motoring news
Research from Kwik-Fit has calculated that Britain’s Pothole Toll is as much as a £100 million.
That’s the annual amount over 1.1 million British motorists spend repairing or replacing pothole damaged tyres and wheels. And at an average cost of £95 each time, motorists spend almost twice as much to repair pothole damage than it actually costs to repair the average pothole, which is currently £56.
Kwik-Fit believes that much of this expense is down to the increased number of alloy wheels fitted to cars, which are softer than steel and less resilient to impacts. Furthermore many alloy wheels come in larger sizes and sport low profile tyres - decreasing the amount of tyre and air available for protecting the car from bumps in the road.
At the same time Britain’s roads are under increasing strain with traffic up by 10% between 1999-2005 making ongoing road maintenance an increasingly difficult task.
Motorists in the Midlands suffered most pothole damage, with 23% suffering in the past five years, at a cost of £29 million per year in repairs.
Drivers in the Wales and West region suffered least with only 14% experiencing pothole damage. Scottish motorists paid out least in pothole repairs at a rate of £6 million per year.
This is an appalling amount of money us poor motorists to fork out so I suggest you all start sueing the Highways Agency for damages. They might actually listen and start repairing.
Well, it’s a nice thought.
Jackie Violet