The number of drivers breaking down due to pothole impacts rose by 11 per cent in the final quarter of 2017, new data has revealed.
A total of 2,830 breakdowns attended by the RAC in October, November and December last year were for pothole-related incidents, up from 2,547 over the same period in 2016 - suggesting the quality of UK roads is falling as pothole breakdowns increase.
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Further statistics support this assessment: while breakdowns typically increase from the third to the final quarter of the year due to worsening weather, the RAC reported the rate of increase between these periods in 2017 was 45 per cent, compared to 38 per cent the previous year.
Those figures are likely to strengthen recent calls for local roads to get more funding. Recent analysis by the Local Government Association, for example, revealed major motorways and strategic A roads get 52 times more funding than council-managed roads.
Commenting on the increase in breakdowns caused by potholes, the RAC’s chief engineer, David Bizley, said: “After several years in which the surface quality of our roads appeared to be improving, the latest analysis of RAC breakdown data suggests that for the third successive quarter we have gone backwards.”
Bizley said adverse weather partly explained the increase in pothole callouts: “The higher rainfall in the last quarter compared to 2016 and the snowy and icy conditions that much of the country experienced into December are likely to be significant factors.”
And while Bizley went on to say the RAC was “grateful” additional funding for potholes was announced in last year’s Autumn Budget, he warned road conditions could get worse before they get better.
“If we get more ice and snow or further heavy rainfall than normal in the next couple of months, there is a risk of further deterioration of road surfaces.”
Bizley highlighted potholes are a “serious road safety threat”, causing varied and expensive damage to cars. “Distorted wheels, broken springs and shock absorbers can be very expensive problems to put right,” Bizley added, before warning they can be “genuinely life-threatening” for motorcyclists and scooter riders.
Calling for ring-fenced, long-term road funding, Bizley argued: “Drivers contribute around £40bn of motoring based taxation a year and many will feel that they are having to endure roads that are substandard and therefore getting poor value for money.”
Highways England believes autonomous cars could one day report potholes to authorities automatically. Read the full story…
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