Thursday 19th October 2006

Britain's roads are in a mess

Poor roads cause up to 20pc of failures: report

---

Road humps don't help either

The condition of British roads may not be getting any worse, but they’re not getting any better either, says a new report.

Analysis by independent automotive warranty provider, Warranty Direct, claims that potholes account for as many as 1 in 5 of all car failures across Scotland, a figure that falls to just over 8 percent of the total in the West Midlands.

Based on the firm’s database of over 60,000 vehicles, suspension and axle damage that can be traced back to poor road surfaces are now the most common failures for a shocking 60 percent of all vehicles.

On average, Warranty Direct reports repair bills of £328.60, but almost as high as £1,000 in some instances – that’s the equivalent of £320m every year for the British motorist.

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.

Position	Region	Percent of claims recording pothole related suspension failure
1	Scotland	22.82
2	North East	12.66
3	Anglia	12.50
4	North West	11.57
5	Greater London	11.03
6	Wales	10.77
7	East Midlands	9.39
8	South East	8.33
9	West Midlands	8.04

The latest ALARM report (Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance) says that engineers are simply ‘patching up’ roads rather than investing for the long term. It highlights a staggering £1.6bn shortfall in funding which has left them with a 10-year backlog.

Yet, despite the astonishing rates of failure recorded by Warranty Direct, year-on-year, the national average for suspension failures has recorded a marginal fall from 12.43 to 11.38 percent.

“Suspension failure is now a real problem for the motorist,” says Duncan McClure Fisher of Warranty Direct. “It seems unfair that the public should be financially penalised once again for choosing to drive on our roads.

Given the thousands of things that can go wrong with a modern car, suspension failure is almost reaching critical levels. Unfortunately, you really do risk the health of your car on certain roads.”

Regionally, the North East of England, at nearly 13 percent, recorded the second largest share of all claims attributable to a road defect or persistent poor conditions. In Greater London, suspension failures accounts for more than 1 in 10 vehicle failures with more than £16m paid out in insurance claims by the Local Authorities last year alone.

[anorakuk]

So the roads are sh*gged then, wow, no sh*t Sherlock !
...as someone that has had rear coils and front wishbones replaced on my motor, quelle surprise !

what's next for stating the patently bleeding obvious ?!

[mini_ralf]

And this is news to us?

[ingrowtn]

Volume of potholes and uneven surfaces = difficult and uneven terrain = the next time some enviromentalists remonstrate for not having an off road use for the 4x4 then point at the black stuff and say "already am". Haha.

Seriosuly though, potholes have taken their toll on the front crossmember of my Neon and caused two outrigger failures on my TR6. Not bad value for two lots of full Road Tax. (Yes the TR is post '72)

Time to buy a Range Rover.

Edited by ingrowtn on Thursday 19th October 13:14

[andy jb]

..yes, and because we're British we'll do nothing but moan about it. We pay our exhorbitant taxes, none of it invested back in our roads it would seem, so lets do a 'Frenchie' and take direct action if we feel strongly.......on the other hand lets turn a blind eye and moan and let them get away with it because they can. Great Britain

[markstevens]

Nobody seems to have made the link between utility companies digging up the roads and pot holes. They dig up the road and then cover over the hole with different (probably cheaper) material than the actual road. This leads to 2 different types of surface wearing unevenly and eventually potholes. They should be made to resurface whole sections of road properly.

Also, those who buy off roaders because of the poor condition of the roads actually contribute to the problem! These vehicles are much heavier than ordinary cars and therefore do much more damage to the road surface.

Edited by markstevens on Thursday 19th October 13:37

[jstok]

Just remind me - when we pick up the bill for suspension repair work doesn't it always work out at 17.5% more than the garage quoted? The government doesn't want to pay to repair our roads because bad roads bring in even more VAT!!! Call me cynical but I reckon that's why they're so keen on speed humps, particularly the new speed cushions which can knock out your tracking with just a single encounter and net them 17.5% of the repair cost.

[scoobiewrx]

Is it not possible for motorists to sue councils when cars are damaged by poor roads. Surely there is something that can be done. If enough people went down this route wouldn't councils then get the message and start repairing roads. Specially if they had to pay out hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation claims.

[herewego]

Has anybody actually asked their authority to repair a road?

[dula]

herewego said:

Has anybody actually asked their authority to repair a road?

Yes several times and the 'special repair a hole as opposed to a decent stretch of road surface' squad duely arrive the very next day and repair the pothole. The repair complete and two months later and the area where the new tarmac was sealed to the surrounding area has created a patch of very hard wearing and incredibly slippery (in the wet) surface. Consequently the adjoining tarmac has now deteriorated due to the difference in the two surfaces and it goes on and on chasing the next repair up and down the same stretch of road creating a effect of a corrogated road. Seriously the road in question (straddles two local authorities which doesn't help) could well be in line for some sort of hisorical preservation order due to the number of differnt types of tarmac used to create the quarter mile pachwork road. I haven't witnessed a new road surface being put down in the last 27 years! but strangely enough a (near by) cul-de-sac which sees very little traffic and benifits about 10 houses has recieved a lovely new road surface (no patching here)...how strange, but then we discover that a local councellor lives in the very same road...ahhhh the finger of suspision and my cinical mind eh!

So in summation if you want to sort your local roads properly I suggest your first move is to get yourself into a seat on the local council...it might just help.

Edited by dula on Thursday 19th October 15:02

Edited by dula on Thursday 19th October 15:09

[Schmeeky]

Suspension damage is bad enough on a car, but for those of us who chose to travel on two wheels the effects can be even worse...
I've had a wheel buckled by a pothole, going 70-80mph on a straight bit of road, and managed to stay on the bike (Thank the maker...), but on corners the effects are totally unpredictable... Somehow I've never been thrown off my bike, but my local M&S is doing a roaring trade in underware...

Paul Smith for President!!!!!!

[herewego]

Documentary

Dispatches

9:00pm - 10:00pm

Channel 4

VIDEO Plus+: 7890
Subtitles

Who's Digging Up Our Roads?

[who me ?]

herewego said:

Has anybody actually asked their authority to repair a road?

Yes - first time some blokes came and filled in the big hole , and left several others - and a sunken trench close by .

Second time - reported whole road(different one) --- sunken guleys, bad manholes , holes --more like an assault course than a road - no reply , reported it again -still no reply , contacted County Councillor - "on list, awaiting funds" --- he's not exactly pleased.
He knew about it and was pleased to get a complaint -backed him up.
Don't forget - they can chase things up - but if we advise them , gives them a stronger hand.

But it's something else he can shout about - so my advice - report it to the county highways , and advise your local county councillor .

[who me ?]

herewego said:

Documentary

Dispatches

9:00pm - 10:00pm

Channel 4

VIDEO Plus+: 7890
Subtitles

Who's Digging Up Our Roads?

AH -We know -It's who's not filling them back in properly we want to know

[anorakuk]

Schmeeky said:

Suspension damage is bad enough on a car, but for those of us who chose to travel on two wheels the effects can be even worse...
I've had a wheel buckled by a pothole, going 70-80mph on a straight bit of road, and managed to stay on the bike (Thank the maker...), but on corners the effects are totally unpredictable... Somehow I've never been thrown off my bike, but my local M&S is doing a roaring trade in underware...

Paul Smith for President!!!!!!

I know that one - in my early days of biking I had a situation where I hit a mofo of a pothole on the apex of a bend, no way of seeing it coming at me. Buckled a mag on my pride and joy, but somehow managed to stay on. I was furious, especially when the day after I reported it, the hole was fixed, but I'd snapped it already, and used that to get a new wheel out of the council, which was quite an achievement in Thatcher's era !


:-D

[bigdods]

Two nasty trenches round here, one at the bottom of a long hill on a NSL, the other on the same road but on a sharp ish left hander. In the Omega now real problem slow down a bit and cruise over, but in the TVR have to slow down to about 30 for the hill one and 20 for the corner. Always do this gradually with a close eye on the rear mirror as no one really expects you to suddenly slow down to half speed on a long straight downhill !

[scoobiewrx]

I have just seen the dispatches program on Channel4 re: The state of Britains roads and all of the road works that are going on around the UK. They reckon there are 200 companies that are allowed to dig up the roads in the UK and there are 5 million holes as a result. I have to say i am not surprised by the facts that were unearthed (no pun intended) by the program, however i was annoyed by the complete lack of interest shown by councils in what is going on in their own boroughs and also by the fact that a lot of these skanky utilities companies and the contractors they use don't even notify the councils that they are doing works. The workmanship by some of these contractors is absolute rubbish, and dangerous in a lot of cases.

Ultimately the ones that pay are us. Higher utility bills, time spent in roadworks traffic, fuel costs etc.

What a bunch of tossers and what an effing shambles!!!

[speedy_thrills]

On more reason to buy a nice big, strong 4wd.

[thondwe]

dula said:

herewego said:

Has anybody actually asked their authority to repair a road?

...how strange, but then we discover that a local councellor lives in the very same road...ahhhh the finger of suspision and my cinical mind eh!

So in summation if you want to sort your local roads properly I suggest your first move is to get yourself into a seat on the local council...it might just help.
]

Entrance to our village has just been resurfaced and various other holes patched (why they couldn't do the whole job properly...). Anyway, very nice, letter from warning of the works comes from our local counciler - who clearly cares - about the suspension on his jag - he lives in our village!

Meanwhile, road works elsewhere on my trip to work mysteriously stopped for a couple of days why this was done.

So not so far wrong Dula! Or it could just be that I'd filled in the form on the local councils web page for reporting problems with roads - and synical as I am - I have done this before (pot holes recur annually of course) and they have been filled!

Paul

[audidoody]

I'm in Islington (Road Hump Central) where the roads in downtown Kabul are smoother than the cluster-bombed tracks laughingly called 'roads'. Could no longer hack the annual suspension repairs and teeth-rattling ride of driving zippy cars (S3, TT, Focus RS). Admitted defeat and got myself a nice big auto diesel Allroad which wafts over the rubble. Best car for London roads and traffic I've ever had. Just let some feckin' tree hugger tell me I don't need a 4X4!

Edited by audidoody on Sunday 22 October 01:24

[Richards 7]

Audidoody.....quite right, good choice on car, and a big hurray for your comments. Saved me typing.

R