Road Conditions

[Turboconvert]

I feel the need to rant tonight about the conditions of our roads here in Qld (but I'm sure it can easily be applied to all of Australia). Because the town I in has a show on this weekend we get a public holiday on Friday. So here is me thinking with a three day weekend I'll get out or town and vist my sister in Caboolture and do a spot of fishing around the area. So I decided to leave this afternoon after work to make the most of it. I take a pit stop for a bite and the like at Kilcoy BP. But after a feed I decided to head of again. But alas I just came over a hill a little over halfway to Woodford and hit possibly the biggest pot hole I've seen without the road having been closed. Didnt even see it coming, it was dark and on the down slop of the hill just after the crest. The front right rim was split like crazy.

Now my rant is why after paying so much rego, taxes and the like are our roads in such a bad shape. I am sick and tired of driving on roads that are plain ordinary at best. I am sure if people where to dig into how much rego they pay, taxes in the fuel we buy (about 40c per litre I believe), the taxes paid by our insurance companies and I am sure there are plenty of other car related payments we make that go to our wonderfull government (note sarcasm). But where does all this cash go to? All I ask is for half decent roads to drive on. I try to behave as much as I can on the roads. I have only had a couple of speeding fines. While I am not the slowest driver on the road, society would be hard pressed to call me a hoon. I am not going to just blame the Newman government because the roads were terrible before hand. I am blaming both the previous government and the current government for squandering the taxes they get in state government stuff ups and red tape.

Now tomorow I have to try and figure out where I can get a replacement rim as soon as reasonably possible. Then I have to figure out which council jurisdiction the pothole lies in so I can hit them up for the replacement cost. Sure as I hell I am not going to sit down on my rear end and take this on the chin. Sorry for the long rant.

[tufLTD]

Can you get a photo of the pothole? It would help your case against the council responsible.
But you are dead right, the roads in Qld, especially rural & country roads, are atrocious.
There was a huge pothole between Gympie & Maryborough (main highway) & after a big rain someone put up a sign next to the pothole saying "No swimming or fishing allowed". Love it!

[Addz08]

Don't waste ya time with trying to get the council to pay, 8 weeks ago I hit a massive one at Buchanans Rd, Morayfield, and just got a letter today with a whole lotta crap on it and sorry we consider the matter closed..

[Turboconvert]

I did take a photo tonight but it isnt that great. I am going to go for a drive in the morning to figure out jurisdiction and as it may be close to the border between somerset and moreton bay regional council. I'll post some pics when I get them and in good day light. Addz08, I think I might still try as I figure I could be out some 600 odd smackos, so I would rather tried and and the claim rejected then to not try and wonder. I have heard some councils accepting claims.

Im glad I am not the only one that has managed to find a pot hole.

[mik]

You have to wonder if it does that much damage to the wheel what other damage has been done to the front end .
I don't think the council should be able to fob you off like that, it's not just a property damage issue, it's a safety issue, one day some one will get seriously hurt from one of these car breakers, I dunno if it would work, but what about telling your story to a local rag , leave an email ask if others have come to greif, if enough people front up maybe you can get a class action or at least get damages.

[falconnut]

My car has hit more potholes in QLD and NSW than i can count.

Thats what we get for having a modern democracy.

OP i doubt you will get anywhere with the council, i got chips all over my car, cracks and chips in my windscreen and **** all under my car from the 3rd world roads and the local council wont do jack

They just stuff you around then send you away.

[Gavin]

Surely their is a duty of care for the roads to be driveable and not full of large potholes. Try contacting RACQ legals for advice. A mate hit a huge one in his 4b the other day, 2 tires 2 rims and suspension damage and a $5000 repair bill for the insurer. He said the hole was massive and on the top of a hill. These holes dont just appear over night. i have been watching some holes grow in size over the last month on the way to work.

The local council had a phone app that used the phone GPS to log the position when you take a photo of the hole which was then sent thru to them so they could repair them. Great idea i reckon. Maybe something for RACQ to put forward.

[flappist]

I just can't understand why there are holes in the road. It is not like we have have almost constant flooding for most of the year and despite being told not to dropkicks in heavy trucks and 4WDs just drive over areas that are still waterlogged and soft?

There are squillions of them. The roads are being repaired constantly but they can't be everywhere at once.

Well I suppose they could if they doubled rates tripled rego and made every road a toll road.

Anyway I am sure I read somewhere that our roads are all ok an something like a "country pack" option on Falcon is not needed.........

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by falconnut

Thats what we get for having a modern democracy.

no, that's what we get for having all our road taxes funneled into hospitals and schools...

(so hospitals can buy those $50m cat scanners and schools can get a laptop for every student - these things cost money)

[poppa smurf]

not just in banana bender country I'm afraid, they are a constant worry here as well

after exhausting all other avenues, including council perhaps a carefully worded piece in the paper listing position and damage caused

be careful as to wording though as litigation is easier from the other side

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by Gavin

These holes dont just appear over night. i have been watching some holes grow in size over the last month on the way to work.

The local council had a phone app that used the phone GPS to log the position when you take a photo of the hole which was then sent thru to them so they could repair them. Great idea i reckon. Maybe something for RACQ to put forward.

And did you report this crater that you saw growing over a month?

One of the main excuses council uses is that they can't fix what they don't know about. And as a claimant you need to prove they knew about it, and didn't act within a reasonable time frame.

They have a permanent legal team, this stuff is like bread n butter to them.

[Turboconvert]

Yea poppa smurf, like I said in post 1, could probably be nation wide. While the flood wouldn't help, the floods can become bit of a scape goat depending on how that road faired. I really don't want to go to the paper unless I have too. I might consider legal advice pending how much damage was actually done first. I spoke to the council this morning and they say it is a state road. So I then called up main roads and had confirmed it as a state road. They then gave me an email and have a few pics as well to send off. Ill get the replacement rim, have a mechanic/ford look the the corner that hit to look for other damage and get offical quotes to fix. From there I will send the email. Time will tell if I get my cash back.

[poppa smurf]

I really hope you get compensation but after working with a few accidents directly related to road "deterioration" I dont hold out much hope for you

every council has it's own outlook on potholes and their responsibilities to them......most I'm afraid take the route of ignorance "if we dont know about them then how can we be responsible" lawyers always advise denial as the first line of defence

all you can do is to approach and put your claim forward carefully and well worded......

possibly have a word with a lawyer and discuss your pathway forward.......calm is the byword here

[Turboconvert]

I hope I do, thou it might as you suggested to not get to ahead of myself and not to expect a payout. The more I think about it the more my blood boils. As my brother in law pointed out, it could have ended a lot worse. I could have easily hit the pot hole and lost control into the ditch (thus writting my baby off) or even worse, into on coming traffic and killing someone. That stretch of road is 100k area. Even with safer and safer cars, accidents at that speed rarely ever end that well. Not only do pothole damage peoples private vehicles, but if big enough can injury people.

Just some photos for you folks at home.

[poppa smurf]

well as potholes go it is not actually overly large, compared to some of ours......having said that the amount we pay in blacktop tax, we should have roads paved with gold theoretically

all you can do is to put it to them and see what happens.....good luck

[Turboconvert]

thanks Poppa smurf, it did enough damage. Looks can be decieving. Like I said the placement of the hole basicly suggests that unless you allready knew it was there, it is very hard to spot at night.

[poppa smurf]

undoubtedly it would, and has, done damage.......should never happen, but they do!

[Gavin]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

And did you report this crater that you saw growing over a month?

One of the main excuses council uses is that they can't fix what they don't know about. And as a claimant you need to prove they knew about it, and didn't act within a reasonable time frame.

They have a permanent legal team, this stuff is like bread n butter to them.

Yes has been reported.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by uteaddict

image

It might be the angle of the photo but that looks like a very low profile tyre, and they do not like rough roads.

Lotsa luck trying it on with the council or whoever you write to, the Syd Tele recently ran an article on this kind of thing in NSW.

It seems that less than 10% get reimbursed for any damage.

The Courier-Mail ran this, last Oct.............
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226504901442

The Syd Telegraph article.....
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226622994632

[Turboconvert]

The angle of the camera is not a good shot of the tyre. For 19s the profile is pretty good. I have certainly seen lower profile on cars, especially on the 4wd getting round town at the moment.

[mik]

some of these bloody holes , i look at them and feel like running up to bunnings and buying a couple of bags of cement fair dinkum, even a patch up job temporarily is better than nothing, what happened to the old days when councils had a couple of blokes in an ashfelt/hot mix truck randomly fixing dodgey bits of road, surely it cant be that much out their budgets??

[mash again]

And people cant work out why everyone is buying SUV's and the "car" market is in trouble, the falcon XR8 ute im driving will be my last one, the roads are that crap Ill be buying a dual cab with more clearance unless they make a turbo territory ute, would love that, Sorry just slapped myself for dreaming out loud.

I often wondered if we had a war that wiped out 50% of our roads, it would take us 100years to rebuild them, but we would have an excellent industry for signage cones and flouro vests!

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by mash again

And people cant work out why everyone is buying SUV's and the "car" market is in trouble, the falcon XR8 ute im driving will be my last one, the roads are that crap Ill be buying a dual cab with more clearance unless they make a turbo territory ute, would love that, Sorry just slapped myself for dreaming out loud

Yep .. I'm not a big fan of SUVs etc but in a previous life I owned a old Jeep Cherokee V8 (FSJ with a 5.9) and its agricultural four wheel leaf spring suspension would have made short work of all but the worse potholes.

I kind of instance why people might buy an SUV for that reason.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by mik

some of these bloody holes , i look at them and feel like running up to bunnings and buying a couple of bags of cement fair dinkum, even a patch up job temporarily is better than nothing, what happened to the old days when councils had a couple of blokes in an ashfelt/hot mix truck randomly fixing dodgey bits of road, surely it cant be that much out their budgets??

never happened while the highways department was in full swing.....roads, like everything have a lifespan depending on their construction method, most of these roads were never designed for heavy vehicles and are showing the effects

we have full width "sheeting" now where the road has lost all of its bitumen across the full width of the road, then a channel is created by heavy vehicles, these can be 18" deep with no way of avoiding them.....hit this at speed and you leave your suspension behind

some roads have been reverted back to gravel as a cost cutting measure, cheaper to grade a road every 3 - 4 years (if at all) than patch

[Phil B]

Here is a picture of the only road into my town:



I think I win!
That's not me, just a pic off the net, but I did drive it in my Falcon, and will drive out again soon. Falcon tough

[poppa smurf]

you win!.....

[nstg8a]

Trouble with quick patch jobs is the patch deteriorates very quickly. As soon as it starts to break up you end up with big chunks of loose asphalt lying over the road as they get dragged about by trucks and other vehicles. Just as,if not more dangerous than the pothole it was supposed to be fixing.

[Phil B]

Actually I found a worse pothole. This is on a less major road from a different town near here:



Here is a link to more photos of the road into my town

I didn't take any pics as I drove the whole thing in a day.

[mik]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

Trouble with quick patch jobs is the patch deteriorates very quickly. As soon as it starts to break up you end up with big chunks of loose asphalt lying over the road as they get dragged about by trucks and other vehicles. Just as,if not more dangerous than the pothole it was supposed to be fixing.

probably some of it depends on the quality of the road in the first place, some of these roads look like they had very little or no proper road preparation prior to a very small depth of tar squirted on the top(if any), you sort of expect it way out in the sticks, (not to say it is good of course).
Not so in the burbs of the big cities though, a drive through parts of melbourne is an eye opener for some pioneering style roads where there is nearly 800,000 people criss crossing the cbd every week day, hope your tyres,steering, shockers and bump stops are in good order .