A Penrith cyclist who suffered life-changing injuries when he hit a pothole has been advised that he has no grounds to seek compensation in a civil action against Westmorland and Furness Council.
This follows a change in guidelines which means the pothole was not deep enough to require attention.
Paul Humphries, aged 65, has been informed by his lawyers that because the threshold for repairing a pothole is 60mm, the local authority cannot be held liable.
Paul came off his bike on 28th May, 2020, as he hit a 47mm-deep pothole on Commonholme Road between Cliburn and Morland. The guidelines for local highways authorities were amended from 40mm to 60mm in 2019.
The former lorry driver suffered a cardiac arrest at the scene and had to be resuscitated by a police officer. He had another cardiac arrest in the helicopter as he was being airlifted to hospital in Preston. When he emerged from an induced coma, he learned he had broken seven ribs on his right side and five on his left side; punctured both lungs; broken his spine in two places and severed his spinal cord. Later he caught sepsis and had to have his right leg amputated below the knee.
He said: “I hit a big pothole which was measured by the police at the time. I couldn’t believe it when my lawyer told me I couldn’t win my case. Mainly it’s because the pothole is not deep enough by 13mm, but if it had happened in 2019 it would be. When we started proceedings I was told about the new guidelines but we thought this could be challenged.”
After completing their evidence gathering, his solicitors informed him they could not reasonably expect to win a civil case, as council staff had inspected the road two and half months prior to the accident and discovered no defects requiring attention. Also, the pothole involved fell below the threshold.
In a letter from his solicitors, Irwin Mitchell, he was advised: “The Cumbria County Council Highway Condition and Safety Inspection Procedure of 2019 allows for an intervention level of 60mm for road defects. Prior to 2019 the intervention level was 40mm (the defect at the time of your accident was measured at 47mm deep).
‘The key issue for us is that a number of highways authorities across the country have adopted the 60mm intervention and therefore is likely to be accepted by the court that this was reasonable and proportionate. Therefore, the defect which we would say caused your accident was not deep enough to require intervention.”
Additionally, the fact that Commonholme Road had to be inspected by the council annually, but was in fact done more frequently, meant that the council could not be held liable.
As he prepares to go into hospital for another operation later this month, Paul added: “I’ve basically been left high and dry. I try not to think about it, as it just makes me depressed and angry. I am in constant pain. The painkilling medication is not good for me but the nerve pain is never-ending. Paul, who regularly used to cycle around 100 miles a week, concluded: “I call this an incident not an accident, as it shouldn’t have happened. This is nothing to do with health and safety and all about saving money.
“A 40mm pothole can do a lot of damage to a car, never mind a bike, so to say that the 47mm one I hit wasn’t deep enough beggars belief. What annoys me is that no one seems to know about this 60mm guideline.”
Westmorland and Furness Council was contacted by the Herald for comment.
