Whether you view them as an inconvenience, irritation, national embarrassment or scandal, potholes feature in all our lives. With roads apparently crumbling before our eyes, every driver or rider has a pothole tale to tell. The unlucky ones will be part of the 80 per cent year-on-year increase in compensation claims for damages from local authorities.
Those same local authorities will now have to spend a record £16.3 billion just to return our roads to a state where they can be properly maintained, the annual Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) survey says.
The same report reckons the number of potholes filled in England and Wales has jumped by 43 per cent over the past year, but the AA estimates that the problem cost UK drivers almost £500 million in repairs last year.
Why do we have so many potholes?
Writing in The Telegraph, Esther McVey, the minister without portfolio, blamed local authorities prioritising other matters, the weather and lack of maintenance during Covid lockdowns. She believes the Government liberating £8.3bn from HS2 will address the pothole plague.
But Mark Morrell, a retired highways engineer known as Mr Pothole for his vigorous campaigning, counters: “I don’t think politicians have any idea how bad it’s become. They’re too London-centric. That £8.3bn from the Government is over 11 years and across all local authorities. It’s only enough to resurface 2.5 per cent of the road network.”
Potholes are caused by water getting into cracks in worn or repaired carriageways. If that water freezes, it expands, opening the crack. If the crack is in a depression, a puddle forms causing the water to soak into the road’s foundations. In both cases, the weight of traffic pounding over the road’s compromised structure causes it to disintegrate and a crater to form.
This happens more frequently because roads only have a finite lifespan and many in the UK have exceeded theirs. “More than 107,000 miles – equivalent to 53 per cent of the network – has been classified as having less than 15 years’ structural life remaining,” says Rick Green, the AIA chairman.
This shocking state of affairs has developed through lack of investment. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, UK roads spending in 2019 was half (51 per cent) what it was in 2006.
Shaun Davies, the Local Government Association chairman, explains: “The UK has fallen from the top to almost the bottom of the league when it comes to the amount we spend on repairing our local roads.” The Government’s own figures show that in 2022-23 local authority road maintenance fell by nearly half (45 per cent) compared with five years previously.
Rick Green adds: “Local authorities, who have a statutory responsibility to keep local roads safe, just don’t have the funds to allow them to carry out the appropriate maintenance interventions, at the right time.”
Are weather and weight to blame?
Morrell points out: “If potholes were down to weather, why isn’t every road affected? It’s because we need a proper highway maintenance programme.”
Edmund King, the AA’s president, doesn’t think the increasing weight of cars is to blame. “A good quality road surface shouldn’t break up because of one or two-ton cars on it,” he says.
Even so, at 2,029kg, the average weight of the UK’s current three best-selling cars (Ford Puma, Kia Sportage and Nissan Qashqai) can’t help. A decade ago, the three bestsellers (Vauxhall’s Corsa and Astra and the Volkswagen Golf) weighed on average only 1,300kg – nearly three quarters of a ton less.
Are politicians taking it seriously?
The AA says potholes are the biggest concern for virtually all (96 per cent) of the 11,000 members it surveyed. Look on Facebook and there are numerous pothole groups. So surely, any political party would be foolish not to address the issue in an election year.
However, neither the Conservatives nor Labour responded to our request asking what their manifesto’s pothole pledge may look like.
The Lib Dems claim that the annual highways maintenance fund of £1.385bn for 2023-24 is a quarter smaller than for the previous 12-month period. It wants local authorities to be given more money that is ring-fenced for road maintenance.
It’s a noble ambition but potholes now represent such a problem, as our experts say, that roads maintenance needs a complete rethink to move beyond our current state of managed decline.
How should we deal with potholes?
Statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests our roads are worse than ever. The AIA believes that in addition to the Government’s £8.3bn, there needs to be a rethink in how roads are maintained.
Green says: “We need to reach the point where local authority highway engineers can plan and proactively carry out maintenance work in the most timely and efficient way to the greatest benefit of all road users – rather than just having enough money to address immediate and urgent repairs.”
The AA wonders if local government offers the right candidates for the job, with King pointing out that: “When you look at local authorities, some are head and shoulders above others in the way they deal with potholes. One thing is for sure, the current system of having a couple of guys in a van who fill in holes needs to change. That’s not a lasting solution.”
Morrell offers his own suggestion: “I’d take highway maintenance away from councils and put £3bn a year that’s inflation-linked into a national resurfacing programme.”
Potholes represent a safety problem, too. Dr Suzy Charman, the executive director of the Road Safety Foundation, says: “It concerns me that, at the same time we are asking for increasing investment in road safety engineering because the benefits are so clear and compelling, many road authorities are in such a difficult fiscal situation that they are managing the decline of the road network.”
Where in the UK has it the worst?
This relies upon local authorities voluntarily answering freedom of information requests about the number of potholes they’ve filled in.
The RAC claims cities and urban areas with high densities of traffic such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow suffer more wear and tear to their roads, are dug up more frequently by utility companies and therefore suffer more potholes.
But country lanes often aren’t as well maintained as larger roads. Combine those with extreme temperatures that cause the surface to degrade and areas of Scotland, northern England and north Wales can be more pothole-prone.
Research by the Liberal Democrats reveals Derbyshire has the most craters per county with 90,596, followed by Lancashire on 67,439 and Northumberland with 51,703.
The reality is the potholes epidemic is nationwide. Whether you live in a city or the countryside, in the south or the north, they will blight your driving life.
Are some cars more resistant?
You might think a tough-looking 4x4 will be more immune to potholes than a sleek sports car and you’d be right. But it’s nothing to do with the vehicle; it’s all down to the tyres. Steve Howat, a technical expert at Continental Tyres, told us: “Tyres with a very low aspect ratio [low profile or with a narrow sidewall] are very vulnerable to potholes.
“When you hit a pothole, the sidewall is pinched between the wheel rim and the edge of the crater. That either causes the tyre’s internal structure to fail and a bulge will appear, or you’ll get a puncture straight away.”
So what can we do to mitigate the damage? Howat reckons not much, other than to ensure tyres are inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressures.
What’s the impact on callouts?
Both major breakdown companies, the AA and RAC, report increased pothole-related callouts over the past 12 months. When rescues are for damage to tyres, wheels or suspension, the AA assumes them to be pothole-related. And in the last 12 months, it has dealt with 631,852 pothole incidents.
“This is the worst they’ve been since the ‘beast from the east’ struck in 2018 and the weather was very cold,” says Edmund King. “The past couple of years haven’t been cold but have been wet and the roads are in such poor condition; the rain has caused serious damage.”
What to do when your car is damaged
You can claim for compensation for damage caused by potholes but it’s time-consuming and local authorities can appear to do their best to dissuade drivers. Nonetheless, the AIA says local authorities paid out an average of £15.2 million in compensation last year, so it’s worth a try.
First use an app such as What3Words to pinpoint the exact location of the pothole. Then take pictures or video of the offending indent, including something that shows its scale and depth, such as a drink can (safety is paramount). Also photograph and detail the damage to your car.
For a compensation claim to be successful, the council will need proof that the car is yours and road-legal, along with a quote for repairing the damage and details of when the incident occurred. Major roads are looked after by National Highways, smaller roads are the responsibility of local authorities.
This government website has updated information on reporting potholes. Which?, the AA and RAC also offer similar services; as ever, beware of sites demanding a payment.
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