The number of breakdowns caused by poor road surfaces and potholes increased by nearly two thirds in the first three months of 2017 compared to last year. This is despite the UK experiencing a drier and milder winter than previous years, which would normally lead to fewer breakdowns.
The RAC has revealed that it dealt with more than 6,500 breakdowns between January and March this year which were linked to damage caused by poor road surfaces. Some of the issues caused by poorly maintained roads included broken suspension springs, damaged shock absorbers and distorted wheels.
Compared to the first three months of last year, the RAC says it has attended 63 per cent more breakdowns related to poor road surfaces in this year so far. The organisation attended 4,026 breakdowns related to poor roads in early 2016.
The last time there were so many pothole-related breakdowns was back in the first quarter of 2015, when nearly 6,900 breakdowns of this type occurred. Back then however, there was more frost and rainfall compared to the same period this year.
The RAC’s chief engineer, David Bizley, said: “We had expected a figure no worse than that recorded in the first quarter of 2016 and it is very concerning that the roads, strangely, appear to have deteriorated in a mild, comparatively dry winter.”
In context, of all breakdowns the RAC attended in the first quarter of this year, pothole-related incidents equated to 2.7 per cent of all the organisation’s jobs. That’s the largest quarter figure recorded since the RAC began its pothole analysis in 2006.
On a more positive note, the RAC Pothole Index – which looks at the average number of pothole-related breakdowns attended over a 12-month period - currently stands at 2.08, the lowest value since the last quarter of 2008.
