National Pothole Day - RAC comment
RAC says 'if we continue to obsess with just filling potholes, that’s all we’ll continue to get'
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Commenting on the UK's road maintenance progress this National Pothole Day, RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Fixing potholes as permanently as possible is vital. There’s nothing drivers find more incensing than watching them reappear after a few months, simply because they weren’t repaired to a high enough standard.
"But it’s important not to lose sight of the bigger picture which is that potholes are symptomatic of a lack of preventative maintenance. Roads that haven’t been surfaced dressed will start to break down as water gets into cracks, freezes and expands in the winter creating more potholes than daffodils in the spring.
“The route to smoother driving surfaces is simple: ensure water can always drain off the roads, fix potholes as permanently as possible, seal roads against water ingress through preventative maintenance, and resurface roads that have gone beyond the point of no return.
"If we continue to obsess with just filling potholes, that’s all we’ll continue to get."
Key data points:
- RAC research shows that the condition and maintenance of local roads – those which drivers generally begin and end their journeys on – is the top motoring concern for the nation’s drivers: forty-seven percent of those surveyed said the state of local, council-run roads is their top bugbear, ahead of any other motoring issue. Three-in-10 drivers (29%) say their vehicles have suffered from pothole-related damage over a 12-month period.
- The cost of a pothole-related repair for anything worse than a puncture for a typical family car stands at £590.
The RAC has also produced this video that explains the benefits of longer term, preventative road maintenance:
