Britain's Roads Are A Sorry State

Have you ever fell victim to a pothole when driving along Britain’s roads?

With only half the budget available for authorities to resurface and repair roads you can understand why Britain’s motorists are getting increasingly annoyed and desperate for action to be taken, especially when a car repair bill is costing motorists around £240 - £2,700 because more often than not the damage is taken to the axle, suspension and wheels, a very costly repair job. Of course you can claim this back on your insurance as a “no fault” damage claim, but can you really be doing with the hassle?

There are an estimated 48,500 potholes across the UK that have been reported to authorities according to fillthathole.org.uk and more than 14,400 of those have been repaired already. Essex County Council has said that on average a pothole costs £109 to repair.

Motorists of Britain are angry, and rightly so, at the state of the country’s roads. It is said that 1 in 5 mechanic failures in the UK are caused by potholes, costing the authorities nearly £50 million a year in compensation claims. More importantly, the potholes are causing a real risk to safety especially for motorcyclists and cyclists who have to swerve to avoid the dangerous holes.

An example of some of the pothole's that are scattered across Britain.

Roads have been left in an appalling condition after being subject to freezing temperatures in one of the coldest winters in recent times and unfortunately the council just do not have the funding to pay for the amount of repairs needed. According to sources, not only do the council only have half of the budget available to pay for repairing Britain’s roads but it is estimated that it will take approximately 50 years for the backlog to be fixed, even if they could afford to repair them. This is just one of the challenges that the UK’s authorities face on a daily basis.

What can motorists do?

www.potholes.co.uk is a website that has been set up by the insurance company, Warranty Direct, they suggest that you should report all potholes found to your local council. You are well within your rights to use the ‘Information of Freedom Act’ to obtain information such as when the last time repairs were made to the road in question and when the last time the road was inspected. If you have received damage to your car from a pothole you can claim any repair fees back in compensation from your local council as a “no fault claim”. There is also a mobile phone application available to download where you can report any potholes found, this has been downloaded 5,000 times already. You can download the App here.

Sources: bbc.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, potholes.co.uk, fillthathole.org.uk