New data has revealed that last year pothole damage to vehicles cost a staggering four hundred and seventy four thousand pounds. Now, on National Pothole Day this week, organisations are teaming up to issue a five point plan to help solve the issue. Edmund King is the President of the AA which is part of the Pothole Partnership.
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00:00 At the AA over the last year, we've analysed the amount of call-outs that we've dealt with
00:08 due to potholes.
00:09 So it can be anything from punctures to wheel damage to alloy damage, in the worst cases
00:15 even steering or suspension.
00:19 We've actually found over the last year, it's the worst for at least five years with something
00:24 like 637,000 call-outs, which is just an astonishing number in financial terms.
00:35 We actually estimate it's costing UK drivers almost half a billion pounds a year to get
00:42 their cars fixed as a result of potholes.
00:45 So it really is a major, major problem out there at the moment.
00:51 And just why is the problem worsening in recent months and years?
00:55 What we've found is that there's quite a direct correlation with the state of the roads and
01:01 the weather.
01:02 So on days when it rains and rains heavily, we get more pothole-related incidents.
01:08 According to a Freedom of Information request issued by the Daily Mirror, council payouts
01:13 for damage and injury caused by potholes since 2010 have reached well over £32 million.
01:20 And that's just for council's biggest payouts alone.
01:23 For motorists, it's the time and cost of potholes that impacts most, but they can cause serious
01:28 injury or even death for motorcyclists and cyclists.
01:32 A recent survey uncovered 20% of motorcyclists claimed to have had an accident or sustained
01:37 damage due to hitting potholes.
01:40 So as part of the partnership, we've got together with British Cycling and the National Motorcyclist
01:47 Council so that the voice of those on two wheels can also be heard.
01:52 And we're also working with one of the road repairers, JCB, because they've invested in
01:58 this technology, the Pothole Pro, which we believe is part of that solution.
02:04 So as a partnership, we've gone to government, we've raised the Five Point Pledge, which
02:11 isn't just about funding, but it is actually about kind of analysing the roads and looking
02:18 for a more permanent fix rather than this patchwork approach.
02:24 The government has pledged some £8.3 billion of funding for road maintenance over the next
02:29 ten years, but organisations have found the majority of the budget will be spent towards
02:34 the end of the time frame.
02:35 Instead, they're asking the spending to be brought forward to help fix roads more sustainably.
02:41 Experienced pothole damage, many people claim compensation as they're entitled to do from
02:46 the local highway authority, and then that money in compensation is going to individuals
02:51 rather than being spent on the roads.
02:53 So we're in this kind of vicious cycle of decline and we need to break out of that cycle
02:58 and we believe that ring fence funding and more permanent repairs will do that job.
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