Poor roads cost us dearly

Nearly £300 per repair as roads under-spend continues

By PH Staff / Thursday, 18 August 2005 / Loading comments

Every lump carries a cost

Poor road surfaces continue to account for nearly one in six vehicle failures as the shortfall in annual road maintenance funding hits the £1bn mark.

According to a study by warranty firm Warranty Direct, 17.1 per cent of reported car failures for the first eight months of 2005 are the result of suspension and axle damage, linked to potholes. The average cost of a repair, so far, stands at £276.07 – compared to £185.84 in 2000.

Warranty Direct said it had recorded a 42 per cent increase in the number of claims it handles where the vehicle owner subsequently refers the cost to local authorities for compensation over the past 12 months.

The most recent survey by ALARM (Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance) revealed increases in claims by road users against local authorities for damage to vehicles due to road structural conditions over the past 10 years of 60 per cent in England (excluding London), a staggering 187 per cent in Wales and 43 per cent in London. It also revealed a near £1bn shortfall in road maintenance funding for 2004, an increase of almost 50 per cent.

Either continuous driving over cracked or uneven road surfaces, or the sudden jolting of a deep pothole, can cause damage to shock absorbers, springs, upper and lower arms and stabiliser bars.

Regionally, Anglia recorded the largest share of all claims attributable to a road defect for one region. At 28.35 percent, it was up by more than half compared to 2004. More than one in five claims from motorists in the North East and Scotland were the result of poor road conditions.

Greater London crept above the national average to 17.74 percent of failures compared to 13.99 percent in 2004. The rise left the local authority with a £392,000 compensation bill.

You can find the raw data on the company's Web site (see link below).

Pity they didn't throw in the impact of speed humps while they were at it, but you can't have it all....