More British motorists have complained about pothole-strewn local roads damaging their cars this year as poorly-maintained roads continue to cause drivers misery, according to new research.
A large study by the RAC published today shows that 38 per cent of drivers listed the terrible state of council-maintained roads as the biggest concern, up from 33 per cent last year.
Some 52 per cent of 3,068 drivers surveyed said road conditions are worse than 12 months ago, as separate data shows there were nearly 1,900 call-outs between July and September this year for for damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs or distorted wheels.
This is despite a huge decline in the number of vehicles using UK roads during the coronavirus pandemic, with traffic falling to just 23 per cent of pre-lockdown levels at one point.
The motoring company said that it was likely that councils were ‘unable to keep up maintenance programmes as the pandemic took hold, perhaps due to staffing issues’.
It also said the annual survey called into question the Government’s pledge to fix the 11 million ‘nuisance’ potholes menacing drivers in England following the release of £2.5billion for road repairs.
A report earlier this year said councils had an £11.1billion backlog of repairs to local roads, with highway maintenance budgets dropping an average of 16 per cent – matching levels last seen in 2005.
The RAC today called for an extra 2p a litre from fuel duty to be ringfenced for local road repais, saying this would raise £4.7billion over five years.
A large study by the RAC that 38 per cent of drivers listed the poor state of council-maintained roads as the biggest concern, up from 33 per cent last year. The report showed that bad road surfaces were a bigger gripe for UK drivers than even drivers who use handheld phones (32 per cent), the poor standard of other motorists’ driving (27 per cent), and ‘road rage’ (26 per cent). Some 59 per cent of rural drivers complained about road conditions
Some 52 per cent of 3,068 drivers surveyed nationally said road conditions are worse than 12 months ago, with nearly 1,900 call-outs between July and September this year for for damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs or distorted wheels (stock photo)
Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy, said: ‘These findings are a big concern given that last year’s relatively mild winter should not, in normal circumstances, have led to a further decline in road surface quality.’
The annual report also showed that bad road surfaces were a bigger gripe for UK drivers than even drivers who use handheld phones (32 per cent), the poor standard of other motorists’ driving (27 per cent), and ‘road rage’ (26 per cent).
Some 59 per cent of rural drivers complained about road conditions, making them nearly as likely to bemoan the pothole epidemic as motorists aged 45 and over (62 per cent).
But this year there has also been a ‘sharp increase in complaints’ related to other factors, such as the visibility of signage, which rose to 46 per cent this year from 17 per cent in 2019.
The number of motorists complaining about roadside litter also rose to 36 per cent this year from 27 per cent last year, while 24 per cent complained about a lack of grass or foliage maintenance – up from 18 per cent.
Separate data by the RAC also showed that there were 1,871 call-outs for damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs or distorted wheels between July and September this year – breakdowns that are most likely to have been caused by poor road surfaces.
This is the highest third-quarter percentage of all RAC breakdowns seen since 2015, the motoring organisation said.
The RAC said that it was likely that councils were ‘unable to keep up maintenance programmes as the pandemic took hold, perhaps due to staffing issues’ (stock photo)
Cornwall has been named the pothole capital of the UK with 210,000 reported over the course of three years – but Lancashire has staked a claim for Britain’s worst crater
According to the RAC’s Pothole Index, drivers are now nearly 1.6 times as likely to suffer a pothole-related breakdown as they would have been in 2006.
Councils are required to carry out routine inspections of roads, fix potholes and compensate drivers for leaving roads in a poor condition.
How many potholes does YOUR town have? Cornwall is named pothole capital of UK with 210,000
Cornwall has been named the pothole capital of the UK with 210,000 reported over the course of three years – but Lancashire has staked a claim for Britain’s worst crater with a five-foot pit deep enough to fit a grown man inside.
Aron Cross, who owns Parson Lee Farm Glamping, reported a hole in Keighley Road, Wycoller, to Lancashire County Council’s Highway department a year ago.
But when officials inspected the site recently they found no trace of the pothole and left without fixing it, Mr Cross told MailOnline.
Meanwhile, Freedom of Information requests to 408 local authorities in the UK – 343 in England, 32 in Scotland, 22 in Wales and 11 in Northern Ireland – found that Cornwall Council had the most potholes reported to it.
But Lancashire could bag a win for the country’s worst pothole as a photograph of Mr Cross’ six-foot son Lewis, 27, showed how he fit inside it.
Lancashire could bag a win for having the country’s worst pothole as a photograph of Aron Cross’ son Lewis shows him inside it up to his shoulders. Six-foot Lewis, 27, stood on a rock to be seen in this picture
They are supposed to fix the most serious potholes within 24 hours, with less serious ones expected to be fixed within three months.
Though motorists and cyclists can claim for compensation for pothole-related damage to cars and bikes, councils have a defence against payouts – provided they can show they complied with their own inspection regime and reasonable care was taken to secure the road.
In a statement, Mr Lyes of the RAC said: ‘Usually, RAC patrols see the fewest number of pothole-related breakdowns in the third quarter which coincides with the summer, with volumes having dropped steadily from the high point recorded in the first three months of the year.
‘This normally correlates with councils carrying out work to repair potholes in early spring that have appeared over the winter.
‘But, faced with the early stages of the pandemic, local authorities might not have been able to keep up their planned maintenance programmes, possibly due to staffing issues, and local roads suffered as a consequence.
‘This also calls into question just how much progress has actually been made in fixing the 11 million ‘nuisance’ potholes cited by transport secretary Grant Shapps in May.
‘It’s also important to point out that our Report on Motoring research was conducted before the re-opening of schools in September – a development that has led to a rise in vehicle use and possibly to further degradation of unrepaired road surfaces.
‘While in last month’s Spending Review the Chancellor committed £1.1billion to local roads maintenance in 2021-22, including £500million to fix potholes and resurface roads, we continue to call for a long-term funding strategy for local roads under local authority control to improve and guarantee their condition into the future.
‘The emphasis shouldn’t just be on filling potholes but carrying out proper maintenance that prevents them from occurring in the first place.’
He added: ‘Our research for the RAC Report on Motoring identified increased support for this to be achieved by ring-fencing some funds from current fuel duty contributions.
‘More than four-fifths (82 per cent) of those surveyed were in favour of having a proportion of current taxation – duty and VAT on fuel, as well as Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) or ‘car tax’ – put aside for spending on local road maintenance.
‘This compares to 77 per cent who supported this idea in 2019. Simply ring-fencing 2p per litre of existing fuel duty revenue alone would secure £4.7billion of funding over a five-year period.’
A spokesman for the Department for Transport told the Times: ‘We’ve committed £2.5billion for local road repairs as part of the biggest pothole programme ever announced.’