The RAC fears motorists across the country will soon be “plagued by a plethora of potholes” – presenting a “true road safety danger”, especially for those on two wheels.
Data shows that between October and December 2022, the RAC attended 23% more breakdowns where potholes were likely to blame than during the previous three month period.
The motoring services company went out to an average of 20 breakdowns a day between October and the end of the year – a total of more than 1,800 – for faults such as damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and distorted wheels.
This was up from 16 a day between July and September (1,462 in total) and was the highest number of pothole-related breakdowns seen in the fourth quarter of the year since 2019.
The RAC warns the threat of a plethora of potholes appearing over the next few months is ‘very real indeed’ – given how much rain there has been either side of December’s sub-zero temperatures.
It says these are the perfect conditions for creating potholes, as water makes its way into cracks which then expand when it freezes, causing the road surface to crumble.
Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy, said: “It’s frankly absurd that, as a country, we seem unable to get on top of such an age-old problem when roads play such an important role in people’s everyday lives – and are vital to moving goods and businesses delivering services.
“Councils are crying out for more funding to do a proper job in getting their roads up to a decent standard.
“With drivers still rating the ongoing poor state of the roads as one of their biggest motoring frustrations, they can only hope that 2023 is the year when the Government finally sits up, takes notice of Britain’s perpetual problem with potholes and comes up with a better way to solve it.”
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