Pothole Danger

Date: May 2010

Leading fuel card reseller, The Fuelcard Company, has called on the Government to make road maintenance a post-election priority after research shows that 14 percent of drivers have had an accident after swerving to avoid a pothole (almost 5.5 million UK citizens).

The survey of 4,000 drivers by an insurance company revealed the same number had slipped on a bad road surface and crashed the car.

Potholes have also been causing problems for cyclists, who made 699 reports about allegedly hazardous roads damaged around the UK, to cycle campaign group CTC. Earlier this year, a British soldier cycling on the A338 near Tidworth in Wiltshire was killed by a lorry after swerving to avoid a deep hole.

Jakes de Kock, Marketing Director of The Fuelcard Company, said: “Potholes are now becoming more than just an irritant and poses a severe safety risk. These results show just how serious the road maintenance issue is becoming for motorists and the Government should be making the UK’s pothole repairs a priority before another tragedy occurs. Road maintenance is among the most basic of motoring issues and yet it is one that gets little attention from either the media or politicians.”

He added: “With a newly elected Government, now is the time for Britain’s motorists to press for change. We should not have to navigate our way around a cratered landscape of holes and cracks, and insurance firms should not have to foot the bill when these pot holes cause damage to our vehicles’ suspension or tyres. Ultimately, of course, it is us the drivers who pay for this through our premiums. It’s time that road maintenance was given the political priority it deserves.”

Fifty-two percent claim dissatisfaction with the condition of roads which is at its highest level for ten years, while 58 percent said road repairs and maintenance should be a priority for the incoming government.

Other recent research sheds a stark light on the extent of Britain’s pothole problem.

· Figures from the AA reveal insurance claims resulting from pothole vehicle damage have gone up by 600 percent in three years
· Motorists made around 1,900 claims in February 2010 alone, at a cost of £2.85 million to insurers
· According to a survey by carmaker Kia, Surrey is Britain’s holiest county, with an impressive 1998 officially logged suspension busters. Hampshire is number two with 892 holes
· Research by Warranty Direct suggests Scotland, by contrast tops the league for pothole-related axle and suspension damage. Five of the ten areas with the highest number of insurance claims for suspension failure are found north of the border, with Ayrshire taking the number one slot. More than 14 per cent of cars in Ayrshire suffer pothole-related damage every year
· Meanwhile Smithy Lane in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire has been named as the most pot-holed in Britain. As recently as March, it boasted no less than 124 potholes over a 120 metre stretch – more than one per metre

The call comes as part of the Fuelcard Company’s ongoing duty of care to its 40,000-strong client base and the wider motoring community.