Pothole-related breakdowns jumped by a fifth (17%) in the final three months of 2024 compared to the previous quarter, a sign of the ongoing poor condition of Britain’s roads, new breakdown data from the RAC’s Pothole Index shows*.
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Britain’s notoriously pot-holed roads might finally be getting the repairs they need.
The largest increase in claims was by Surrey council which rose from 734 to 3,418 and Gloucestershire local authority saw the highest amount of refusals on claims by 98%.
Recent reports from the RAC indicate over 1 million potholes currently plague the nation’s roads, particularly council-controlled routes in England and Wales, where an alarming six potholes are found per mile.
British motorists are feeling the strain of neglected roads, with a recent report revealing a hefty £1.48 billion spent on pothole-related repairs in the past year alone.
The rate of pothole repairs on local roads in England and Wales has reached an eight-year high, according to a new report.
With an ever-increasing chance of hitting a pothole, it’s worth being aware that you can claim damage to your car caused by poor-conditioned roads. But how do you do this and what do you need to be aware of? Let’s take a look.
The AA said it received 632,000 call outs to vehicles damaged by road defects last year.
The RAC said it received 5,978 call-outs to breakdowns due to poor road surfaces in the UK between July and September.
Since the start of 2023, the RAC has dealt with 18,250 breakdowns for damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs or distorted wheels – the call-outs which are most likely caused by defective road surfaces.
Halfords said 6.5% of the vehicles it checked in April had at least one tyre with tread depth below the permitted minimum, up from 3.8% in the same month a year earlier.
The RAC also saw a 14% spike in wheel changes compared to the same period last year.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to announce a new £200m funding scheme to help tackle the plague of potholes on roads across Britain.
Started by the Daily Mail, the campaign to help improve Britain’s roads will see more than four million potholes filled in.
The RAC warned that the weather has created “the perfect recipe for potholes to start peppering the roads”.
The breakdown provider has seen a marked increase in issues caused by potholes since the start of the month, with increased rainfall and standing water hiding issues in the road surface from sight.
The RAC’s 2022 Report on Motoring which spoke to 3,102 drivers found that 55% thought that the standard of pothole repairs is, at best, ‘poor’.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said utility companies will face financial penalties more easily for poor quality road works and leaving behind potholes.
According to the report, it would cost £12.64bn to clear the backlog of repairs and ‘bring the network up to a condition that would allow it to be managed cost effectively and sustainably going forward’.
Pothole-related breakdowns have reached a three-year high, new figures show.
A ‘golden opportunity’ to catch up on much-needed road repairs has been missed, according to the RAC.
The breakdown service was reacting to a new Government report that shows the number of roads managed by local authorities that are marked as needing repairs has held steady for the past two years.