Bumpy ride as big hole ‘bursts’ tyres
Tuesday 19th January 2010, 11:11AM GMT.
Is this Shropshire’s worst pothole? Motorists have been swerving this crater in Telford which one driver claims has caused a large number of tyres to burst.
Kerrie Vaughan, from Ironbridge, says that she was travelling on her way back home from work in Ketley when she heard the front tyre of her vehicle blow out after landing in the massive pothole on Waterloo Road.
The 31-year-old pulled over to the side of the road only to be met moments later by another driver who she thought had pulled in to help her.
She said: “My boyfriend was with me because it was his car and we just heard the tyres pop. It was dark and we couldn’t see a thing.
“We pulled into a lay-by to change the tyre and we saw another car pull in behind us and we thought he must be stopping to offer us some help.
“But he had burst his front and back left tyres on the same pothole and had to stop to fix them. But cars only come with one spare tyre so he was stuck.
“We had to change the tyre in the dark and it’s going to cost around £100 to fix so I’m annoyed at having to pay that, we already pay for the roads.
“I know the weather is a factor in it, but it should be fixed before things like this happen. If people’s wheels are coming off there could be a more serious accident.”
She added: “It’s not fair if people are getting stuck when two tyres go out, something needs to be done.”
Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman, Russell Griffin, said the pothole was temporarily repaired yesterday after calls from concerned members of the public.
The borough council was warned by AA bosses that it could face massive bills from motorists hit by potholes opening up as last week’s big freeze thaws. Bosses from the rescue company said emergency funding was needed to stop crumbling roads running up bills in compensation and for accidents.
The council has vowed to fix any potholes branded a hazard within 24 hours. Contact the council on (01952) 384000.
- Do you know of a pothole which is bigger than the one in Waterloo Road? If so contact our newsroom on newsroom@shropshirestar.co.uk
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All the roads in Ketley have massive potholes in them Woodside Road is the worst. Hope the council repair them a.s.a.p after all that what we pay road tax for………..
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Maybe these pot holes have something to do with the skip wagons constantly driving through here this road is terrible for potholes!!!!
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Report potholes easily:
http://www.potholes.co.uk/
http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/
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i agree with Louise council should get skip company to sort it, its obvious its them that have caused this issue.
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Most of the roads in Telford are in a very poor condition, thanks to our un-caring council.
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So why did they drive through the pothole? my car has a steering wheel which is really good because it allows me to turn the car away from anything hazardous that I may find on the road.
And I normaly find things in the road because I have this great ability to look at the road ahead of me, and then act accordingly.
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The road from The shropshire star offices past overdale to the rock is a disgrace, potholes every few feet, must be over a hundred and most of them are still there from last winter…just bigger now.
You can’t really blame the skip company. The council are charging business rates to these people and know they operate that type of business so should be spending even mor time and money keeping this road in good repair.
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@Fran. How can you say our local council is uncaring? Cut them some slack… why to they need to worry about maintaining roads when theyve a brand new ivory tower to design and build for themselves?
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Possibly the worst road in Telford,not only potholes to contend with but mud on road (May be pinkskips fault) sleeping policeman that are concealed by the dirt,highley dangerous we came down on a motor scooter and didn’t see one till last minute,the result being whiplash to pillion passenger. No we were not speeding,not even near the limit.
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Why blame the council? Doesn’t the Highway Code say something about being able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear? If the pothole had been a person wearing dark clothing lying in the road having fallen they would have been splatted.
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ive noticed the roads in telford getting worse and worse over the last few years and having to replace bushes on my car far to often due to the poor road conditions, its about time they sorted them out filling in a hole dosent solve the problem 2 weeks later the holes are back and i pay my road tax for what ?
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For the benefit of Rich and Rob, no you don’t pay road tax. What I imagine you’re referring to is vehicle excise duty, and is paid directly into central government coffers, without being ringfenced for anything in particular.
Local roads like this are maintained by the local council, which is funded from council tax.
With the weather there are great holes all over the place, and they need time to fix them. They also need to be reported, or they won’t know that they’re there. Don’t just assume.
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All the roads in the telford area are becoming a disgrace, whichever part of town you drive through there a huge potholes. But as said in some of the earler posts the council have more important things to consider. Puddles and regeneration of wellington, a nice new office block why bother about the state of the roads it’s only the tax payers who have to use them.
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The roads from Market Drayton to Wem are dreadful. Not really the Council’s fault unless they do their usual rubbish patch repairs that crumble within the day and scatter rubble dangerously across the roads as usual!
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Also, Glyn, sometimes when it is pitch dark and holes are full of water it isn’t possible to see the potholes. If there’s something coming the other way on a narrow road and another vehicle way too close behind you (as usually seems to be the case) it is impossible to use the wonderful steering wheel to avoid it without killing someone!!
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clearly driving too fast if can’t see pot hole (dark or not) to take avoidance action, or slow down to minimise damage. thank god it was a pot hole and not a child running into the road.
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Very few tyres actually burst, the contact between the side wall and the well of the tyre is broken and the air escapes. Here endeth the lesson. More useless facts will be available as and when I can be bothered to read the latest whinging stories.
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Buy a horse, thwey don’t get flat tyre, and stop the sad stare at camera face (so predictable). Its always someone elses fault, steer around them chump.
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To be fair if i saw kerrie pull over so would i. Lovely bit o crumpet.
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I agree Kizzy. It is not always possible to take avoiding action.The B road I travel on at night (narrow in places, with the usual bends, and a max 60mph for most parts) is frequently strewn with ‘puddles’ large and small across the carriageway as well as the verges. If I braked every time I came across one of these in case it was hiding a pothole, I would definitely ensure the annoyance and frustration of drivers behind me. I would most probably be the cause of an accident!
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“Local roads like this are maintained by the local council, …… ”
Or NOT maintained at all, in the case of this road, which has had terrible potholes for over a year now….people have written about them before so there is no excuse for them being there still. Did the roa d repair men not see the other hundreds of potholes as they drove to fix this one?
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tc/glyn, I would suggest that if you are staring at the road directly in front of your car so intensly, that you can spot potholes in the wet and dark, then your overall observation must leave a lot to be desired….would you even spot that child on the pavement before they ran out in front of you?
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It is wise to drive with extra care in winter months.
Damage to roads can be caused by frost and road salt. This cannot always be foreseen.
I try to avoid potholes or any other obstacles in the road,as they cause damage to the vehicle.
I have to pay full cost of repairs to my vehicles,
this i find is an insentive to take more care.
Remeber mirror signal manovre.
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Point taken tc, however speed isn’t really the issue here is it? The holes are below ground level and not a raised object, therefore not picked-up in headlights in the same way. I have to say I do use my wonderful steering wheel where poss and have not hit any of the billion holes myself, just felt Glyn was not being reasaonable. What’s more a child wouldn’t be hidden under a huge puddle/flood so not really a fair comparison!
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Oops! All this talk of pot holes has ruined my spelling ability… the above comment should say ‘reasonable’.
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It’s not just the state of the roads in Telford,what about the road signs and bollards that are put up. They never seem to get repaired or replaced.
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Brian2, Not quite sure what you are suggesting then, the potholes should not be there because we as drivers do not have the time and ability to scan the road immediatey in front of us (because we are not allowed to drive slowly) as we have to concentrate on the road further ahead?
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Erm…I suspect my question may go unanswered, but does Kerrie Vaughan work for the Shropshire Star?
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The pot holes are fab its the road around them thats the problem!!!!!
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Glyn,
I couldn’t understand what you are trying to say in that last statement but the bit “potholes shouldn’t be there” is certainly true, in the abundance that they are, in a civilised country such as this. Maybe in a third world country you would expect to hit such a large amount and depth of pothole but then you would be driving a suitable vehicle to cope with them better.
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NDB – The answer is yes, just put the name into Google.
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I think putting Kerries name into google is a bit on the obsessive side? You complaining about a complaining article on here is a bit hypocritical?
Its bad that we pay tax and roads arent maintained, if you dont enjoy the article dont read it again and get over it!?
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Couldn’t resist checking this again. Have to say we’re all sounding a bit sad :-)
btw thanks Poppyseed.
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Totallyshocked, do you work for the Star too? Not sure if your comments are directed at me. I just think I would have found the article and the accompanying fuss more credible if a reporter had done their job and maybe interviewed the man with two burst tyres who perhaps doesn’t work for the Star. It seems to be just another example of the laziness and self promotion of reporters and columnists there. They only appear to report on things that affect them directly, in order to get themselves into the news.
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” btw thanks Poppyseed. ”
Yes, that certainly sums up the problems of driving on British roads these days.
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Kizzy – your totally right & Poppyseed, most of the time potholes are unavoidable and you can’t see them if full of puddles or flooding – the be all and end all is’ if they appear they should be fixed!!! It is not always possible to swerve out of the way particulary when there is oncomming traffic – come on folks we all pay road tax, why don’t we all agree, the Council need to pull their finger out and sort it out!! Not our responsability – it theres!!!! PS sort it out Telford and Wrekin Council!!!!
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I think it is absolutely appalling that this has been written as if the complainant was a member of the public! Shame on the Shropshire Star!
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NDB-I think you are missing the point of the article? Have you ever thought that Kerrie requested this to go in to bring the state of the roads to the attention of the public-to avoid accidents and to the council so that it can get filled in (which has happened may I add the pot hole has now been filled). Also pray tell me how the reporters would know the names of the people who have had the tyres blown out at the same spot unless they are contacted by them?
NDB you seem very angry at the paper however you continue to read the articles and complain about the articles online? Me thinks this is a result for the paper?! Not to mention obsessively ‘googling’ peoples names to see if they work there? It is a local paper at the end of the day and you cant get more local than the road outside the offices!
I suggest you contact them with a ‘real’ story about yourself and im sure they will be more than happy to put this in the paper.
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Totallyshocked, or should I call you Mr Owen? Please read the comments above again, I did not Google Kerrie, JGH did. (please feel free to apologize) Why didn’t Kerrie just ring the council, as the rest of us have to, rather than dragging your photographers and video filmers down to the pothole? Your reporters would know by going out and finding out rather than sitting in Ketley trawling through their memories and asking colleagues for stories. I rang the council the other day to report a problem with the Bucks Head lights which would have been delaying your delivery vans, sales reps and any other Star staff who are out on the road. Are you telling me that if I’d contacted you, you would have sent reporters and a film crew? I am not angry, or at least, I wasn’t until I read your response. I am not obsessed. Just disappointed. I made an observation about your blog when I thought you had submitted a lazy piece, and I criticised some of the photographs relating to the explosion in Shrewsbury, taken by a member of your staff. These are the only times I have “complained” about the articles that I can recall. Finally, your comment that “you can’t get more local than the road outside the offices” proves my point. It is the Shropshire Star. Not the Ketley Star. Have a nice weekend xx
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Just for the record, I am not masquerading as “Totallyshocked”.
You’ve mistaken me for a genuine contributor to this thread.
All the comments on this website are from readers. If you read them you will note that we allow comments that praise the paper and comments that criticise the paper.
Incidentally, NDB, you say you rang the council to report a problem with the Bucks Head traffic lights. Why didn’t you report it to us as well?
Andrew Owen
shropshirestar.com
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I suspect that TotallyShocked is possibly another stalking horse from the Shropshire Star, they seem to take great umbridge that anyone should question the validity of the report. Having been into Staffs over the past few days I can say that Shrops is no worse and no better at getting the pothole problem sorted, it’s called weather related damage and driving with due care and attention should prevent vehicular damage incurred.
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“Barbara said: Jan 22nd, 2010 at 13:44
I think it is absolutely appalling that this has been written as if the complainant was a member of the public! Shame on the Shropshire Star! ”
Barbera, This has got to be the most stupid comment I have read!
Of course she is a member of the public! Do you think that the Shropshire Star staged her blowout and dug the pothole themselves?….Of course not.
There’s the Public and there’s the Council….which one do you come under?
She has as much right as anyone…even council employees, to write and complain about the substandard roads round here, which are far worse than anywhere else in the country to my knowledge.Do you know of worse?
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Phew! I think a few of the comments made seem to have hit a nerve. I agree that everybody in essence is a member of the public but feel that the story has been made out in the form of a letter to confuse the readers, when in effect it is a report. I suspect bang have gone her freebie meals checking out eateries because she has lost her ability to be a mystery shopper. A little short-sighted getting your fizzogg in the paper all for 15 minutes of fame.
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Norman,
How can such a story be “confusing” to the readers?
It clearly points out that (a) potholes can be very dangerous and cause serious damage to your car.
(b) that road (as well as many others around) has some very bad ones and people should be wary on them.
(c) hitting that pothole and damaging her tyre was not a “one off case” as shown by the guy immediately after her hitting it too.
As someone who has had wheels and tyres damages by Wrekin Councils poor road maintenence/neglect/bad design in the past, I feel that anyone who points these dangers out to the general public is doing us a favour and if it embarresses the council into doing something about it…good, although I somehow doubt they will do anywhere near enough to remedy a large portion of the problems round here.
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For the record NDB am not a colleague of the shropshirestar just a reader.I just find it very strange that you are all so annoyed that Kerrie works for the star? Its still a valid story and she still has a right to voice her concerns?Im sure if you contact the paper about something you feel is local news they will put it in for you! But if you dont try I dont think u really can criticise another report!I dont know who Mr Owen is I think you may be a bit confused?
I really dont think it matters who is in the article, the fact is the pothole was dangerous and a pain and now as a result of the article it has been filled in! RESULT! Now thats all stop arguing and acknowledge that whatever you feel about the article a positive result has occured :-)
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