The family of 83-year-old Roger Hamer, who died after hitting a pothole on his bike in Ramsbottom three years ago, have accused Bury Council of ‘wriggling out’ of paying compensation and brushing the matter under the carpet.
Hamer crashed on Bury New Road in March 2016 and died of head injuries in hospital a month later.
Although no witnesses saw what caused him to fall, at least one local had previously reported a road defect at the spot. The coroner concluded that one pothole “possibly contributed” and another “probably did contribute.”
The inquest heard that local residents had frequently complained about the state of the road, including the number of potholes.
However, The Lancashire Telegraph reports that Hamer’s family say the council will not accept any liability for the incident.
Hamer’s daughter, Ruth Topping, said the local authority had refused several settlement offers and if the family wants to pursue the matter, it would have to be taken to criminal court.
“The solicitors don’t feel confident to take it to criminal court. As far as I’m concerned they’ve wriggled out of it and brushed it under the carpet,” she said.
Topping said that the council regularly paid out to drivers whose cars were damaged by pot holes before they were resurfaced following her father’s death.
“These roads were absolutely appalling. The potholes were so deep. The only thing anybody talked about at the time was potholes. These roads were neglect ed.
“It was a culture in Ramsbottom that you could just put a claim in and they didn’t even investigate it. They just paid it. My grievance is that they could pay out for the cars but they can’t pay compensation for my dad.”
My 6KU, replaced everything but the front chainring over the past 5 years.
This was a very good listing of bikes for under 1,000....
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
£4.
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...