Fleet World Workshop Tools
Car Tax Calculator
CO2 Calculator
Van Tax Calculator
BiK Rates Company Car Tax

Pothole-related breakdowns soar in 2015, reports RAC

As a result, the RAC estimates that motorists are potentially facing a combined bill of more than £1m per month – with the poor state of the UK’s roads largely to blame.

RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: “When a vehicle’s spring fails it can’t be driven and usually results in a call to us as the owner can’t simply take it to a repairer. The problems caused by bad quality road surfaces are not confined to suspension springs either – shock absorbers can be affected, and tyres and wheels potentially damaged.

“The sharp increase in suspension spring faults that we have seen across the country really does cast a cloud on the quality of our roads. We will be closely monitoring these figures in the coming months to see whether the trend continues. Experience tells us that these problems are normally worse in the first half of the year, so if numbers are still high come the summer we will know that local authorities are still struggling to get on top of the maintenance backlog.”

The RAC has joined forces with pothole reporting website www.StreetRepairs.co.uk to create the RAC Report Pothole app to make the process of taking action to fix a pothole or other road defect more straightforward and effective.

The app uses your mobile device’s GPS to accurately locate the pothole or a range of other road defects you can select including broken manholes, abandoned vehicles and faulty street lights. You can add photos and then upload your report which is automatically delivered direct to the roads team of the responsible local authority, or agency in the case of strategic roads and motorways.

To report a pothole, motorists can visit the RAC website or download the free RAC Report Pothole mobile app for their iPhone or Android smartphone.

For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.