With the travel disruption brought by the snow fast
becoming a distant memory, concern has rapidly turned to the
impact the freezing conditions have had on the UK’s already
pothole-ridden roads.
The RAC is fearful that roads will suffer further
degradation as a result of water having made its way into cracks,
freezing and then expanding during last week’s Siberian blast,
breaking up surfaces even more.
While the true effects will only become apparent in the
coming weeks and months, the RAC’s quarterly Pothole Index, which
tracks vehicle breakdowns as a result of damaged shock absorbers,
broken suspension springs or distorted wheels, should give an
early indication of overall road surface conditions for the first
three months of 2018 when it is published in early April.
It previously showed that RAC patrols attended 11% more
breakdowns in the last quarter of 2017 that could be attributed
to potholes than in the same period in 2016 with a total of 2,830
such breakdowns being logged between October and December 2017 in
contrast to 2,547 in the same quarter of 2016.
At this time the RAC claimed the state of the country’s
road hung in the balance, with the potential for a further sharp
rise in the number of potholes by the spring if the weather was
particularly wet or cold.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “While the snow caused
serious short-term travel disruption, motorists will sadly be
suffering its consequences for months and possibly years to come
as our roads were already in a poor state of repair before the
extreme cold weather hit. Unfortunately, Siberian weather was the
last thing our roads needed as the freezing conditions wreak
havoc with any road surface that is in bad repair.
“We fear that this Spring we may see the emergence of
almost as many potholes as daffodils. And, although this is the
season that is supposed to signal the start of better, warmer
weather, this year we think it’s likely to be the start of even
worse road surfaces for motorists to drive on.
“Despite a succession of Government ‘Pothole Funds’ the
state of the UK roads is still poor. Road users find themselves
faced with a multitude of different types of potholes and road
surface defects – so much so that that these defects are worthy
of individual classification in the way that naturalists classify
species and categorise sub-species.”
With a view to drawing greater attention to the UK’s
pothole plague in social media the RAC has joined forces with
campaigner Mark Morrell, who is better known as Mr Pothole, to
publish: The RAC Guide to the Great
British Pothole and Other Road Surface
Defects on National Pothole Day – Thursday 8
March 2018.
The guide, which is a new ‘sideways’ interpretation of
normal road maintenance terminology, has a serious side: the aim
is to encourage more road users to report potholes and surface
defects so that highways authorities can fix them. Potholes and
other road surface defects can be reported on the RAC website
atwww.rac.co.uk/potholes.
Mark Morrell said: “I’ve been campaigning about the state
of our roads for five years, but in all that time I can’t
remember them ever being worse. We all know local authorities are
cash-strapped but they also have a duty to provide road surfaces
that are fit for purpose which many sadly aren’t. I hope this
guide through a little humour might help to focus minds as the
state of our roads is truly becoming a national embarrassment.
There is, of course, a risk that we’ll become as obsessed with
potholes as we are with the weather.”
The RAC’s Simon Williams added: “Potholes are without doubt
a menace for drivers, and indeed for all road users, as they
create a totally unnecessary road safety danger as well as
costing motorists thousands of pounds in expensive repairs to
their vehicles. Our own estimates put the cost to drivers at
around £100m a year.
“Behind ‘The RAC Guide to the Great British Pothole and
Other Road Surface Defects’ is a serious message to the
Government: give local authorities the certainty of sufficient
ring-fenced, long-term funding to enable them to bring all of the
UK’s roads up to a standard that is fit-for purpose.
“The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates the one-off cost
of fixing the UK’s roads to be £12bn. We need the Government to
develop a long-term funding strategy to find this sum over a
period of five to 10 years. For example, ring-fencing 5p a litre
from fuel duty revenue over five years would address the backlog
by raising almost £12bn.
“Drivers contribute in excess of £40bn in motoring taxation
a year and many feel they should not have to endure substandard
roads as a result.”
To view the RAC Guide to the Great British Pothole and
Other Road Surface Defects visit: www.rac.co.uk/potholeguide.
