Brighton & Hove Taxi Driver Starts Pothole Petition

Damaged tyres and wheels from potholes across Brighton and Hove have spurred a taxi trade representative to start a petition.

Andrew Peters, of the Brighton and Hove Cab Trade Association, wants enough people to sign his petition highlighting the effect of potholes on all road users so he can make a presentation to the council to complain about the lack of maintenance.

He started the “Brighton and Hove – Pothole City” petition on the Change.org website and more than 170 people had signed it by last night (Wednesday 24 May).

Mr Peters needs 1,200 signatures before he can make a speech to councillors and receive a public response.

On the Change.org website, he said:

“By signing this petition you are raising your concern with Brighton and Hove City Council and demanding that action is taken to repair the roads and an official statement to be provided.”

He started his petition after his cab was damaged when it hit a pothole. He said that what frustrated him was that the council required taxi drivers to keep their vehicles to a high standard but did not follow the same principles when it came to roads.

Mr Peters said:

“Like all drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in the city, taxi drivers have to be on high alert for the ever-deteriorating roads that are crumbling away on a daily basis which are down to the sheer neglect by the council, so the state of the roads affect everyone.

“Having been in the trade for over 40 years, I have never seen the roads as being as bad as they are now.

“My own vehicle suffered damage to two new tyres due to a deep pothole.

“I submitted a claim against the council for the cost of replacement – which I had to do straight away.

“I did note that within a few days, this specific pothole (on the A259 at Ovingdean) was filled in, so this left me wondering if the council only takes action when a claim is made rather than try to prevent damage to cars.

“This seems to show that the old myth is true that paying out to those who bother to make a claim is probably cheaper than being proactive.

“It has now been two months since the claim was acknowledged but I have yet to be compensated.

“Annoyingly, my taxi had only recently been through the strict council compliance test, which is a higher-level MoT, but shortly after I made the claim, I noticed the taxi wasn’t driving as smoothly as it normally did.

“This became worse so I had it checked out only to discover that there was a component that failed badly which could only be due to that pothole that ruined the two tyres.

“This cost several hundred pounds to correct but, because I had already submitted a claim for the tyres, I didn’t think the council would accept another and would probably be difficult to prove.”

Mr Peters said that taxi drivers were “very fed up” with the effects of poorly maintained roads on their vehicles, resulting in stress.

He questioned whether the council was carrying out regular road checks and maintenance because so many across the city were pockmarked with potholes.

The council was approached for comment.