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Tuesday 14 May 2024

Favourite Pothole

 

8 comments:

Sam Vega said...

I'm torn between two beauties that I encounter on the school run.

The first is on the busy A272 at Trotton, between Midhurst and Petersfield. Cleverly situated just past a hump-backed bridge, it consists of a long deep trench which runs lengthways, thereby trapping the nearside wheel and guiding you into a water-filled pit. A local farmer has actually painted "Massive pothole" on a big board and propped it against a nearby telegraph pole.

The second one plays with the driver's sense of agency. It's just outside the village where we lived, and is again on a busy road. You can see it well in advance, but on a blind bend. Knowing about it encourages you to veer into the other lane and risk a head-on encounter with a speeding vehicle. I don't think the collision would be much more spectacular than the mighty belting it gives your nearside suspension.

A K Haart said...

Sam - my favourite for a while was a huge one on the A6, but because it's such a major road it was repaired fairly quickly. Favourite now is a section of road in Eastwood which is not a big pothole but a series of smaller potholes joined together to make a surface so rough that drivers must wonder if they have strayed into an abandoned farm track.

microdave said...

Geoff needs to visit Derbyshire!

"But a series of smaller potholes joined together"

Which applies to the A617, just the Newark side of Kirklington. It's basically 4 continuous lines of potholes, along the wheel tracks on each side. Even a motorcyclist would struggle to find a clear way through...

dearieme said...

There's a case for everyone buying old Land Rovers but there won't be enough to go round. Shouldn't the London owners of "Chelsea Tractors"be selling them profitably in the provinces and buying themselves EVs?

We once drove a Toyota Land Cruiser in the Outback: more reliable than Land Rovers but, in those days, the diesel engine was a bit gutless.

Scrobs. said...

There are about fifteen drain covers, which have been repaired by Kent County Council on one stretch near here. They are 'mended' in such a way that the covers are now about an inch and a half below the surface of the road, so that when cycling 'happily', one veers out to avoid them, and the lorry behind swerves into oncoming traffic with ease!

The pothole opposite 'The Turrets' was 'repaired' in January, and is now twice as big...

A K Haart said...

Dave - yes Derbyshire is bad, we see sections of road which are breaking up and could soon end up like that part of the A617.

dearieme - that's worth thinking about, buy one now with the intention of keeping it.

Scrobs - we also see 'repaired' potholes where the repair doesn't last. In Derbyshire the council is supposedly trying out a 'greener' material for filling them so things could become even worse.

dearieme said...

@AKH: you may have to hurry up.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/05/16/drivers-may-struggle-to-buy-petrol-cars-as-garages-face-risk-of-15k-net-zero-fines/#more-73395

A K Haart said...

dearieme - difficult to believe it's happening, but many voters will vote for more of the same.