We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Car website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookies at any time
The start point for the best source of fleet information |
The RAC saw a 24% year-on-year increase in the number of call-outs to vehicles experience damage due to poor condition road surfaces.
According to the breakdown company, its patrols responded to 5010 more incidents in 2015 than the year before, with a drastic rise in suspension problems implying that poor surfaces could be to blame.
The single biggest increase was recorded for suspension springs with 42% more call-outs reported, while there were also 10% more incidents of damaged wishbones and a 10% rise in vehicle subframe damage.
East Anglia saw the greatest number of pothole-related call-outs with 4547; it ranked third across the UK in terms of percentage increase since 2014, a figure of 31%. The South East deteriorated the most with a 62% rise following 2686 incidents. The North East meanwhile saw a 30% increase with 3783 incidents.
"It is very worrying that our patrols have dealt with more pothole-related breakdowns in 2015 than they did the year before because we did not experience a particularly cold winter in either year," said RAC chief engineer David Bizley.
"We know that a number of local authorities increased their spending in 2015 to try to catch up with some of the road maintenance and repair backlog but this evidence indicates that there is still some way to go," he added.
"In the absence of freezing conditions, which are a major cause of potholes, this suggests that some highways authorities are still losing the pothole-repair fight. We shall only win the battle once sufficient preventative road surface maintenance is undertaken to prevent potholes appearing when the first bad weather arrives."
BusinessCar magazine ©2019
Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
