Pothole damage to vehicles at record high

Pothole damage to vehicles cost a staggering £474 million in the past year, according to new figures released today (Monday, January 15) to mark National Pothole Day.

The AA says it dealt with 631,852 pothole-related incidents in 2023, the highest for five years, with tyre, wheel, steering, and suspension damaged by poor road surfaces.

That was an increase of 16% on the previous year (543,000 incidents), while last month the breakdown and recovery firm dealt with 62,000 incidents, an increase of 15% when compared to December 2022.  

RAC patrols, meanwhile, attended nearly 30,000 pothole-related breakdowns over the course of the year, up by a third (33%) on 2022.

The equivalent of 80 breakdowns a day, faults included broken suspension springs, damaged shock absorbers and distorted wheels.

Looking at the most recent data from the fourth quarter of 2023, drivers called the RAC out to 5,153 breakdowns caused by potholes, the highest amount for any October to December period since 2017.

RAC’s head of roads policy, Simon Williams, said: “Local councils have been cash-strapped for years due to lower road maintenance budgets, causing roads across the country to fall into disrepair and leaving drivers fighting for compensation when their vehicles are inevitably damaged.

“Fortunately, the Government has committed an extra £8.3bn of funding to local councils over the next 11 years, which we hope will give squeezed authorities some certainty of cash to help them plan consistent longer-term maintenance.

“Now we urge the Department for Transport (DfT) to lay out clear guidance as to how this money should be best used so that councils can actually improve their roads for the future.”

To prevent water damaging the roads in these winter months when it freezes and expands, the RAC wants local highways authorities to completely resurface those in the worst condition and carry out more surface dressing between April and September on roads that are starting to deteriorate.

“It’s not just about plugging potholes, it’s a question of getting roads up to a reasonable standard and keeping them that way so drivers and indeed those on two wheels can finally feel confident and safe on their journeys,” he added.

New pothole partnership 

A new partnership has been launched today (Monday, January 15) between road users and industry to help tackle potholes.

The Pothole Partnership, formed by the AA, the National Motorcyclists Council, British Cycling, IAM RoadSmart, the British Motorcyclists Federation and manufacturer JCB, has unveiled a new five-point plan to help tackle the issue.

It has estimated that pothole damage to vehicles cost £474m in the past year, based on an average cost of £250 for repairs for each incident it attended and rounded up to represent all drivers.

AA president, Edmund King (pictured below), said: “Currently, we often have a vicious circle of pothole formed, damage caused, pothole patched, pothole reappears with more damage caused - when what we need are more permanent repairs.

“Potholes are the number one concern for 96% of drivers and can be fatal for those on two wheels so hopefully pressure from the Pothole Partnership will lead to permanent repairs.”

The pothole pledge calls on local authorities to limit the practice of temporary pothole repairs or patches and, where possible, every pothole or patch to be repaired permanently. 

All local authorities/contractors are also urged to adhere to UK-wide repair and inspection standards, and report annually on the repairs undertaken.

Furthermore, it wants Government to demonstrate greater urgency by accelerating and increasing spending of the £8.3bn pothole funding for England in the first three years – with total clarity on the distribution to local authorities; central and local government to guarantee ringfencing of all road maintenance funding to help deliver innovations that enable permanent repairs; and full transparency from local authorities on their roads repair backlog, categorised by potholes, patching works and road resurfacing.

AI identies potholes

In a bid to make highways authorities aware of as many road surface defects as possible, the RAC is joining forces with technology company Metricell to encourage drivers to use ‘Stan’, a new free mobile app that automatically collects data on the state of roads via smartphone video cameras.

The app uses AI to automatically identify more than 40 different defects including potholes, road cracking and broken signs, which will form a national road map of surface issues on the RAC and Stan websites.

Metricell will also share the data with highways authorities to help them locate the problems on their networks.

Rick Green, chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), said: “While an annual National Pothole Day helps to raise awareness of the below-target condition of our vital roads, the challenge of improving the local road network goes beyond simply filling in potholes.

“We are optimistic that the Government’s recent £8.3bn commitment to local roads could improve conditions and we agree with the Pothole Partnership’s view that the funding allocation needs to be front-loaded so local highway engineers can also start addressing the backlog of necessary structural repairs now.

“This upfront investment would then enable local authorities to implement planned preventative maintenance programmes going forward. This would support a lower carbon, whole-life approach to local highway maintenance, helping to deliver sustained improvements and enhanced network resilience, saving money over the long-term, and ensuring our local roads are able to support future challenges.”