The RAC has recorded its worst third quarter for pothole breakdowns in 15 years as it warns that a bad winter this year could bring a “plague of potholes”.

While the number of pothole-related breakdowns fell in Q4, their share of total RAC call-outs reached the highest Q3 level since 2006

From June to September 2021, its patrols attended 1,810 breakdowns that were due to broken suspension springs, distorted wheels and damaged shock absorbers, accounting for 1.2% of all breakdowns.

It’s the largest-ever proportion of pothole-related call-outs in any third quarter since 2006.

Rolling average data for the last four quarters also shows a worrying increase in the share of pothole breakdowns, up to 1.5% of all RAC call-outs – the highest such figure seen in the RAC’s data since the four quarters to the end of September 2018 (1.5%).

Its Pothole Index also reveals that drivers are nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to break down after hitting a pothole today than they were when the RAC first started collecting this data back in 2006.

In fact, the poor condition and lack of maintenance of local roads remains drivers’ top concern, according to the RAC Report on Motoring 2021. This year, 46% of drivers said the state of local roads was one of their four biggest motoring-related concerns; a big increase from 38% 12 months ago. And well over half (58%) of drivers believe local road conditions where they live have deteriorated over the past year; a rise on the 52% recorded in 2020 and 49% in 2019.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “We see worrying signs in our data that implies little progress has been made in the last 12 months in improving road surfaces for drivers.

“Traditionally, the spring and summer months give authorities a chance to repair and improve roads, but unfortunately it seems many roads remain in a perilous state. We fear we’re only a bad winter away from seeing a plague of potholes which authorities will struggle to repair.

“When it comes to potholes, prevention is always better than cure. Relying on just patching potholes is a fruitless task which simply pours good money after bad as it only acts as a sticking plaster. This will anger drivers incredibly as they already feel not enough of their motoring taxes are invested in keeping roads up to a respectable standard.”

The RAC is continuing to call for some of the revenues raised from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and fuel duty to be ring-fenced for spending on local road maintenance – a view supported by 81% of drivers in its 2021 Report on Motoring.

At present, revenues from VED in England are used to fund maintenance spending but only on the motorway and high-speed road network.

Nicholas Lyes added: “We have long campaigned for national government to recognise the significance of local roads and ring-fence funds over a five-year period to enable councils to plan and deliver longer-term road maintenance. If the coming winter proves to be colder than normal as some are predicting we could sadly see our roads crumbling yet further, costing drivers hundreds of thousands of pounds in repairs. We’re sounding the alarm now so that this doesn’t happen, but we badly need the Transport Secretary and the Treasury to take a fresh look at how local roads are funded.”

Pothole breakdowns between June and September – how 2021 compared to previous years: