IN THE NEWS


OXFORD TAXI DRIVER SAYS HIS WHEELS CAN’T COPE WITH STATE OF THE ROADS


An Oxford taxi driv- er has hit out at the state of the city’s roads after being forced to repair his alloy wheels multi- ple times due to potholes. Marius Perijoc, 35, said he felt Oxford City Council should help him pay for around £500 worth of damage to his Mercedes E Class taxi. He believes it is not fair – given the amount motor- ists pay in road tax and that he is pro- viding a service to the city – that he has to pick up the bill


for damage


caused by potholes, and a local taxi


council does not want


to take


responsibility for the problem, ex- plaining


that


claimants have to jump through a number of hoops before the case is even considered. He


“Considering the fact


that


Taxi driver complains his Mercedes is being ruined by state of Oxford roads


association agrees with him. Mr Perijoc, who lives


in North


Oxford, told the Oxford Mail: “My wheels cracked four times in 14 months.


I’ve repaired them twice and had to buy


two roads


continued: I pay


new


wheels because of the bad quality of the


in


Oxford.” He sug- gested that


the


around £2,000 per year (for insurance, road tax and an MoT) I don’t think it is fair that the coun- cil won’t pay the damage caused by the roads.” After sending his complaint, Mr Peri- joc was told – via a letter from insur- ance


company


Zurich – that the council was “unable to offer any com- pensation” after the incident on Becket Street because the council has a “good system of inspec- tion in place” and all safety defects are identified and worked on. But, asked specifi- cally about Mr Perijoc’s case, Paul Molony,


Retail


Aftersales Director for Mercedes-Benz of Oxford, said: “The wheel failure is due to external influences, general- ly


poorly


maintained roads and


impact.


subsequent Any


cracked rims are not due to a manu- facturing defect.” City council spokes- man Tony Eccle- stone said: “The council will consid- er a claim if it


12


details a specific defect,


precise


location, date and time of any inci- dent.” The city council took over responsi- bility for potholes in the city (via Oxford Direct


Services)


from Oxfordshire County Council last year. However, the City Council was not able to immedi- ately clarify how much it had paid out for potholes claims or how many claims had been made. Sajad Khan, Secre- tary City of Oxford Licensed Taxicab Association (COLTA), added: “Black cabs are on the road 24/7 and we can clearly see the condition of the roads in some parts of Oxford are horrendous. “We spend hun- dreds of pounds every six months on repair bills to our taxis which are directly attributed to the bad condi- tion of the roads. The heavier vehi- cles such as buses and lorries do most of the dam- age. “When there’s talk from our


local


authorities about modernising the black cab trade in relation to investing in zero emissions capable vehicles, perhaps


importantly,


more they


should be working towards restricting heavier vehicles on certain


routes


which are proving to be a financial burden due to the consistent damage they cause.” Nationwide, dam- age to cars from potholes has more than doubled in 12 years because of the ‘steady deterio- ration’ of


roads,


according to the RAC. The organisa- tion said that in the past year it has had 14,220 callouts to vehicles likely dam- aged by potholes. Mark Morrell, who is also known as Mr Pothole, said: “In an ideal world,


the


council should pay for it. “It’s very difficult, I have helped hun- dreds of people with their claims and it depends on the evidence. I esti- mate one per cent of people get rec- ompense when they claim.”


JANUARY 2019


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