F*ing pot holes!! *Grrrrrr*

[Redfox]

:mad: :mad: :mad:

I was driving home today from uni and I hit a MASSIVE pot hole at about 40km just as I was slowing down at some lights to go around the corner. It's the deepest pot hole I have ever been in and I didn't even see it at first (obviously) because it was actually reasonably small in diameter. It was at the intersection of Barker St. and Anzac Pde. in Kensington/Kingsford. I've never heard a thump that loud in my whole life and I thought I blew my front left shock! In fact it scared the shit outta the pedestrians waiting at the lights too I think. I seem to recall a few jumping from the shock!

Can any of you guys tell me how you can check for damage when it comes to this sort of thing? How do you know if it put a flat spot on your rim? How do you know if your shocks are ok?

After that incident I noticed that when I went over speed bumps I could hear the shocks making that sorta gassy noise. I don't know if this is normal on Commodores. Maybe someone else can tell me. Maybe I was just paranoid and the car always made this noise but only now I've noticed it.

Anywayz, I think i'm going to drop it off to Midas tomorrow for them to take a look at it. If anything is damaged I'm going to claim it on the Council. I already called them up and told them about the pot hole and the woman just said I need to write to the General Manager if I want to make a claim.

How bloody annoying. I hate pot holes! :mad:

[Merlin]

me too - especially when im on the motorbike - i think i could actually disapear down one.

[kryten2001]

me too - especially when im on the motorbike - i think i could actually disapear down one.

Get a faster bike mate, then you can just fly over them :)

[vt_terra]

about 12mths ago my missus hit a pothole on the road, same thing didnt see it untill to late and at 60kmh it destroyed both left hand side rims, turned them egg shaped and cracked them through each side knocked wheel alignment out and bent both shockers like bananas :mad:
this was on her 98 lancer and $2200 later we had to get a new set of wheels as the old ones were no longer made so i "had to" :D buy her a set of 18in and replace shockers/strut.
made a complaint to local council and took photos of offending hole
** do this straight away because as soon as you complain the holes get mysteriously filled and they say "what hole?"**
and about 2mths after incident finally council got back to us and we negotiated a compensation of $1200 for me :D
take your car to several steering and suspension shops and tell them what happened and some may help you in assessing ;) the damage done, then write a letter to your council including photos of the hole and damage sustained to your car and quotes of repairs.
dont expect to hear back from them quickly, youll most likely have to chase them for any results

[markone2]

:mad: :mad: :mad:

Anywayz, I think i'm going to drop it off to Midas tomorrow for them to take a look at it. :mad:


Just be prepared to fork out for 4 new shocks...new brake pads front and rear / disc machining / power steer rack / lower ball joints /idler arm plus a set of mufflers...most of these guys work on theory if a part is older than 7 days it needs replacing to ensure the safety of you and your family ,not to mention a healthy increase in there bank balance.... only very recently we quoted on a set of shocks for a Camry the owner was advised
required urgent replacement as the car was unroadworthy and could not safely be driven on the road..customer become suss at the high price quoted along with the said mechanical advisers pushiness ....knowing his newly purchased vehicle was brought from a reputable yard he came to us to have the offending shocks checked...shocks were as brand new a shocks get..enquires revealed shocks had been replaced for roadworthy less than 1 month previously...makes you think just how many people are caught out...by these so called *Free Safety Checks* by those who do not even possess a road worthy Licence :( .......

[Ghia351]

..maybe also cc a copy to your insurance company so that the council "knows" someone with greater litigation powers is also an interested party. Not car related but I did this concerning a gum tree in front of my house after the neighbour's tree collapsed across the road AFTER the council expert stated that the fallen tree was supposedly in better condition then the one aimed at my bedroom or constantly jamming my $6000 sliding electric driveway gate.

[Rt!]

LOL! I hit this exact same pothole (outside BP and opposite the tyre store) today.. front went in.. BANG.. its a lot deeper than it looks.
Thankfully I wasnt going too fast and didnt damage anything at all, but when my rear wheel went in it (the whole wheel pretty much went in), I could really feel how deep it is.
wierd cause the pothole only appeared today or yesterday.

[Rod]

keep an eye on the tyre itself too. I hit a particularly nasty pothole once and found within a week that the rubber in the sidewall had developed a rather nasty bubble. Guy at the shop said it had "delaminated"...which i took to mean the rubber had torn away from the wire inside the tyre wall.

I was going a bit faster than 40kph tho so you might not see the same thing.

[LSX-438]

theres also a permanent sink hole outside of auto-one at kenso, they keep patching it up but it's always there.

[HRT 8]

:mad: Must be that time of the year. I too hit a nice big pothole. Result is some damage that I wont go into too much detail here but needless to say that photos of the hole complete with measurements was taken and the council duely notified for compensation. They havent seen the bill yet but at $1000 per rim and 2 of em need replacing, theyre not going to like it.

[Redfox]

Well I didn't have a digicam at the time, and I even went back to uni and asked if anyone had one but unfortunately they didn't. I will go back first thing tomorrow and see if it's still there. I'll make sure to take some pics, altho i might get run over! Hehehe...

I figured that I should call them straight away so that at least they have a record of me calling before them filling the hole. I got the name of the woman I spoke to etc etc.

Hopefully I will get a pic tho. I'll take a ruler just in case... you wouldn't believe how deep this thing was. I went around the block a few times and I hit it once more, but really slow just to judge the depth. Damn that was deep. The thing is, I'm sure the council will realise that there is a problem when lots of other people complain. And can you imagine how many people will drive into that hole at night time in the dark...

Anywayz one of my friends would be prepared to back me up if the council tried to shrug it off.

I'm just worried about the rims... they are reasonably new 17's without a scratch on them. Is it possible to check if the rims are ok without removing the tyres? I want as much checked out on the car as possible for free if I can.

Btw I'm almost certain that the suspension bottomed out when I hit it. It was that loud and harsh...

[Redfox]

RT!, that's the little blighter!!! I don't suppose you stopped to take photos by any chance? Lol!!

I think I would've hit it at about 40-50km/h cos I was cruisin down Barker street trying to get to the lights before they changed. Then I was in the process of slowing down when I finally saw/hit the pot hole. I think that the reason it was so bad was because I was already on the brakes and the suspension would've been already part compressed. ****, i'm surprised it didn't come through the bonnet!

And you are right about it only appearing today. I could swear it wasn't there yesterday. I started going to the Jax tyres opposite the pot hole (lol!) recently. Very good service and they are top blokes, especially Darren. I actually drove straight in there after a lap around the block to see if Darren was in so he could check the car, but he must've left by then. I might get them to pull off that tyre tomorrow to check that the rim is ok and no damage done. It will put my mind at rest...

The more I talk about it the more I'm certain that I should get a really good check done because if it's something that got damaged today but I only find out about it a few months down the track, I won't really have a leg to stand on against the council.

Forrestd, I haven't really noticed the one outside auto-one (awesome store that! I only found it a few weeks ago!) but I got a vague idea. Is it the one on the lane closest to the middle island?

Arrrgh stupid council. Hopefully they are too lazy to fill it in by tomorrow so I can get some good pics of it.

[LSX-438]

the one i'm thinking of is on the left hand side of the middle lane, heading towards the city. almost drove my group 3 down into it a few times but it's not too bad now. damn potholes!

[Redfox]

Rod, yeh a mate of mine actually warned me about that happening. I will keep my eye on it. As a matter of fact, I had a good look at the tyres after the incident and found that there was a point where the coat of silicone spray (Jax sprayed it on for me a few days ago) had been completely rubbed off and it was pretty clear this was the impact point. Luckily (i think) it was inline with one of the wheel spokes so hopefully that would lessen the chance of a flat or dent.

RT!, just on the note of how your rear tyre went it, I forgot to check my rears. When I went back to uni to see if anyone had a digicam, I went over a few speed bumps and I noticed the gassy sorta noise coming from the left rear shock (or that's where it sounded like it was coming from). I haven't noticed that before, so maybe the rear one copped more of a beating than the front one.

Grrrrr............. :mad:

[Redfox]

the one i'm thinking of is on the left hand side of the middle lane, heading towards the city. almost drove my group 3 down into it a few times but it's not too bad now. damn potholes!
I think I know the one you mean... I am in that lane most of the time so I've probably hit it a couple of hundred times too. Ahve any of you noticed those ones developing going northbound on Anzac Pde. just before the right turn off to Fox Studios on the right hand lane? Sorta near the street sign in the centre island that somehow got ripped out. Bloody Randwick City Council and RTA!! The woman at RCC said that they were responsible for Barker street and RTA is responsible for Anzac Pde. Weird eh?

[harrisonrs]

Same thing happened to me 3 years ago in Swan Street Richmond. Dented the front rim. Took the car to Beaurepaires and had the wheel alignment checked. Said they could get the rim fixed and I was going to take it back the following week but some lowlife nicked it out of the boot (thinking it was a new spare) when the car was in the Arts Centre car park. I was never going to use that tyre again as I expected it to fail so wasn't a bad outcome for me although cost me the $300 excess to get a new wheel and tyre.

[gmeup]

where abouts on barker st was it near the bp petrol station or near the jax tyre shop? I work in kingsford and drive round there all the time i want to check this hole out 2morro for myself....hehe

[Redfox]

It is right next to the BP.

It is on Barker Street on the east side of Anzac Parade in the left lane travelling west.... if that makes sense!

Just a few metres before the traffic lights in the right lane.

And get a photo of it if you get the chance. I will try for first thing in the morning, but I fear it may have gone by then!

[Redfox]

where abouts on barker st was it near the bp petrol station or near the jax tyre shop? I work in kingsford and drive round there all the time i want to check this hole out 2morro for myself....hehe
Btw, be careful not to fall in!

[One tonner]

This seems to be hot topic; I wonder how many accidents have been caused as a direct result of poor road conditions as a contributing factor. This should be compared to the speed and drink driving figures.
The governments seem to blame speed for the road toll as this they can get revenue from.
The roads however cost them money and they seem reluctant to spend the millions of dollars they make from rego, fuel taxes etc on the roads.
After all isn’t what these taxes are supposed to be spent on.
:jester:

[Rt!]

oh, if anyone was driving fast, ie trying to make it for the lights, and hit this, their car would be trashed.. I was lucky I saw it, thought it wasnt that big and hit it at about 10km/h and it still made a huge noise.. when the rear wheel went in I wasnt even sure if Id make it out or get bogged.. Lol
i'll try to get some pics also. Its in main thoroughfare and it would be hard to fill in the day as theres heaps of traffic there

[Bandit]

yep potholes REALLY DO suck...

it you were see a black car swaying around the roads chances are it is the bandit...

here in sydney i move around the roads to avoid potholes ...just b/c to avoid any damage on the rims...

but i hear you loud and clear!!! pot holes are annoying...

hard to avoid...but definetly driving the car is quite tensed...hotpoles, dust particles falling from the big semis...

we need to get the councils to improve the quality of roads here!!! :mad:

[Rt!]

well they fixed it.. if fixing means filling with sand

[Gee]

well they fixed it.. if fixing means filling with sand

.. what time did they do that?

Took a nice hit off it this morning... BONE SHAKING :D

Maybe the guys at the tyre place trying to boost business..

whi didnt I read this thread yesterday

[Redfox]

oh, if anyone was driving fast, ie trying to make it for the lights, and hit this, their car would be trashed.. I was lucky I saw it, thought it wasnt that big and hit it at about 10km/h and it still made a huge noise.. when the rear wheel went in I wasnt even sure if Id make it out or get bogged.. Lol
i'll try to get some pics also. Its in main thoroughfare and it would be hard to fill in the day as theres heaps of traffic there
Don't say the car would be trashed!!!!! I hit it pretty fast (40-50kmh) cos I was going for the lights! :( That just makes me upset.

Anywayz, I got some photo's of it. Pity that some of them are a bit blurry tho. It was still there this morning at 9:30am but by the afternoon they had filled it with sand and then covered it in asphalt. Let me just figure out how to upload photos and you can see it!

I got a feeling that they did it in the day (quite unusual for a council) was because there were so many complaints about it. I didn't end up getting the chance to take it to Midas for a check up. I'll either do it tomorrow or next week. I think my steering is out now, so I might get it aligned and send the council the bill.

[Redfox]

Hrmmm why can't I add attachments? As a matter of fact, why the heck can't I see any pics on this forum? Whenever someone posts a pic I can never see it. Do I have to configure something in my profile? Hrmmmm...

[Redfox]

Here's the bastard! I grabbed these shots this mornin before they filled them in...

(Hope this image hosting works!) :)

http://www.users.on.net/~redfox/pothole/pot_hole_1.jpg

http://www.users.on.net/~redfox/pothole/pot_hole_3.jpg

http://www.users.on.net/~redfox/pothole/pot_hole_2.jpg

http://www.users.on.net/~redfox/pothole/pot_hole_5.jpg

http://www.users.on.net/~redfox/pothole/pot_hole_4.jpg

Edit: Note how cool my rural fire service ruler is from the easter show! Lol :D

[The Warden]

What are the saw cuts in the pavement by the hole? Doesn't look like the pavement has been patched and the cuts have been filled. Either its the sensor wires for the lights or they were going to replace the that section of pavement then didn't???

I suspect the hole is caused by a pipe under the road leaking or having water flow around the outside of it, that washes the metal around the pipe away and all the fines out of the basecourse causing the hole. Notice the cracking along the road either side of the hole. The council would know this hole was likely to appear.

Sorry to hear about the damage.

[Redfox]

What are the saw cuts in the pavement by the hole? Doesn't look like the pavement has been patched and the cuts have been filled. Either its the sensor wires for the lights or they were going to replace the that section of pavement then didn't???

I suspect the hole is caused by a pipe under the road leaking or having water flow around the outside of it, that washes the metal around the pipe away and all the fines out of the basecourse causing the hole. Notice the cracking along the road either side of the hole. The council would know this hole was likely to appear.

Sorry to hear about the damage.
Those saw cuts are just the sensor wires like they have at all traffic lights. They did patch it up today, but I think it's a dodgy job and will probably come out and cause another hole in the near future.

Btw, I was looking for that big pot hole outside Auto-One Kenso today but couldn't find it. I looked in the middle lane and saw one that was filled in but didn't look that big...

[Rt!]

Lol, i think theres enough interest to start pothole-hunters.com.au ;P

really it seemed to be a lot bigger than that when I hit it two days ago (its 1am now), I think the sides of the pothole have collapsed and its become a bit bigger.. when my rear wheels went in the whole front was lifted..

judging by the ruler.. what, about 12cms deep? :O

[Redfox]

Lol, i think theres enough interest to start pothole-hunters.com.au ;P

really it seemed to be a lot bigger than that when I hit it two days ago (its 1am now), I think the sides of the pothole have collapsed and its become a bit bigger.. when my rear wheels went in the whole front was lifted..

judging by the ruler.. what, about 12cms deep? :O


Yeah that sounds about right... can you see all the rubber on the edge of the pot hole where all the tyres have been f*cked... lol

[dvx]

LOL! I hit this exact same pothole (outside BP and opposite the tyre store) today.. front went in.. BANG.. its a lot deeper than it looks.
Thankfully I wasnt going too fast and didnt damage anything at all, but when my rear wheel went in it (the whole wheel pretty much went in), I could really feel how deep it is.
wierd cause the pothole only appeared today or yesterday.

that the one near kingsford macdonalds? i managed to avoidthat one, but teh car infront didnt.

[Redfox]

that the one near kingsford macdonalds? i managed to avoidthat one, but teh car infront didnt.
Yeah that's the one...

[Rt!]

shit man its famous

[Redfox]

Lol! I think I found the one outside Auto-One... but it's filled in. Doesn't look like a good job tho... i give it a few weeks before it pops out again.

[Redfox]

Just a quick update on the pot hole situation...

Got a letter from randwick city council... they are refusing to be held liable for this pot hole according to the civil liability (personal responsibility) act 2002. Apparently they "cannot be held legally liable for damage to vehicles as a result of any state of disrepair of the roadways under its control, where such disrepair results from the inevitable process of wear and tear by vehicles and/or weather conditions."

I have read the civil liability (personal responsibility) act 2002 and what they have said is correct. I think this ammendment was made to protect councils in situations like this. However, I believe that there may be a way around it...

Part 5, section 45, sub-sections 1-3
"45 Special non-feasance protection for roads authorities

(1) A roads authority is not liable in proceedings to which this Part applies for harm arising from a failure of the authority to carry out road work, or to consider carrying out road work, unless at the time of the alleged failure the authority had actual knowledge of the particular risk the materialisation of which resulted in the harm.
(2) This section does not operate:
(a) to create a duty of care in respect of a risk merely because a roads authority has actual knowledge of the risk, or
(b) to affect any standard of care that would otherwise be applicable in respect of a risk.
(3) In this section:
carry out road work means carry out any activity in connection with the construction, erection, installation, maintenance, inspection, repair, removal or replacement of a road work within the meaning of the Roads Act 1993.

roads authority has the same meaning as in the Roads Act 1993."

Look at sub-section 1... it plainly states that they cannot be held legally liable ... "unless at the time of the alleged failure the authority had actual knowledge of the particular risk the materialisation of which resulted in the harm"

Which means that if I can find someone who notified the council of this pot hole and it's danger to other motorists a reasonable amount of time before I hit it, then I can probably get around this technicality.

The only problem is sub-section 2 where it is talking about how the council does not have a duty of care simply because they know about the hazard. Which essentially means they don't have a duty of care to prevent motorists from hitting this pot hole, ie. putting a traffic cone in front of it.

Which really doesn't make any sense because the whole section seems to contradict itself! I might ask one of my buddies studying law at uni...

I know, it's a lot of trouble for $49 (steering alignment) but it's the principle of the matter! Maybe I could call up the council and request this information. I need to know if anyone notified them before I hit it. I know when I notified the council, and I know when I hit it, so all i need to do is find someone who ht it before me!

[COSMOS]

dont ring the council - serve them with an FOI request instead which is sure to make em poop their collective pants. In the request state you want copies of all

emails
correspondence
telephone message pads
letters
internal minutes
work orders or requests
and any other documentation pertaining to that section of roadway for the past (lets say) 2 years

then see what happens
t

[MRVX]

Sounds like a typical response from a Council where they try and brush you off with loads of confusing legislation. :bash:
To find out about other complaints made about this pot hole you may wish to do a "Freedom of Information" request. It would cost around $30 but would give you all documentation/correspondence about the report of the damaged road. It may assist you in your claim.
Maybe the council would take you more seriously if you sent them a letter of demand from a solicitor.
Keep pushing them, you might just get some sort of compensation.
Good Luck

[IIV8II]

what a load of insipid, whinging, compo-co*ks some of you are. Seriously, I am ashamed to read some of these posts.

It's a pot hole. It's on a road. It happens. I don't like the, they're not very nice but if you missed seeing that, you should question your collective ability to drive. I am. :mad: What next? Compo for 'psychological suffering?'

[Redfox]

what a load of insipid, whinging, compo-co*ks some of you are. Seriously, I am ashamed to read some of these posts.

It's a pot hole. It's on a road. It happens. I don't like the, they're not very nice but if you missed seeing that, you should question your collective ability to drive. I am. :mad: What next? Compo for 'psychological suffering?'
Geez, calm down mate. Have you even read the rest of this thread and had a look at the pics of the pot hole I posted? It wasn't just any pot hole. It was a huge motherf#@ker! And it was hard to avoid and even harder to judge how bad it was. So many people who have posted in here actually drove into the pot hole and everyone had the same experience. If you didn't drive through it you wouldn't know what we are talking about. So why don't you shut the hell up you grumpy ass. Someone fell out of the wrong side of bed this morning... :rolleyes:

[IIV8II]

Nah, despite a horrible week on horrible roads, I'm happy-as! I just get sick of sookies not copping incidents like this 'on the chin' and I don't mind telling people about it, if it makes them think a bit harder about thier own sookie behavior. 'drove into the pothole' :lol: The bigger the holes are, the easier they are to see... yes? :)

[Redfox]

It wasn't the biggest pot hole i've ever seen but it was the deepest, and you couldn't really tell how deep the hole was until you were literally right upon it. So no...

I hope you hit a big pot hole like this one some day.

[SSFreak]

It wasn't the biggest pot hole i've ever seen but it was the deepest, and you couldn't really tell how deep the hole was until you were literally right upon it. So no...

I hope you hit a big pot hole like this one some day.

Yeah, like this one. :lol:

http://www.gill-family.net/steve/images/busdive.jpg

[Speedy Gonzales]

Nice pics taken, makes the ruler look tiny, good luck.

[Rt!]

having been in this pothole, I can tell you that this is one of those super potholes.. when my rear wheels were in it, the front of the car was facing up and I was breaking traction trying to get out of it.
if I hit it at speed I rekon it could have done some serious damage