AA reports ’pothole plague’

AA members have reported a plague of potholes with road conditions worse than at the start of 2012, and one third suffering pothole damage to their vehicles in the past two years.

A third of AA members have rated the overall surface condition of their local roads as poor, very poor or terrible in an AA Populus poll of 22,827 AA members.

Roads in Scotland and Yorkshire and Humberside fared worst with more than 40% reporting condition as poor, very poor or terrible.

Drivers in Northern Ireland, Wales and London reported roads to be in best condition. But, even there, more than 50% of respondents only rated them as fair.

When asked whether local road condition was better or worse than a year ago, 50% of all respondents said condition was worse with 14% saying much worse.

The survey also found that one third of respondents had suffered pothole damage to their vehicle over the last two years. AA members in Scotland were most likely to report pothole damage with 44% of respondents saying their cars had suffered damage.

AA president Edmund King said: “This spring our patrols are telling us that potholes are popping up faster than daffodils. This reflects the effects of very wet and frosty weather on poor road surfaces.

“These AA findings are deeply worrying and show that UK drivers are once again experiencing a bad pothole season after a lull last spring, perhaps with worse to come. The slight let-up in potholes this time last year may have been just a blip in the annual pothole blight that seems to beset us each spring.

“What is even more worrying is the fact that the new 2013 Asphalt Industry Alliance ‘Alarm Survey’ reveals the scale of the problem from a local authority perspective and things look particularly bleak, with more potholes, a bigger maintenance backlog and less cash.

“Ring-fenced finance must be found to plug an increasing gap in highway budgets, otherwise drivers and local authorities will end up paying more to repair damage that could have been prevented. We urge drivers to report potholes to highways authorities to allow them to take action and prevent road users from being endangered and their vehicles suffering damage.”