Following the car in front which just moved out from the side exit of Tesco Flitwick I discovered it was covering one of the many potholes. I felt the bike tipping, put my foot down and found a bottomless fissure from the open cast mining and ...well, pictures are worth a thousand cusses
Not a huge lot Andy - mirror, lever, maybe some scuffs on tank and engine cover, and I'll need a new hat. Maybe a thousand pounds total if the tank needs repainting. Gonna pursue Tesco insurers. It was such low speed there was no way of riding through it. I was over before I could react.
Sorry sight mate.... hope it's "only" your mirror gone. In this situation does anyone know if there could be a claim against the council/highwayx dept. or whoever?
Very sorry Rich to see these pics, at least it sounds like you didn't damage yourself - it's a real shit though all the same. Get yerself onto EBAY and do some spendin' mate......................
Just got in from into the valley rally and found this It’s a bummer mate no doubt but as long as you’re ok that’s the main thing
Get a photo of the pothole with a measuring tape so it's size and depth isn't a matter of conjecture or argument. If the road section involved is owned by Tesco put in a claim against their public liability insurance perhaps? Give as much evidence as possible including a description of how the incident unfolded, where the vehicles were in relation to the potholes at each stage, and give a number of 'ifs and buts'. Quote the 'Swiss Cheese' model for health and safety used in preventing incidents like this, and list all the contributing factors highlighting the ones that they had full control and responsibility for. If the car hadn't been where it was I could have seen the pothole and avoided it. Obviously that is outside of your control, or mine. (First point showing that you are being entirely reasonable) However... If the road surface was even and maintained sufficiently, the incident would have not occurred. If the pothole hadn't been allowed to grow to the extent it had, being able to put my foot on the ground would have been sufficient for the incident to have passed without damage to my expensive bike. Could I have a copy of the risk assessments for the car parks and public access routes on your site specifically in reference to avoiding potholes, and the actions required by staff on noticing them? Bear in mind that your staff including the managers use that piece of road every day, and as potholes do not reach this size overnight, what action had they taken to address this issue prior to the day of the incident, and could you provide the documentary evidence of that action? Perhaps the schedule of when the assessment for repairs were due to take place since there are no markings around the pothole indicating that an assessment had already taken place would be a good start? It would be a shame for you have been negligent in this respect and yet quite lucky for you that it is only a bike that has been damaged rather than a personal injury, because they can get really expensive to sort! (Include an estimate for getting your bike repaired - I am sure your repair department can do this in a way that is beneficial) (Scare tactic next) The next victim of this negligence to maintain the public access route may not be as lucky, and you have a great opportunity here to get your procedures amended or properly implemented before anyone gets hurt - but I do need you to put right the damage to my bike that occurred as a direct result of your failure to maintain the public access route to your car park. To quote Professor Trevor Kletz.... “There's an old saying that if you think safety is expensive, try an accident. Accidents cost a lot of money. And, not only in damage to plant and in claims for injury, but also in the loss of the company's reputation.” “Well, after an accident, managers often say, ‘I didn't know this was happening or not happening,’ as the case may be, ‘if I'd known it, I'd have stopped it.’ Now this is bad management. It's the manager's job to know what is going on. And, he can do that by going round and by keeping his eyes open and reading the accident reports in detail.” Suggest to the Tesco manager that he highlights these in his next meeting with head office after briefing his staff, saying that he has highlighted awareness among those he is responsible for and it would be a good message to get out to all the store managers. It'll get him corporate brownie (brown nose) points with the higher ups as well as get him on your side.
Fortunately I can get new stuff at trade prices so if the insurance route works I'll be okay. It's the hat that's the big ticket item - Shoei ADV Hornet so £440 retail. Anyway, only a slow speed drop so just bruised and swollen elbow. Ironically I was only there to pick up supplies to take to a mate who'd recently been rushed in to hospital.
@ GFE, cheers for that. All good stuff mate. Pretty much covers most of what I've already drafted to the Tesco store manager. I like the Kletz quote - good advice there, which I'll incorporate too. I'll be going over tomorrow with a tape measure. The duty manager told me they had been asking for remedial work for some time. So this was a known hazard. I advised him to get a pot of yellow paint to mark the holes, and to put up warning signs. Coincidentally I've not long signed off the annual review of risk assessments at our two dealerships where I'm responsible for H&S and added more detail on dealing with pot holes and uneven surfaces.
You’re welcome! If they have been asking for it to be sorted for some time, then the blame for delay lays further up the chain of command where the suits all have Teflon shoulder patches to prevent shit from sticking. Not sure if that will be an advantage for you or not, but if the store have a paper trail (or email trail) of requests, it will certainly bolster your case - and make their manager look good as it was their inaction that led to the incident rather than the manager failing to recognise the problem. Any visible bruising, get photos and perhaps visit the doc to get checked out. Not because you are intending to claim for injury, but if you throw those on the heap it gives you extra wriggle room to say that although you were hurt, unless the injuries are worse than they currently appear to be you'd rather not claim for injury providing they make good on replacing your damaged hardware. Stress that you are not trying to get anything from them which you didn't ready have before it was damaged as a result of their failure to maintain the public access route to an acceptable standard in spite of requests from the store management! Southend Council have been patching up potholes so badly that they’ve been breaking up and through the recent cold snaps were having to be redone within the space of weeks. Instead of cutting out, laying the base and tamping, sealing with tar, plugging, and then sealing around the edges of the plug to make it weatherproof they have been throwing some hot tarmac down and levelling the surface - a cheap and cheerful (and ineffective) way to do it, and a complete waste of my (taxpayer) money.
Hi Rich sorry to see your bike on it's side...... Glad you are ok; good luck with your claim..... Wessa
Sorry to hear your news Rich, it’s never nice having a fall irrespective of the speed. Hoping everything works out in your favour mate.
Really sorry about the incident, glad you're okay though. It sucks about the helmet too. Not so long ago I queried with my insurance as to insured value of my kit and as one would suspect it has to specified. Mine isn't, I will re visit for sure. All the best in fixing your bike soon
Glad your ok Rich,hope you can still make the trip next week, that duty manager's comment is as good as an admission of liability so fingers crossed ...a quick settlement.
