What's underneath that puddle at the side of the road?

As the roads deteriorate further and further during winter, standing water can hide all sorts of nasties. Anything from oil to branches, diesel, rocks, bits of metal and a few others besides. However, the most likely one is yet another pothole.

Some are little more than a small hole an inch deep, which will probably be taken care of by your car tyres and suspension and just make a bit of a bang. However, some are a lot worse with everything from collapsed or broken drain covers sticking up, to potholes six inches deep and half a metre across.

The first thing to watch out for is that the standing water will likely pull your steering deeper into the pothole or even into the kerb. Also, your tyre may “aquaplane” and lose all grip with the road.

Most likely, the worst that will happen is that there will be a loud bang and you will find yourself needing a new tyre and/or wheel, but it can also wreck your steering and suspension. In addition, you may be stuck at the side of the road for a few hours waiting for assistance and missing that all important appointment, family get together or football match, not to mention a couple of hundred pounds for a new tyre.

Can you claim against the local council? Well, you can try, but they seem to be inundated at present and they will often try to use the “section 58 defence”, which can make things a lot more difficult. https://www.potholes.co.uk/claims/highways_act

So, what can you do about it? Well, not a lot really, but wherever possible, try to avoid them or if that is not possible, at least go through them at crawling speed to give your car the best chance of dealing with it.

And of course, always remember to dry your brakes afterwards by dabbing them for a few seconds whilst moving along.