Potholes costing motorists £1million a day

[Booner!]

http://www.admiral.com/newsArticles/3323/Potholes-%27costing-%C2%A31-million-a-day%27

Potholes 'costing £1 million a day'
08/04/2009

Potholes are costing the British motorist more than £1 million each day, according to research that reveals the damage to cars and the worst-hit places in the UK.

Potholes.co.uk, which maps the extent of the problem around the country, analysed data from 50,000 live insurance policies, and found that the further north a driver lives, the more likely they are to need repair work on their suspension or axles - with an average bill of £240 a time.

In all, the research claims a potential repair bill of £413 million each year is caused by the potholed surface of roads.

And five of the top ten worst areas are in Scotland, with four more in Northern England. By contrast, the areas with the lower failure rates are overwhelmingly found in the South of England.

Worst-ranked Ayrshire sees more than 14% of cars needing repair each year due to the condition of roads, while in top-ranked Oxfordshire only 4.2% of cars need similar treatment.

The calculations come in the wake of a pothole epidemic in February, following the coldest winter in years.

And local authorities, which are responsible for maintaining the road surface, spent more money in 2007 in compensation claims than they did on plugging the holes in the road infrastructure.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association told Admiral Insurance News that the group would be calling for measures to tackle the scale of the problem in the upcoming Budget.

"We estimate the total cost to repair all the potholes across England approaches £1 billion," he added.

"Of course councils would like to fix this problem.

"But to go out and fix all the potholes would be hard in a time of recession, when increasing Council Tax will not be popular."

Is the last part a joke or what? Surely they have the funds to do this through road tax, petrol duty and council tax? I mean I am not sure which tax/income goes towards the upkeep of roads, but aren't all three high enough already to pay towards it?

Maybe if the councils reduce their spend on speed cameras they could "afford" to fix our roads?

Thoughts? or am I talking nonsense!

 

[Booner!]

Sometimes reporting isn't good enough, as you come round a corner on a roundabout and crunch...too late.

 

[Booner!]

That's frankly outrageous! If it reduces costs, then surely the appropriate tax should be reduced slightly?

What if a motorbike hits one? ...I guess "use of speed" will be used as an excuse and the speed limit will be reduced to fall in line with road conditions.

That's like the NHS saying "Well we won't bother helping drug abusers, drunks and old people as they consume resources/cost too much and take up too much room"