Pothole damage compensation: Lincolnshire County Council pays out the most in compensation for every claim it receives due to pothole damage.
Lincolnshire County Council paid out the most for pothole damage compensation claims made in the past year, according to FOI data.
In a Freedom of Information request sent by Britannia Rescue (part of LV) to 434 UK city, district, borough and county councils, only 1 in 4 councils responded to the survey.
Lincolnshire County Council topped the poll in how much was paid out per claim. Of the 146 council which responded, Lincolnshire paid out (or is expecting to pay out) £358,664.98 for 1,412 claims in 2012/13.
Compensation in Lincolnshire was paid out for pothole damage to cars, personal injury claims, damage from stone chippings due to recent resurface work and other road defects.
While this sum was the highest amount of pay out in the country, Surrey County Council had the highest amount of claims for potholes, with 2,249.
Lincolnshire County Council cares for 5,500 miles of road, the fourth longest in the country, costing about £64 per mile, and the average cost of a claim payout is £254.
Meanwhile, the worst roads for potholes are King Lane in Leeds, the B6273 South Moor Road/ Moor Lane in Barnsley, and Holly Lane in Banstead.
According to the data, councils have paid out £2.5 million to 32,600 compensation claims to motorists in 2012.13 due to pothole damage, with around 9% of motorists suffering car damage because of bad road surfaces.
Research also complied that the 200,000 known potholes in the country mean there is enough for one pothole per mile of road.
Reasons for the high amount of claims is due to a harsh winter followed by a dry summer causing damage to the roads.
In addition, there is not enough funding for road maintenance in the country — it is around £16 per driver spent on maintaining roads and pothole repair.
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Peter Horton, Britannia Rescue Managing Director, said: “Britain’s pothole epidemic has resulted from years of underinvestment in our roads and has been exacerbated by recent harsh winters.
“Local authorities face difficult choices in the roads they prioritise for repair and we now have around 200,000 potholes on UK roads.
“Motorists should protect themselves and their vehicles by reducing their speed on potholed roads, and also reporting damaged roads to their local council.”
Councillor Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “This list doesn’t quite tell the whole story because it fails to take account of the size of each council’s road network.
“We look after twice the number of roads than the 2nd council on the list, and have 27 times more miles of road than the 3rd.
“Of course we have a problem with potholes in Lincolnshire – the whole country does – but we are tackling it head-on. We’ve filled 50,000 potholes this year and next year we’ll do even more.
“These statistics underline the challenge faced by local authorities across Great Britain. We must keep investing in our road network, and we need central government to provide us with additional funding to allow us to do that.”
To report a problem with a Lincolnshire road or a pothole, contact County Council Customer Services Centre on 01522 782070 or fill in the form online.
A dramatic video shows a car engulfed in flames in the car park at Lincoln County Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
An on-call crew from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue attended the scene on Greetwell Road shortly before 5pm on Tuesday, April 13.
The crew used one hose reel to extinguish the fire and fortunately no casualties were reported.
The car is probably a write-off. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Dramatic pictures from the scene show the severe damage that was caused to the front of the car.
Fall in county infections but a Boston spike
There have been 50 new coronavirus cases and three COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday — compared to 58 cases and no deaths this time last week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 26 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North Lincolnshire and five in North East Lincolnshire.
On Tuesday, three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, none in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England has reported two new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust hospitals.
On Tuesday, national cases increased by 2,472 to 4,375,814, while deaths rose by 23 to 127,123.
In local news, people aged over 45 can now book their COVID vaccinations on the NHS website after the government reached its target of offering a first dose to the nine most vulnerable groups.
There were recently some technical difficulties for people accessing the NHS website, but vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the issues have been fixed – book a vaccine online here and find out if you are eligible.
Over the weekend, Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate has fallen, with a spike in Boston only.
Similarly, the England average has also seen a drop in infections, but still remains nearly half Greater Lincolnshire’s rates.
Lincoln has dropped by more than half over the weekend and now has one of the smallest rates in the UK, with just 9.1 per 100,000 of the population infected with COVID-19.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s COVID-19 infection rates up to April 12:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Apr 5 to Apr 12. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
In national news, Boris Johnson has warned that the reduction in coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths “has not been achieved” by the rollout of COVID vaccines.
The prime minister, speaking the day after the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, instead said it was the national shutdown that had been “overwhelmingly important” in driving down COVID rates.
England is giving out its first doses of the Moderna jab, the third COVID-19 vaccine in the nation’s rollout.
It will be available at 21 sites, included the Madejski Stadium in Reading and the Sheffield Arena.
Along with the Pfizer jab, it offers an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for under-30s, after concerns about a possible link to very rare blood clots.
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
58,772 cases (up 50)
2,184 deaths (up three)
of which 1,302 hospital deaths (up two)
4,375,814 UK cases, 127,123 deaths
There will be another Kill The Bill protest in Lincoln next week, rallying against a new government bill that diminishes protesting rights.
Protests have been rife across the country since the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was first discussed, with scenes turning violent in Bristol.
Over two hundred people peacefully took part in the city’s first march at Speakers’ Corner on April 3, including Extinction Rebellion activists and Socialist and Labour supporters.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Now, after a post started doing the rounds on social media, another protest has apparently been scheduled for 2pm on Monday, April 17 at the same location on Lincoln High Street, as part of a national day of action.
A poster promoting a second event has been shared across social media platforms.
Protests are lawful once again after the government eased lockdown restrictions on March 29, but organisers are required to submit a risk assessment prior to any event.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Organisers of the last protest were in close communication with police to make the event safe, and The Lincolnite has asked Lincolnshire Police if they have been made aware of another protest, but are yet to receive a reply.
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