An extra £100 million has been allocated by the Government to local councils, to help fill in the nation’s potholes caused by the severe winter weather. This is on top of the £831 million already provided to councils for road maintenance this year and the £3 billion the Government has committed over the next four years.

Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, said,”I am determined to see the winter damage to our roads fixed as quickly as possible. This money should make a real difference to the millions of drivers who are fed up with having to battle against dangerous potholes”.

But Warranty Direct‘s Managing Director, Duncan McClure Fisher, said,” A shot in the arm like this is always a welcome boost for road users. But it won’t eradicate the problem of potholes and, if it’s spent on shoddy, temporary repairs, we’ll be back to square one before we know it”.

Warranty Direct set up www.potholes.co.uk in 2007 and they have also reported that there has been a 39 per cent increase in reported pothole year on year, in the first three weeks in February. If you want to find useful tips on avoiding potholes or how to report them it’s worth a visit to their site.

Potholes on UK roads

The Driving Instructors Association (DIA) was founded in 1978 and represents the interests of professional driving instructors.  DIAmond Advanced Motorists administers advanced driving tests on their behalf and they are now calling on the Government to fix the UK’s roads to an acceptable standard.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey concluded that around £9.5bn is need to fix the pothole-ridden state of the nation’s roads. With over £40bn going to the Goverment’s coffers in 2009 from a combination of vehicle excise duty, fuel duty, plus VAT on fuel duty and car sales, they conclude that there should be enough funds to rectify the situation.

Mike Frisby, DIAmond chief examiner said,”Numerous surveys have shown that the the road-going public consistently thinks that improving our roads should be a priority for transport expenditure. But successive governments have been less keen on spending revenue taken from motorists’ wallets in a way that will benefit them – and also the economy as a whole. Not only do we now need remedial work to be undertaken as a matter of urgency, but the UK government also has to prioritise and fund a programme of planned maintenance on a long term basis”.

Pothole in the road

Experts from the Asphalt Industry Alliance, which produces a report at the end of March each year on the number of potholes after contacting local authorities, has predicted there may be up to 2.0 million potholes on UK roads by the end of this winter. Their spokesperson, Helen Melhuish said; ‘Last year we recorded 1.4million potholes – a 40 per cent increase on the previous year. I wouldn’t be surprised if this year’s survey found a similar increase. This is bound to be a problem because roads have not been resurfaced”.

The recent arctic weather conditions in December have caused havoc on UK roads and as the thaw has come, the real problems have begun to be apparent. On average, if there were 2.0 million potholes that would be one hole for every 180 yards of the 200,000 miles of local roads in England and Wales.

The problems have also arisen due to some local Councils just patching up roads instead of resurfacing them to save money, when previous icy conditions caused problems before. The Councils have been warned that their costs will be higher in the long run, because of soaring claims over damaged vehicles and personal injuries, however with cash tight, the process for repair of all potholes is likely to be slow.

If you do spot a pothole and want to report it, or if you car or van has been damaged by a pothole, you can find all the information you need at www.potholes.co.uk, including how you claim damages from your local Council.

Following the recent bad weather, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has warned UK drivers about the deterioration of the roads, with many more potholes predicted. They have also called for some of the new duties and tax being raised (i.e. VAT to 20% and 0.76p on fuel duty) to be allocated towards more road repairs and road safety.

Neil Greig, IAM Director of Policy and Research, said,”While cuts to many budgets for road repairs are frustrating, drivers must learn how to deal with the state of the roads today, so bear in mind the following tip for safely navigating potholes and broken surfaces”.

IAM tips

• Make sure you leave plenty of room between you and any vehicle in front so you can spot potholes ahead.
• If you do hit a pothole check your tyres for any damage once you have stopped.
• It is also sensible to get the tyre tracking checked as well, as you may cause rapid tyre wear if the tyre tracking has been disturbed by a pothole.
• Don’t pull out suddenly to avoid a pothole as there may be a cyclist or motor cyclist nearby, or a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.
• Watch out for cyclists and motorcyclists as potholes are more dangerous for them and don’t overtake if they start “wobbling”.
• Potholes tend to come back from previous repairs so if you have seen one before try and remember where it is.
• Watch out for areas where heavy vehicles or buses may pass i.e. bus-stops for example as the roads around areas like this tend to wear more easily.

If you want to search for potholes in your area or find a pothole, don’t forget you can do this at www.potholes.co.uk

Honest John, one of the UK’s leading independent motoring websites, has reported that only 1 in 9 drivers * making claims to the Highways Agency for vehicle damage caused by potholes was successful. This is despite the hard winter conditions  causing significant damage to Britain’s roads.

Honest John said,”Evidence suggests that cases are being rejected where a driver can’t prove that a pothole was the source of the damage. Therefore, it is imperative that the driver goes through the proper channels to report the poor road conditions to the relevant council if they are going to be successful with their claim”.

This is the advice from Honest John

• Report any potholes at www.fixmystreet.co.uk or www. potholes.co.uk
• Both these companies will then report the pothole to the relevant council and it becomes a matter of record.
• If the pothole is not filled within a reasonable time (a week or so),then the council is responsible for any further damage it causes.
• So if you have experienced damaged wheels or suspension, check the two sites above to see if someone has reported the potholes already and if has been then you have a case for compensation.
• Finally if you spot a pothole and it hasn’t been reported yet, Honest John recommends doing so, to help everyone else.

* Data sourced from the BBC

The county of Surrey has been named as the worst for damaged and blighted roads, with circa 1,998 potholes afflicting Surrey’s 450,000 motorists.

The Kia Motors UK Pothole Survey has highlighted the growing problem of potholes across the UK and the effect this is having on car suspension failure, damaged alloys and split tyres.

The list of Britain’s potholes mapped is as follows;

1. Surrey- 1,998
2. Hampshire – 892
3. Kent -857
4. Hertfordshire – 855
5. Oxfordshire – 796
6. Lancashire - 733
7. Essex – 734
8. West Sussex- 680
9. Buckinghamshire – 678
10. Gloucestershire – 655

The Government has announced proposals this week that could spell the end of speed humps in 20mph zones and this news has been welcomed by leading car warranty provider, Warranty Direct.

Warranty Direct also runs the motoring campaign, Potholes.co.uk, which acts as a sounding board and advice centre for car motorists who damage their vehicles on poorly-maintained roads. According to their figures, six percent of suspension damage can be accounted back to the effect of traffic calming measures like “sleeping policemen”, as well as bad road surfaces and potholes. They have calculated that this equates to an average repair bill of  £240.

The Government has called for more 20mph zones after research showed that they can reduce road casualties by more than 40 percent. Warranty Direct’s Duncan McClure Fisher said, “Speed humps are as much of a menace as potholes and do much the same damage. As motorists, I think we’d all be glad to see the back of them”.