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Some days driving can feel like a challenge. Traffic jams, other drivers making bad decisions, pedestrians, bad weather and road works all make life more difficult than it needs to be. So all we need is another obstacle in our way, and unfortunately, the state of some UK roads provides just that.
You don't need to drive very far to come across potholes and damaged road surfaces. As we move out of winter a combination of changing temperatures, rain, snow and ice have left some of our roads looking like a patchwork quilt of bumps, holes and cracks.
They may not look like a major obstacle, but hitting a pothole can cause you a host of vehicle related problems - and the faster you are driving, the worse these are likely to be. Damage to the tyres, cracking to the actual wheel and issues with the alignment of the vehicle are all things that have to be corrected.
The cost of this to the driver can be significant, although it may not be the person behind the wheel that has to foot the bill. Consumer watchdog Which? found that Councils in England and Wales paid out £22.8m in compensation to drivers for pothole related damage in 2012. It's just a shame that these millions of pounds could not have been spend on road repairs to stop the damage from happening in the first place.
While the cost impact is important, so too are the safety issues that cracked roads create. Accidents can be caused at the point of colliding with a pothole but also later on, when damaged wheels and tyres give way. It is these direct and indirect consequences that lead safety organisation TyreSafe to believe that potholes are behind an increase in the number of tyre related road casualties.
Often in the driving line, dark nights and bad weather make it easy to collide with a pothole. Just like all of the other hazards that drivers come across on a daily basis, potholes are something that you need to look out for. And if you do see one, make sure to report it before other unsuspecting drivers fall foul.
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