How much damage do potholes cause on UK roads?
We’ve all been there. Driving down the road and all of a sudden – bang. You fear the worst. Have you just caused damage to your tyre or wheel? Is your tyre on its way to going flat? Potholes, or complaining about them, seem to be synonymous with British culture. If you asked anyone what annoys them most about driving, it’s likely that poor road conditions will be up there with the best (or worst) of them.
But all these uneven and damaged roads don’t just make it more dangerous to drive, they also cause a huge amount of damage to our vehicles, which often ends up costing the world. If you’ve ever wondered just how much damage they cause, let’s take a look.
The issue with potholes in the UK
It may seem like the roads in the UK never get better, only worse. Have you ever driven down the same stretch of road and thought to yourself, “I’m sure this is only getting worse”? It seems as though you’re not alone!
Tyre Shopper were interested in finding out just how bad the conditions are on the roads in the UK. Thanks to their survey and data analysis, they’ve been able to get a much better picture.
How much impact are they having on UK drivers?
It seems that road conditions and potholes are having much more of an impact on drivers than you might think. According to Tyre Shopper’s research, over 54% said that potholes had caused some kind of damage to their vehicle, with 69% saying that their local roads had either gotten worse or stayed the same in recent years.
Shockingly, and almost not surprisingly, things don’t seem to be improving. These lack of improvements cost drivers a substantial amount of money each year on unnecessary repairs and maintenance. The average cost of a repair for pothole damage is around £297 and with around 33 million cars on the road according to more recent data, the potential collective bill could be pushing £1.5 billion per year.
Are the government doing enough to resolve the issues?
Over 70% of those surveyed said they weren’t satisfied with the efforts of their local council to resolve the issues with road quality. And with 80% saying potholes were the biggest issue on UK roads, why is more not being done to make our driving experience much smoother?
Government investment in road maintenance has been widely criticised in the past, however, councils have received new allocations for 2021 and beyond to fix roughly 10 million potholes across England. Hopefully, the next time people are surveyed about the state of their local roads the sentiment should be a lot more positive.
