Council denies pothole is to blame for teen’s moped incident
The teen's mum believes the potholes on Moorland Avenue in Lincoln were to blame
A mum says her son was sent flying over his handlebars by a pothole, although the council says the road isn’t to blame.
Seventeen-year-old Tyler Watts’ moped has been unusable since the incident which also left him with a broken thumb.
His mum Claire, who lives in Waddington, believes potholes on Moorland Avenue in Lincoln were to blame.
She has complained to the council, which says the road defects weren’t deep enough to be considered a safety hazard.
Tyler was preparing to turn onto De Wint Avenue when the incident happened on September 4.
He doesn’t remember much of the incident, but Claire says he still suffers from nightmares and has lost his independent mode of transport.
“When his friend rang to say Tyler had been in an accident, it was the worst call I ever got,” Claire said.
“He was travelling about 20mph at the time – he has always been a safe driver, and I have an app to track my children’s location and speed.
“From what Tyler remembered, he hit one and the next thing he knew, he’d flown over the handlebars.
“He went to A&E, where he had four X-rays. In the end, he had a broken thumb and a big gash on his knee, which he couldn’t bend properly for two weeks.
“The moped hasn’t been working properly since. It wouldn’t be cheap to fix – it would take hundreds to put right at least.
“He’s still having nightmares about the accident, and his moped had given him his independence in getting to college – now that’s gone.”
When she contacted Lincolnshire County Council LCC about the incident, it did not accept that the road was responsible for the accident.
Jonathan Evans, head of highways client at LCC said: “A detailed review of this claim has been carried out and, on this occasion, the county council has determined that the road surface is within our published policy and not a safety defect. The county council has therefore denied liability.”
The council says potholes deeper than 40mm on an A road are usually filled within 24 hours of being reported, with priority given to those which pose a risk.
For B and C roads this is 28 days, and for unclassified roads it is 90 days.
The council has recently begun trialing a JCB machine designed to fill potholes more efficiently, in an effort to patch up the county’s roads.