In a 2016 survey by the AA, 39% of its members claimed their cars had been damaged by potholes, of this number, 28% said a wheel, its tyre and the car’s tracking had been damaged.
Back in early 2018, the UK Government said it would provide £100 million to help fix Britain’s pothole-ridden roads. However, recent figures suggest it would take 14 years and up to £9.3bn to fix Britain’s roads properly – So, is the government doing enough to fix over 24,496 miles of damaged road? The figures would suggest not.
In 2017 alone, over half a million potholes were reported to local authorities – a 44% rise in just 2 years, according to a recent study by the RAC.
RAC’s head of road policy Nicholas Lyes said, “With over half a million potholes reported in 2017 and a more accurate figure for all authorities, including those that didn’t provide data, likely to be in excess of 674,000, this is sadly just the tip of the iceberg as thousands will go unreported every year.”
Claim pothole damage in the UK
UK authorities paid out more than £7.3m in compensation to affected motorists in 2017, which was a rise of over £500,000 since 2016.
The RAC urges all UK motorists to help tackle the pothole pandemic. If you want to know how to report potholes in the UK, you can find out more by clicking here.