New RAC figures reveal tens of thousands of pothole compensation claims, but for motorcyclists the danger goes far beyond repair bills, as a rider paralysed by a road defect explains.
Pothole compensation claims may be soaring across the UK, but behind the statistics are riders, like Richard Cheshire, who was left paralysed after hitting a pothole and crashing.
New data, unearthed by the RAC via a Freedom of Information Request (FOI), shows claims submitted to local authorities have risen by 91 per cent since 2021. Yet for motorcyclists, the true cost of potholes often never appears on a balance sheet.
One rider who knows that better than most is Richard Cheshire, who, fifteen years ago, hit a pothole on his motorbike. The resulting crash left him paralysed from the chest down. He was 19 at the time of the crash.
“It has been 15 years, and the roads are a massive embarrassment,” he said to the BBC. “Nothing has changed.”
Richard was riding to work as a lifeguard in October 2010 when he struck a pothole on Netherfield Lane in Meden Vale, Mansfield. Thrown from the bike, he hit a fence and sustained catastrophic spinal injuries. He spent six months in hospital and now uses a wheelchair full-time. READ MORE...
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