Pothole Claims Solicitor – John Ibbotson being interviewed for BBC documentary
Landmark Films are in Leeds at the moment making a BBC documentary about potholes in the city.
The producers telephoned John Ibbotson at Ibbotson Brady Solicitors Limited in Leeds to ask if he might contribute, being a local solicitor with great experience of accidents and injuries caused by people walking, running or cycling into or over potholes. Having interviewed several people at the Highway Authority, Leeds City Council, they want to apply some balance by talking to a lawyer who has seen the potential consequences of nasty accidents caused by potholes.
John will be interviewed on Thursday, the 20th November 2014 at the site of an accident in South Leeds where one of his clients was very badly injured when he fell off his bicycle after inadvertently riding into a pothole.
The gentleman in question suffered very nasty fractures and was still having surgery and treatment two and a half years after the accident. The pothole in question was very nasty and long-standing.
We have a whole page of our website about these claims here. They are tricky to establish, but can be valuable if serious injuries have been suffered.
John will do his best to give the balanced views of a lawyer helping people who have been hurt by potholes. As a local council tax payer he understands and appreciates that the Council must defend itself, where it can. However, when they fail in their duties and responsibilities as the local Highway Authority, then they ought to expect claims to be made when someone is hurt.
There is a difficult balance for Local Authorities to apply between maintaining, inspecting and repairing the roads and pavements and paying out claims for where they have failed to maintain, inspect or repair them. In an ideal world, the Council would also have sufficient resources to keep roads and pavements in an excellent state, but in the real world nobody can expect every road and pavement to be like a billiard table. In fact, even the law does not expect that.
We will report again after John has been interviewed with an update and then we will have to wait and see if he makes the “final cut”!
If you have a question or query about any kind of potential accident claim, give us a call on 0113 366 3022 or contact us on this form for free.