For the first time in four seasons Mercedes were denied
victory in the season-opening Grand Prix, as Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari made
good on their pre-season promise by triumphing at Albert Park. Strategy played
a part in the result – but as Mercedes chief explains, Ferrari were also faster
when it mattered most. The four-times world champion cruised to
his second win at Albert Park and 43rd overall with a nearly 10-second gap over
Mercedes runner-up Lewis Hamilton, proving the Ferrari cars' encouraging winter
testing was not just a mirage.
Uttar
Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityanathji directed officials of the public works
department (PWD) to make all state roads pothole free by June 15, 2017. In
Gorakhpur, which was his first public appearance after taking over as the State's
CM, Sri Adityanath declared that he had told the PWD officials to ensure that
there are no potholes in the roads of the state by June 15. The state had
lagged on the development front during the regimes of the previous governments,
he said.
pothole in UK
Uttar
Pradesh is not alone – many roads are bad, replete with holes and craters, big enough to
receive a vehicle inside is the refrain that we hear quite often ! - however, it is discernible that the infrastructure [despite all the scams and
cuts in contracts] is improving and there are some good roads – still one has
to drive very carefully as you can encounter a jay walker, a casually darting
two wheeler or wandering tractor or a heavy vehicle coming on the wrong side of
the road.
The roads are
generally laid of tar / asphalt concrete – a composite material consisting of
asphalt as a binder in layers and compacted do have big holes commonly called
pothole. There
is a similar sounding name in tamil ‘pothal’ which would also refer to a gaping
hole especially on a surface. But
the English word pothole is not a derivative from Tamil. In some parts it is called kettle or a
chuckhole – is a type of disruption in the surface of a roadway where a portion
of the road material gives way leaving hole.
Potholes basically are weak spots occurring over a period of time. They are mostly formed due to fatigue and
develop in a pattern known as "alligator cracking". The chunks of
pavement between fatigue cracks are worked loose and may eventually be picked
out of the surface by continued wheel loads, thus forming a pothole. It is also caused by temperature changes and
occur regularly at various places.
Though initially
they would only be a few inches deep, they would develop [deteriorate rather]
in to more trouble when not attended to immediately. When the cracks get wider and deeper, they
cause damage to tire and vehicle suspension.
Two wheelers can have serious trouble riding over them. Serious road accidents can occur as a direct
result, especially on motorways where vehicle speeds are greater. They are
frequently almost invisible to road users especially at night. Many a times, bigger accidents when drivers
swerve trying to avoid hitting a pothole, thereby running into other’s
path.
Accidents are bad !
when you drive your two-wheeler fast on and into them, there could be fork
damage and the driver or other road user too could be imperiled; but ever
imagined this ? - a Ferrari driver has been given £10,000 [Rs.
8.15 lakhs !!!] by a council when a
'huge' pothole damaged his red 'pride and joy'.
Father of two, Scott Nicholas, 44, was cruising along in his
Ferrari 458 when he hit the dip in the £150,000 motor. The pothole would have
cost the council just £53 to repair. Damage to the wheel, interior and
suspension meant the speedy sports car was off the road for three months as
parts were sourced from Italy. Mr Nicholas, from Peterborough, chose to take
the issue to small claims court where he received the sizeable pay out. MailOnline of date reports quoting him - 'It was a huge pothole. It could have knocked
someone into the other lane of traffic and caused a crash. I was lucky nobody
was heading towards me. 'When the airbags go off they go off like an explosive
charge. It was a good job there was nobody in the passenger seat.
'I thought I'd hit
something and then I couldn't believe when it was a pothole. 'The car is my
pride of joy. I don't take it out very often.' The bursting airbag ripped through the leather
interior creating around £6,000 of damage and the alloy wheel was completely
totalled which cost around £3,000. Work also had to be done to realign the
suspension which had been impacted. The owner of the car admitted himself he's
obsessed about the care of his cars - often preparing to leave them tucked up
safely in his garage than out on the road.
Previously he had
taken his cars out on test days but chooses against it now as he is concerned
over the wear and tear they cause. He says the claim was never about the money
but more about the principal. Now when he receives the £10,000 he plans to
donate it to an accident charity. The pay off was confirmed in court on March
15 and the money should be paid within three weeks of that date. He said: 'In
court I just felt they were obnoxious. They threw everything they could to try
and get out of paying out. 'They even tried to say a super car shouldn't be on
the road.
'All I claimed for
was the damage and the repair costs, nothing else. I was very sensible about
it. 'It was never about the money, it was the
principle. A spokesman for the council
confirmed it is the biggest sum they have ever paid out for pothole related
damage, as it appears that payouts relating to potholes are not new ! Last year
it was revealed that councils are handing out compensation to almost 90
motorists a week for pothole damage. In
2015 a romantic husband spent £2,100 to hire a Ferrari for his wife to drive on
her 50th birthday - only for it to be damaged by a pothole within minutes. Dean
Everitt, hired the spectacular Ferrari California for five days but his wife's
dream became a nightmare when she hit a deep hole and ruptured a tyre - leading
to repair costs of almost £400.
It certainly
is a different World out there !!!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
26th Mar
2017
~ largely
reproduced from dailymail.co.uk.
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