Vehicle breakdowns caused by Britain’s pothole-ridden roads reached record levels this year, according to the RAC.
The motoring organisation said it received almost 6,000 calls for pothole-related incidents from July to September – its highest total for the relatively benign summer period since it started collecting data in 2006.
With the incidence usually increasing sharply after the wet and cold winter months, the RAC said that the lack of road maintenance was “causing a world of pain for drivers”, as well as a danger for cyclists.
Running into a pothole can damage a car’s shock absorbers, suspension or wheels, including causing a puncture, and drivers are paying an average of £440 at a garage for any related repairs beyond a replacement tyre, according to RAC analysis.
The organisation warned that the number of callouts this summer was 46% higher than the same months in 2022, with the “pothole plague” generally worsening in winter when water runs into cracks in the road surface, freezes and expands.
The RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, said its analysis of pothole-related breakdowns was “sadly once again showing that the substandard state of the country’s local roads is causing a world of pain for drivers, let alone those on two wheels”.
Although the government has promised an extra £8.3bn for local highway authorities from money from the axed HS2 high-speed rail scheme, Williams said it was not yet clear exactly how funds would be allocated, adding: “We have long argued that it’s not just a question of filling potholes, it’s about getting the roads in the worst condition resurfaced.
“Then, it’s vital that more councils start to make greater use of surface treatments which can cost-effectively extend the lives of these roads.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We are investing a record amount of funding into tackling potholes and resurfacing roads, which will see highway maintenance funding to local authorities almost doubled over the next decade.”
Darren Rodwell, transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA), called for longer-term funding to tackle the issue. He said: “We believe that government should award council highways departments with five-yearly funding allocations to give more certainty, bringing councils on a par with National Highways.
“Councils much prefer to invest in more cost-effective and resilient resurfacing than retrospectively dealing with potholes.”
Meanwhile, drivers have also been facing significant increases in fuel retailers’ margins during the past two months, according to the competition watchdog.
A report by the Competition and Markets Authority, released on Thursday, said that by the end of October the differences between pump prices and the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel were “significantly above the long-term average”.
It said the levels could “cause concern about the intensity of retail competition in the sector”. The RAC said the findings showed that “drivers are still being taken advantage of at the pumps”.
