Woman’s tyre destroyed by pothole on A40 near Witney

Clare Lindsay was driving along the A40 from Oxford towards Witney on Friday (February 28) when she hit the pothole. The pothole, near Cuckoo Lane and opposite Barnard Gate, left her unable to drive further, meaning she had to call roadside recovery, "I am ok, but of course it is a shock and such a busy road," she told us.

"Luckily my five-year-old was not in the car with me. The AA and autocare express were amazing today. "There are so many people that have been affected by these holes.

"A well as the holes being dangerous, to swerve to try and avoid them and then when you hit them and a tyre blow is traumatic. "Then to report them you have to try to go back and take photos... again being very dangerous to do so... it's absolutely ridiculous. "It's been happening on both sides of the road."

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council[2] said: "While we ask people to report potholes and other road defects through Fix My Street, we only request that they take a photo if it is safe to do so. "Many roads across the county have suffered particularly from the recent cold spell and wet weather over the past few weeks. "We have seen a significant number of existing potholes worsening or new ones appearing.

"In weather conditions that we have experienced, potholes can appear very quickly. "We are prioritising those which pose the greatest safety concerns first and, depending on the situation and location, a temporary fill may be done." This comes after a "massive" pothole on the A40 took out three vehicles at once on the same stretch of road.

Three cars hit the same pothole within minutes near the Esso garage at Eynsham on January 6, just meters from where Ms Linsday struck the pothole. The pothole on the A40 at Eynsham in January (Image: Contributed) When one driver's car hit the deep hole she parked at the garage to find two more drivers stopped there who also had flat tyres. ?Subscribe to the Oxford Mail for GBP2 for 2 months in this new flash sale offer.

Benefits include an ad-light experience, the e-edition of the newspaper, unlimited access to our content and a reader's rewards scheme ? Full details here ?https://t.co/EvfA91umms pic.twitter.com/P1HP2Jq3zl[3][4]

The woman, who declined to be named, said: "We were going at 48mph. I don't know what would have happened if we were going more.

My tyre went completely down and though I didn't lose control it was very hard to steer. "I pulled into the garage and one person was leaving because they had already had their tyre fixed. And this other lady approached me and said, did you just hit that pothole as well?

"She had the recovery guy there so I said are you able to fix my tyres too." The driver said she is still suffering anxiety following a car accident only last year. She said: "Obviously it was a bit of a shock because it made a really loud bang.

I actually thought I had lost the whole wheel not just the tyre."

Following contact by the Oxford Mail, a county council spokesperson confirmed that the authority planned to carry out repairs on this pothole, and others in the same location by the pedestrian crossing point on the evening of January 10.

References

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