· Worst September
since 2018 with pothole incidents seeing a 10% rise on the same
month last year
· Despite a dry start
to September AA patrols attended 47,223 pothole-related
incidents
-
“There is a financial cost to vehicles damaged by
potholes but there can be a cost in lives for those on two
wheels damaged by potholes.”
The rise in pothole-related breakdowns and accidents shows that
the extra funding promised from some of the savings from HS2 is
desperately needed to address the pothole plague, according to
the AA Pothole Index1 for September.
The latest figures from the UK’s number one breakdown provider
show the good work that was done in 2017-2019 is being undone
with 47,223 pothole-related breakdowns attended last month. This
is a 10% increase from September 2021 (42,152) and the worst
September since 2018.
The AA has attended 458,391 pothole-related incidents so far in
2023, an average of 50,992 per month. If this trend continues,
2023 is on target to exceed 2019’s total (550,876) indicating
that much more is needed to get local roads back up to scratch.
With a warm and sunny start to September, councils will have
hoped to use some of their share of the £700 million from the
Pothole Fund2 to fill in as many potholes as possible,
but the return of the wet weather put paid to those plans with
the second half of the month resulting in a washout and leaving
tens of thousands of holes unfilled. This meant that more family
budgets than in the previous five years took a hit as drivers
fell foul of deteriorating road surfaces.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA,
said; “After a dry start to the month and the hope that our roads
would receive some much-needed extra pot-hole maintenance,
drivers faced the now familiar challenge of trying to spot
potholes lurking beneath the surface of rainwater.
“With family budgets stretched, thousands of drivers have yet
again found themselves needing to find extra funds to repair the
damage to their car's tyres, wheels, or suspension components.
“The trend of pothole-related breakdowns continues to head in the
wrong direction and 2023 still looks to be one of the worst years
on record for pothole damage, again highlighting the need for
more investment in local roads maintenance funding stronger than
ever. We know that longer term funding has been pledged from HS2
savings but the Chancellor has the opportunity to give some
short-term pothole relief by announcing more cash for roads in
his Autumn Statement3. There is a financial cost to
vehicles damaged by potholes but there can be a cost in lives for
those on two wheels damaged by potholes.”
ends
NOTES TO EDITORS
1 Information is taken from AA breakdown data
2 First £500 million announced here: Funding to fix equivalent of 10
million potholes allocated to local authorities - GOV.UK
(www.gov.uk) with additional £200 million announced here:
Additional Budget 2023 highways
maintenance and pothole repair funding, 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK
(www.gov.uk)
3 Autumn Statement 2023 date
confirmed - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
