Man slapped with fine after car was damaged from driving over pothole
A motorist has been slapped with a fine after his tyre burst following a collision with a pothole.
Matt Fellows’s vehicle sustained damage from the pothole in Alfreton, Derbyshire, which the local authority maintains.
A civil enforcement officer then slapped a £70 penalty charge notice on Mr Fellows’s windscreen while he was arranging for the damaged tyre to be replaced.
His vehicle displayed hazard warning lights at the time of the fine being issued.
Mr Fellows, from Newton, informed the BBC the penalty charge notice was delivered on January 23, after which he lodged an appeal with Derbyshire County Council.
The incident began when he struck the pothole on Cragg Lane, producing what he described as a notably loud impact sound.
At that moment, travelling with his partner Sadie Elliott, he remained unaware of the extent of the damage to the tyre wall.
Then while driving through Alfreton town centre’s High Street, Mr Fellows moved his vehicle onto the pavement to allow passage for a police car operating with emergency lights.
The man hit a pothole in Cragg lane causing damage to his vehicle
|
The tyre ruptured during this manoeuvre, which he attributed to the earlier pothole strike having already weakened the structure.
“We had to come up on to the kerb and in doing so clearly the tyre wall had already been compromised and it exploded on us,” Mr Fellows said.
A mechanic examining photographs of the damaged tyre confirmed it showed “classic pothole damage”.
Following enquiries, Derbyshire County Council announced it would withdraw the penalty charge notice.
Councillor Charlotte Hill, the cabinet member for potholes, highways and transport, explained the fine had been imposed because a warden observed the vehicle contravening yellow line restrictions with nobody present.
“Once a PCN is issued, there is a comprehensive process which allows people to appeal and, having reviewed the evidence provided in this case, we will be cancelling the notice and notifying them of the decision,” Councillor Hill said.
The authority indicated Mr Fellows could pursue a compensation claim for the vehicle damage.
However, the tyre replacement cost him £109.94, and he expressed reluctance about claiming due to the reportedly complex procedure and high rejection rate.
“As far as I’m aware, it’s a convoluted process,” he remarked.
Derbyshire is notorious for potholes, going as far as to be merited the title of England’s “pothole capital” following repairs to more than 90,000 road defects in 2023.
Mr Fellows commented on the deteriorating road conditions, saying: “It’s awful, it’s absolutely awful.
“Beyond that, it seems that roads are getting worse and worse weekly.”
In a separate occurrence on Friday evening, Becky Broadley from Daventry experienced a tyre failure after striking a substantial pothole on the B4038 between Kilsby, Northamptonshire, and Hillmorton, Warwickshire.
She remained stranded for nearly two hours following the incident at 7.30pm, with around nine additional vehicles similarly affected by the same road defect.
