaged parts moved over from your old bike to save money.

If you wear a helmet and hit your head, the general advice is to replace the helmet, even if it doesn’t look damaged.

Getting compensation for damage and injury

If you decide to claim for damages to yourself or your bike you will need a solicitor. Membership of cycling organisations like Cycling UK, the London Cycling Campaign and British Cycling include free legal advice – but be warned, successful claims are rare.

Michael Hardacre, a personal injury solicitor at Slater and Gordon, says, “Of 10 cases I take on two or three, and I might win one or two.

“The seriousness of the injury bears no relevance to whether the council is liable; the issue is the defect itself and whether reasonable steps have been taken to maintain the road.”

Whoever owns or occupies the land, usually a council, is responsible for maintaining its highway. This doesn’t mean eliminating all potholes, it means regular inspections, often every six or even 12 months. As council funds are squeezed, an issue judges are sympathetic to, the “intervention criteria” – how severe a hole needs to be to be repaired, have been stretched to mean bigger and bigger holes in our roads.

Hardacre explains: “If it is a residential side street, 12 months can be considered reasonable for inspection frequency, but saying that, roads can turn into a mess in a few weeks in the winter.”

The key to a successful claim is firstly having photographic evidence of the defect, and proving it was there prior to the council’s last inspection, or that it was reported to the roads authority in the meantime.

A resident might be able to confirm how long it has been there, as can Google Earth, whose imagery sometimes goes back years.