[kiku007]

Some of you might have read or even robustly participated in the discussions on the accountability of Toll Road operations in the below thread,

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...ia-fastag.html (Shouldn't Toll Operators pay a penalty to road users for broken roads, via FASTag?)

I think we have accepted the fact that it is a utopian concept to expect accountability from Toll road operators in India.

What if I tell you that my local council in Australia paid me for the cost I incurred to replace a car tyre that was damaged by a pothole? Read on.

Day-1

• I was driving my wife's Mazda 3 and hit a pothole during a right-hand turn at less than 50 kmph.
• The on-board TPMS reported a massive loss in tyre pressure in the front LHS tyre.

• Parked the car and called Mazda Roadside Assistance (RSA).
• Within ten minutes of calling them, their RSA partner RACQ had their person next to our car.

• The flat tyre was replaced with a space saver. No sweat

• Went to the tyre shop to check on the puncture.
• There's a hole in the sidewall and the tyre had to be replaced

Day-2

• I was talking to fellow mates in our Drive club about potholes and sidewall stiffness.
• I even spoke about it in TBHP here (Completely fed up of damaging my 18" rims | Bought an extra full set of wheels).
• Fellow Drivermasters asked me to lodge a claim with the Council and ask them to pay for the new tyre.
• So I gathered all the evidence and that includes pictures of the potholes and the invoice.

• I lodged a damage claim with the City Council on a Sunday night.

Day-3

• I get an e-mail and a call in the morning from the Council!! That kind of response time beats several private companies

• They had assigned a person to check and fix the pothole. The Council has engaged a company to process their liability claims and they gave me the contact details.
• I contacted the Insurance/Liability processing company and lodged my claim (again).

Day-5

• They assigned a Case officer to assess my claim.

Day-11

• Claim processed. They offered to pay for the tyre.
• There's a clause that, "no admission of liability basis" but that's fine.

It is an understatement to say that I'm impressed with the outcome. Accountability exists.

Is this the norm or an exception in Australia? Anecdotal evidence from speaking to several friends here indicate that it is quite common here. The key is to have access to the right information, present a strong case and be polite. I prefer that to the social media vilification approach that some people take.

The city had heavy rains the previous week and that possibly explains the appearance of the potholes. I'll try to get a picture of how they've fixed the pothole.

I don't know how relevant this is for the councils in India but it'll be interesting to know if they also have similar claims processing systems. Maybe they'll go bankrupt if they have such processes. However, what's the excuse for Toll road operators?

[akshay4587]

I Drive an Alfa Romeo 159 with 235/40/19 tyres in Melbourne, and I am waiting for the day, I have to run after the council for such a claim, since some roads were terrible; hopefully they have improved, since I am away from Australia since a year now.

Such claims aren't uncommon; a few years ago, a sign board on a freeway towards Melbourne airport fell on a Kia Carnival (Or some other MPV), it could have been fatal as well. The car was replaced free of cost, I cannot recall if the recipient got some compensation for the trauma.

[Gansan]

Doesn't look like much of a pothole! I wonder how it totally damaged the tyre at 50 kph.

[mav2000]

Thats not a pothole, thats a perfectly normal road in namma Bengaluru.

[ABHI_1512]

The city council in Australia must have some real sympathetic people there. They have compensated for almost a non-existent pothole whereas folks here break their axles and still can’t convince the insurer, let alone any city corporation or council. The magnanimity shown here is in a complete contrast to our country where we keep paying tolls for non existent roads even !!

[landcruiser123]

Wow, the Indian government would have been bankrupt if they replaced tires for all potholes.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Doesn't look like much of a pothole! I wonder how it totally damaged the tyre at 50 kph.

I take the liberty to assume the OP was turning in an enthusiastic manner.

As weight transfers due to centrifugal force during a turn, tires on one side of the car bear a lot more weight than the case when the car is going straight.

[CarNerd]

That's one of the advantages of living in a developed country with less population and efficient public administration. I don't think we can even dream of something like that happening in India. Here, As soon as a new road is laid, we can measure the time taken for the first pothole to appear using a stopwatch!

[DDIS_RE650]

In Bangalore, entire Karnataka State budget will get exhausted to compensate. I have bent my ZMR front rim on ORR as there was unexpected pot hole. Forget normal roads even NICE road is in bad shape due to uneven patch work, it is too scary to change the sudden lane.

[invidious]

Ha, reminds me of a couple of similar incidents. Was walking on a sidewalk in Copenhagen 2005. A nail on a repair cone was jutting out and hit my leg - causing a small tear in the jeans. I sent a pic to the city and they thanked me for pointing out the health hazard and offered to compensate me for a new pair of jeans. In Bombay, my friend's Honda Accord was wrongfully impounded by the Mumbai Police for having Diu and Daman plates claiming it was Road tax evasion. His livid dad took the Mumbai Police to court and since they had a factory in Daman, successfully argued that Mumbai Police was breaching his right to traverse the free country. Long story short, the Mumbai Police had to not only return the car but also pay a small compensation.

[matchvan]

The title of thread startled me.
I didn't read the Word in the Brackets. Silly me.
At the back of my mind, Which state in India is this and was making a plan to relocate.
Only when opened the thread, realised the truth.
Going by the pothole size, one trip from Nanded to Latur will make the council realise their mistake, they would reclassify the pothole nomenclature and take back their money..

[EV NXT]

It’s great to read about such wonderfully responsible governments while wistfully longing for that to happen in India too.

It isn’t going to happen in a long while but I guess with change being the only constant there’s no harm in wishful thinking.

Thanks for sharing!

[KGS]

Can we declare this as day light robbery by Kiku007

You are a lucky guy to experience such a great support from Council. I was going through all the pictures to find that pothole, and if I can say, I was highly disappointed to only see an uneven road.

My imagination of pothole was of the big deep roadless roads that I found near my workplace, where driving and patience skills were tested to the extreme. I never got a chance to envy people who were doing some serious off-roading. My way to office was so great that at-least 3 of the 4 wheels were in potholes and 4th one was about to land in a pothole. Driving above 10 kmph was testing the car to limits. (Those who don't know this road , It was between Hinjewadi Phase-1 and phase-3 some 4-5 years back. Now things are better there).

On a serious note, Kudos to the council for such a great attitude and professional resolution of concern in such a swift manner. These people set a great benchmark.

[KPR]

Wow that's a great country with even great city council.

I had lodged a complaint against wrongly planned highway exit. I was called by a local police to visit their station in the evening. I asked why there's a need to pay a visit? He said to me that since I've lodged a petition I should come visit them at station. I might have saved my bones by not going there I think. India is a great country too.

[turbowhistle]

Wow that's great to hear, I drive a 2021 Mazda 3 as well and I consciously chose 16" over the 18" ( both sets) after having trouble with 17" in my cooper s.

I know it looks a bit stupid ( 18" looks amazing on new Mazda3) but still I don't have to worry about roads or babying the car.

[Abhikumar629]

Wow!! Government body paying money for pothole damage is music to my ears. Well in India, even a life lost because of bad roads will not ring the bells with any government authorities.

I am quite puzzled with the pothole pic. Is this something that really qualifies as a pothole? If yes, then almost our entire country is riddled with potholes. How can such an undulation lead to a cut in the sidewall?