Ford Creates Pothole Test Track. Why?

Potholes are unfortunately an everyday occurrence for most motorists and a favourite topic of frustration. There’s almost nothing more annoying that bouncing into a pothole on what would otherwise be a stress-free journey, hoping it hasn’t thrown off your wheel alignment, or damaged more than your spirits. Ford has acknowledged this, and has decided to deal with symptoms, but not the cause, of the potholes on our roads.

James Thompson, Motoring Research, reports:

Ford is attempting to tackle the problems that motorists face from potholes by creating an entire test track dedicated to combating their destructive effect.

Situated at Ford’s Lommel Proving Ground in Belgium, the 1.2‑mile test track is littered with potholes of all shapes and sizes: this fearsome road is then tackled at speeds up to 50mph.

Designed to help engineers understand the punishment experienced when vehicles smash over broken road surfaces, Ford is using the track to test its new Continuous Control Damping with Pothole Mitigation technology.

This works by detecting when a vehicle’s wheel drops into a pothole. The suspension is then automatically adjusted to protect it from damage.

Sensors, similar to those used by seismologists studying earthquakes, record the loads and strain on the suspension system.

“Analysing data inputs during vehicle testing has enabled Ford to develop a range of advanced driver aids and design modifications to help continually improve the safety and robustness of our vehicles,” said Eric-Jan Scharlee, Lommel’s durability technical specialist.

The development of this technology is recognition of the mounting problems that potholes are causing motorists. Last year Street Repairs partners, the RAC responded to more than 25,000 pothole-related breakdowns in the UK – a near 25% increase since 2014.

Potholes can cause tyre, wheel and suspension damage, costing up to £300 a time. Surprisingly, Ford says they also contribute to at least one third of all road accidents every year.

Ford’s pothole track forms only a tiny part of the Lommel proving ground which is made up of 50 miles of test tracks and simulates more than 100 hazards from 25 countries worldwide.

In the past three years alone, Ford engineers’ search for scary road hazards has taken them to the UK, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and Switzerland, as well as Asia, Australia, North America, and South America.

The firm is now hoping that the lessons learned at Lommel will successfully give motorists a much smoother ride.

A smoother ride? Excellent. Less damage to the car? Perfect. Fewer accidents on the roads? Wonderful. This all sounds rather costly though, and what would be great would be for money to be invested in repairing our roads instead, but that’s not Ford’s responsibility. So, the meantime this seems like a great advancement, and we’re looking forward to hardly noticing the potholes on our journey.

 

Woman Dies From Blood Clot After Tripping on a Pothole

A MOTHER died from a blood clot after tripping on a pothole and breaking her ankle, an inquest heard.

Sarah Downie, 40, died within a week of the accident when a clot developed in her right calf and travelled to a major artery, causing her heart to stop.

A coroner heard how she stumbled in the pothole on September 7 and friends helped her back to her home in Leyland, Lancashire.

She went to hospital the next day where doctors found she had fractured a small bone in her ankle.

 

Martin Edgell, a consultant in emergency medicine who treated Mrs Downie at Royal Preston Hospital, told Preston Coroner's Court: "Mrs Downie came in with some pain in her foot and said it felt tender.

"After an X-ray she was found to have a small fracture, a chip in her heel bone, and was given a walking boot and crutches.

"I think she was treated appropriately and no one would have had her as a high-risk patient."

Just over a week later on September 15 paramedics were called to her home after she suddenly collapsed at around 11pm.

Paramedics and Mrs Downie's husband James desperately tried to resuscitate her but she died at Royal Preston Hospital at 2.42am on September 16.

Dr Jonathan Whittaker, an A&E consultant at the hospital who treated Mrs Downie told the inquest: "She was sitting in a chair at home when she suddenly collapsed at 11pm.

"Her husband began CPR using over-the-phone instructions and when the paramedics arrived they took over. 

"A pulse was then found and Mrs Downie's condition seemed to improve with her even saying a few words and CPR was stopped. But as she was leaving the house she went into cardiac arrest."

Dr Whittaker added: "Her heart had stopped beating when she arrived at A&E and we gave her a clot-busting drug to dissolve the clot at 12.50am.

"We then continued CPR and although we found a pulse it quickly went around 2am."

The decision to stop CPR was taken at 2.42am, when Mrs Downie was declared dead.

The court heard she had died as a result of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which happens when blood clots in veins.

Dr Whittaker said: "Some people have clots and don't know about it because the clot is so small. In this case it almost completely blocked the artery. 

"It's unusual to see someone coming out of that situation and be resuscitated. Almost always it's a fatal event."

Coroner Dr James Adeley recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: "This was a very sad death and a very rare event."

 

Street Repairs says "our heart felt thoughts go out to her family and friends at this very very sad time".

 

 

 

 

Source and image the Express 

 

Cyclist Refused Compensation After £250 Pothole Damage To His Bike

 

Council Workers Paint Road Markings Over Dangerous Pothole

Bungling council workers left residents confuse when road markings were painted right through the middle of a gaping pothole.

Bemused locals in the quaint market town of Horncastle, Lincs, couldn’t work out why workmen painted a white line through the hole at a busy junction on the A153 and A158 rather than actually filling it in.

They have now slammed the shoddy work of their local authority, describing it as “ridiculous”.

Stephen Melton, 32, said: “I couldn’t believe it.

Bungling: Workmen painted through the pothole rather than fill it in (SWNS)

"The guy went straight through the pothole and the line, which was supposed to be straight, went all over the place.

"They will probably be back next week to fill in the pothole - and paint the line again.”

Butcher Simon Davis, 54, added: “It’s going to cost money to paint over it once it’s filled in, have they not got any common sense between them?

"They must have some paint left over from last year’s budget. It just looks ridiculous.”

Repairs: The council say a lot of work is needed to fill in the hole (SWNS)

Andy Ratcliffe, area highways manager at Lincolnshire County Council, defended the lack of repairs on the road, saying the visible cables are “old, redundant cables with no power in them”.

He added: “To repair the road at this point we need to remove the cables and permanently repair the road surface.

"As this is such a busy junction, we will need to switch off the traffic lights and manage the traffic using four way temporary lights, outside of peak hours.”

 

To report potholes in real time why not try our free app  

 

 

 

 

Source Yahoo news

 

Glasgow Council Pays Out £1.4 Million In Pothole Compensation

SCOTLAND’S biggest council has been condemned for shelled out £1.4m in pothole compensation over the past four years.

Residents of Glasgow get more than 50 pothole compensation a month on average – two thirds of which are for personal injury.

In the biggest cases, two people each received £35,000 compensation for injuries suffered as a result of potholes.

A total of £963,218 in personal injury compensation was paid to 294 accident victims, including individual sums of £27,000, £20,000, £16,900 and £15,000.

The information was revealed in a Freedom of Information request which Glasgow City Council initially refused to answer without the payment of a fee.

https://streetrepairs.co.uk/foi  FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Critics of the council described the payouts as “incredible” and said it was “disgraceful” that officials appeared to have tried to hide the information.

The documents reveal that Glasgow council received an astonishing 33,340 complaints about potholes over the four years, an average of almost 23 a day.

They agreed to pay compensation in 2,504 of the cases – 7.5% – giving an average between 2012 and 2015 of 52 a month.

The highest claim for vehicle damage paid out was £2,447 and the lowest just £12. The lowest claim for personal injury was £100.

The FoI request was made to all Scottish councils but Glasgow was the only major authority to try to demand a fee – of £40 – for the information.

A spokesman for Taxpayer Scotland said: “It’s disgraceful that the Council tried to hide this information; you have to suspect that they are either unwilling to admit to the extent of the problem, or how to deal with it.”

He added: “Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying out hard-earned cash on compensation claims; we expect to pay for workers with shovels and tarmacadam.

“It appears that a schedule that dealt with more than two holes daily would sort out the problem; and that should be the focus of a small dedicated specialist management team and a publicly declared effort.

“Glasgow needs to put its risk management experts to work. They should come clean, localise the solution to local community depots, and avoid having meetings about plans, just get it done.”

Director of Policy and Research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, Neil Greig said: “What a waste of valuable money that could have been spent on improving Glasgow’s roads.

“By allowing its roads to deteriorate to such an extent Glasgow council has ended up paying out even more and it still has to fix the potholes on the network.

“It is only by ring fencing long term funds for road maintenance that the problem can be solved.

“Engineers know what they have to do they just need long term commitment so they can plan properly.”

Scottish Conservative local government spokesman Cameron Buchanan said: “This is quite an incredible amount of compensation being paid out by Glasgow City Council because of potholes and the fact the local authority initially refused to provide the statistics shows they have something to hide.

“I’m sure many hard-working Scots will be appalled that their cash is being continually spent on so many claims and the council is trying to cover it up.

“With local authorities facing huge pressures to become more efficient, the SNP Government and local authorities should be working together to repair our roads properly and fix potholes rather than throwing money from the public purse down the drain.”

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “The council has invested £75m over the last six years repairing the city’s roads network and this has significantly reduced the number of claims received and the number of claims which are successful.

“The positive trend in the reduction of weekly potholes reported by the public over the last three years is reflected in the number of claims received and the number of pay outs over this period.”

The original FoI request revealed that Renfrewshire Council had paid out £12,665 to the owner of a damaged vehicle.