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Wednesday, April 5, 2017

more than 8 lakhs payout when Car hit pothole !!! not here but in UK !!!!

For the first time in four seasons Mercedes were denied victory in the season-opening Grand Prix, as Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari made good on their pre-season promise by triumphing at Albert Park. Strategy played a part in the result – but as Mercedes chief explains, Ferrari were also faster when it mattered most.  The four-times world champion cruised to his second win at Albert Park and 43rd overall with a nearly 10-second gap over Mercedes runner-up Lewis Hamilton, proving the Ferrari cars' encouraging winter testing was not just a mirage.

Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityanathji  directed officials of the public works department (PWD) to make all state roads pothole free by June 15, 2017. In Gorakhpur, which was his first public appearance after taking over as the State's CM, Sri Adityanath declared that he had told the PWD officials to ensure that there are no potholes in the roads of the state by June 15. The state had lagged on the development front during the regimes of the previous governments, he said.
pothole in UK

Uttar Pradesh is not alone – many roads are bad,  replete with holes and craters, big enough to receive a vehicle inside is the refrain that we hear quite often !  - however, it is discernible that  the infrastructure [despite all the scams and cuts in contracts] is improving and there are some good roads – still one has to drive very carefully as you can encounter a jay walker, a casually darting two wheeler or wandering tractor or a heavy vehicle coming on the wrong side of the road.

The roads are generally laid of tar / asphalt concrete – a composite material consisting of asphalt as a binder in layers and compacted do have big holes commonly called pothole.  There is a similar sounding name in tamil ‘pothal’ which would also refer to a gaping hole especially on a surface.  But the English word pothole is not a derivative from Tamil.  In some parts it is called kettle or a chuckhole – is a type of disruption in the surface of a roadway where a portion of the road material gives way leaving hole.  Potholes basically are weak spots occurring over a period of time.  They are mostly formed due to fatigue and develop in a pattern known as "alligator cracking". The chunks of pavement between fatigue cracks are worked loose and may eventually be picked out of the surface by continued wheel loads, thus forming a pothole.  It is also caused by temperature changes and occur regularly at various places.

Though initially they would only be a few inches deep, they would develop [deteriorate rather] in to more trouble when not attended to immediately.  When the cracks get wider and deeper, they cause damage to tire and vehicle suspension.  Two wheelers can have serious trouble riding over them.  Serious road accidents can occur as a direct result, especially on motorways where vehicle speeds are greater. They are frequently almost invisible to road users especially at night.  Many a times, bigger accidents when drivers swerve trying to avoid hitting a pothole, thereby running into other’s path. 

Accidents are bad ! when you drive your two-wheeler fast on and into them, there could be fork damage and the driver or other road user too could be imperiled; but ever imagined this ?  -  a Ferrari driver has been given £10,000 [Rs. 8.15 lakhs !!!]  by a council when a 'huge' pothole damaged his red 'pride and joy'. 

Father of two,  Scott Nicholas, 44, was cruising along in his Ferrari 458 when he hit the dip in the £150,000 motor. The pothole would have cost the council just £53 to repair. Damage to the wheel, interior and suspension meant the speedy sports car was off the road for three months as parts were sourced from Italy. Mr Nicholas, from Peterborough, chose to take the issue to small claims court where he received the sizeable pay out. MailOnline of date reports quoting him -  'It was a huge pothole. It could have knocked someone into the other lane of traffic and caused a crash. I was lucky nobody was heading towards me. 'When the airbags go off they go off like an explosive charge. It was a good job there was nobody in the passenger seat.

'I thought I'd hit something and then I couldn't believe when it was a pothole. 'The car is my pride of joy. I don't take it out very often.'  The bursting airbag ripped through the leather interior creating around £6,000 of damage and the alloy wheel was completely totalled which cost around £3,000. Work also had to be done to realign the suspension which had been impacted. The owner of the car admitted himself he's obsessed about the care of his cars - often preparing to leave them tucked up safely in his garage than out on the road.

Previously he had taken his cars out on test days but chooses against it now as he is concerned over the wear and tear they cause. He says the claim was never about the money but more about the principal. Now when he receives the £10,000 he plans to donate it to an accident charity. The pay off was confirmed in court on March 15 and the money should be paid within three weeks of that date. He said: 'In court I just felt they were obnoxious. They threw everything they could to try and get out of paying out. 'They even tried to say a super car shouldn't be on the road.

'All I claimed for was the damage and the repair costs, nothing else. I was very sensible about it. 'It was never about the money, it was the principle. A spokesman for the council confirmed it is the biggest sum they have ever paid out for pothole related damage, as it appears that payouts relating to potholes are not new ! Last year it was revealed that councils are handing out compensation to almost 90 motorists a week for pothole damage.  In 2015 a romantic husband spent £2,100 to hire a Ferrari for his wife to drive on her 50th birthday - only for it to be damaged by a pothole within minutes. Dean Everitt, hired the spectacular Ferrari California for five days but his wife's dream became a nightmare when she hit a deep hole and ruptured a tyre - leading to repair costs of almost £400.

It certainly is a different World out there !!!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
26th Mar 2017


~ largely reproduced from dailymail.co.uk. 

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