The family of 83-year-old Roger Hamer, who died after hitting a pothole on his bike in Ramsbottom three years ago, have accused Bury Council of ‘wriggling out’ of paying compensation and brushing the matter under the carpet.
Hamer crashed on Bury New Road in March 2016 and died of head injuries in hospital a month later.
Although no witnesses saw what caused him to fall, at least one local had previously reported a road defect at the spot. The coroner concluded that one pothole “possibly contributed” and another “probably did contribute.”
The inquest heard that local residents had frequently complained about the state of the road, including the number of potholes.
However, The Lancashire Telegraph reports that Hamer’s family say the council will not accept any liability for the incident.
Hamer’s daughter, Ruth Topping, said the local authority had refused several settlement offers and if the family wants to pursue the matter, it would have to be taken to criminal court.
“The solicitors don’t feel confident to take it to criminal court. As far as I’m concerned they’ve wriggled out of it and brushed it under the carpet,” she said.
Topping said that the council regularly paid out to drivers whose cars were damaged by pot holes before they were resurfaced following her father’s death.
“These roads were absolutely appalling. The potholes were so deep. The only thing anybody talked about at the time was potholes. These roads were neglect ed.
“It was a culture in Ramsbottom that you could just put a claim in and they didn’t even investigate it. They just paid it. My grievance is that they could pay out for the cars but they can’t pay compensation for my dad.”
While I always have lights on day and night and wear fluro, I have a friend that wears all black all the time and doesn't use lights ever. His...
A sad case, and one with no winners. The driver can thank her lucky stars that the cyclist wasn't more seriously injured and that the court was...
Bloody hell... How are you doing now?
And I liked endura too. Got a nice long sleeve mostly merino long sleeve a little while back, in orange.
No, the Ebay lights have been around for several years, this Lezyne light just appeared.
They shouldn't worry - the second part of the "tariff" refrain is "they can make it in US and they'll do very well".
"At the going down of the sun, it will get in our eyes and cause us to crash into things."
Been living in the area thirty years now and Brixton Cycles (and local riders wearing their famed Rastafarian colours jersey) has been an iconic...
Indeed - but again these are perhaps questions we should keep asking. Even if the immediate answer is "well we are where we are" or "how on earth...