POTHOLE PLAGUE WORSENS: Breakdowns surge 53% due to poor road conditions

The first quarter of 2024 has witnessed a dramatic rise in vehicle breakdowns attributed to deteriorating road surfaces across the UK, with the RAC reporting a 53% increase in such incidents compared to the final three months of 2023.

The uptick highlights a growing issue with the nation's infrastructure, as pothole-related problems continue to disrupt motorists.

Data from the RAC shows a troubling 9% rise in pothole-related breakdowns over the past year, with 27,205 incidents recorded from April 2023 to March 2024. This is a significant increase from the 24,906 cases reported in the previous year. Despite this rise, the RAC suggests that recent milder weather conditions may have mitigated what is typically the peak season for pothole damage.

Typically, winter's freeze-thaw cycles exacerbate road surface issues, but the first quarter of 2024 saw only seven frost days, less than the average of nine. This, combined with a 22% increase in rainfall, could have limited the formation of new potholes, despite worsening the condition of existing ones.

However, the RAC's Pothole Index, a measure of the likelihood of encountering pothole-related damage, has seen an increase, indicating that roads are in fact becoming more hazardous. Motorists are now 76% more likely to suffer damage from potholes than they were back in 2006, marking a significant deterioration in road quality over the past 18 years.

This ongoing issue represents a serious challenge for road maintenance authorities and poses increased risks and costs for drivers across the UK. The rise in breakdowns not only highlights the poor state of the roads but also underscores the urgent need for substantial improvements to the national road network.

RAC Head of Policy, Simon Williams, said: “While our data shows pothole damage to vehicles in the first three months of this year is lower than it was in the same period in 2023, it’s important not to lose sight of the bigger picture and the ongoing miserable state of our roads. The analysis clearly shows drivers are now twice as likely to suffer a breakdown due to sub-standard road surfaces as they were in 2006.

“While many would rightly say the roads are terrible, we believe they would have been far worse had we not had such a mild winter. We feel drivers have dodged the pothole bullet as the lack of widespread sub-zero temperatures has masked the true state of our roads.

“After all, all the cracks left by years of declining road maintenance budgets can’t easily be filled. Even though the Government has given councils an additional £8.3bn for road maintenance from the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2, we know this is only enough to resurface 5,000 miles of roads – the equivalent of just 3% of all England’s local roads.

“To make the most of this funding, we implore local authorities to focus their efforts on resurfacing the worst roads in their areas rather than pointlessly trying to patch pothole-ridden roads that can’t be saved from further decline. And now is the time for preventative action to be taken, as it’s between the warmer months of April and September when vital surface dressing work can be carried out to extend the life of roads. Sadly, government data we analysed shows 60% of English councils didn’t do any such work in the 2022-2023 financial year.

“Drivers frustrated by the UK’s pothole epidemic can highlight the problem by downloading and using Stan, a new free mobile app capable of automatically detecting road defects via a smartphone camera mounted in a cradle. The data is helping build the UK’s first ever national map of road surface issues. The RAC is urging local authorities to use the data to locate problems on their networks and carry out repairs quickly and efficiently.”