£2M Government Funding For Pothole Reporting. HELLO...

Smart motorways, radar signs, automatic number plate recognition…driving these days is as much about understanding technology as learning the Highway Code.

Smart motorways, for example, employ active traffic management techniques to ease congestion and improve safety.

So, overhead signs alert drivers to use the hard shoulder and impose variable speed limits to keep the traffic moving at busy times.

Radar love

Radar signs are another increasingly common sight on many of our roads.

The signs tell you how fast you are driving and are proven to effectively slow traffic down to comply with the relevant speed limit.

Then there is automatic number plate recognition technology, which is not only used by the police but also by car parks and toll operators.

Local heroes

Motoring looks set to become even more sci-fi, too, because the government has invited local authorities to bid for a share of a £2 million fund to capitalise on the latest innovations to improve car journeys.

Councils might, for example, look at roadside sensors that can provide drivers with real-time traffic alerts.

They are also expected to develop technology to allow information about traffic and weather conditions to be sent directly to motorists.

Park life

Some councils already employ hi-tech gizmos to make life easier for drivers.

Westminster City Council’s ParkRight app, for example, directs your vehicle to an empty parking space in central London and even takes payments automatically.

Councils across England have until the end of September to apply for the funding with the aim of completing any schemes by March 2018.

Bids are expected to range between £30,000 and £300,000 and councils must stump up at least 5% of the project’s cost.

Ditch the pilot

The fund is the latest government initiative aimed at speeding up technological innovation on the roads.

Only last month, the Department for Transport launched a public consultation on on the use of advanced driver assistance systems and self-driving vehicles.

It intends to alter the Highway Code and other regulations for the safe use of advanced driver assistance systems that enable changing lanes on motorways and parking the vehicle by remote control.

Trials of driverless cars have already taken place in several UK towns and cities and in March the government confirmed that autonomous test drives would be allowed on motorways for the first time in 2017.

Brave new world

The government is, of course, keen to push the benefits of technology.

But there is a flip side to the brave new world. The safety of autonomous cars has been called into question, most recently after a self-driving car in the US was involved in a fatal crash for the first time.

Then there’s the Big Brother aspect to some of the technology. There are, for example, thousands of cameras on our roads that capture potentially sensitive data about us and our cars.

Hole lotta love

Perhaps there would be less opposition to the cutting-edge technology if it did something really useful. Something like alert drivers to the presence of potholes in the road, maybe?

The number of vehicle breakdowns caused by pothole-related damage has more than doubled over the last 10 years, according to the RAC.

In the year to June 2016, RAC 22,000 call outs were for pothole-related breakdowns and thousands of motorists require assistance each month for problems such as broken shock absorbers or faulty suspension springs.

Other road rescue organisations tell similar stories.

Gone to pot

Potholes are caused when moisture gets into the cracks in the road.

The water then expands when it freezes, compromising the fabric of the roadway. When it melts, water washes away material, with passing traffic exacerbating the problem.

But cash-strapped councils also bear some responsibility for the extent and persistence of the pothole problem because many adopt a ‘patch and dash’ approach to potholes.

So, instead of resurfacing the road properly, they quickly repair the hole, only for it eventually to reappear.

Damage report

Some reports suggest that a third of all recorded vehicle damage is as a result of potholes.

Hitting a pothole can lead to buckled wheels and cracked alloys. It can also knock out a car’s tracking and wheel balancing.

In more severe cases, it can cause a driver to lose control of the vehicle.

Under pressure

The RAC advises drivers to check their tyre pressure regularly and watch their speed when driving over a pothole as the higher the speed the greater the likely damage to the car.

You should also try not to apply the brakes because the vehicle will then tilt forward, placing more stress on the front suspension.

But what if someone could design a pothole alert system?

Drivers could then manage their journeys to avoid holes in the road.

Maybe a council should bid for some of the Government’s £2 billion to develop a device that warns drivers of impending potholes – and put both technology and public money to good use.

 

 

 

 

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Well Done That Council, At Least They're Trying.

More than 100 potholes in Swansea fixed after new 48-hour repair pledge

Workers from Swansea Council's new Pothole Repair Team have been hard at work filling in potholes in Blackpill, Llansamlet, Pontarddulais, Waun Wen, Bonymaen and Cockett this week.

 

The news comes a week after bosses outlined their aim to repair all reported potholes within 48 hours in a bid to improve the efficiency of the road network and keep traffic moving.

The authority is set to increase spending on road improvements and maintenance from £1million to more than £5million, which bosses say will see thousands of potholes repaired over the coming months.

Councillor David Hopkins, cabinet member for environment and transportation, said: "We've had a lot of very positive feedback from residents.

"In the past people have told us this kind of service is what they want and now we're pulling out all the stops to make it happen.

"The first week of a new initiative like this is always going to be busy. Thanks to the extra £1m investment and the commitment of our pothole repair teams we are delivering."

He said: "Although the council's pothole pledge has been to fix a reported pothole within 48 hours, some have been fixed more quickly than that - including one resident from Dunvant who reported the problem at 8.30am and then contacted us again at 10am the same day to say thanks because the repair team been there and done the job."

Mr Hopkins said the new Pothole Repair Team service is year-round and will be in addition to the PATCH team which carries out road repairs between April and December.

Bosses say a small number of potholes have taken longer to fix because of issues such as their position in the road or difficulty in finding each hole's specific location.

But they add that council staff have been doing all they can to meet the pledge with pothole teams working late into the evening on occasion to get the job done.

Mr Hopkins said the council has made it easy for people to report a pothole and to get feedback.

REPORT A POTHOLE HERE 

Fix The Potholes To Stop Paying Out Compensation, Simple!

Councils should stop doing "panic patch repairs" to potholes on roads and instead focus on keeping roads to high standards, the RAC has said.

Welsh authorities spent more than £30m paying compensation in five years after accidents caused by potholes, and filling in potholes after receiving complaints, figures show.

The RAC said sorting the road out before any problems would save money. REPORT A POTHOLE

The Welsh Local Government Association said councils had "extreme pressures".

The figures from 18 out of 22 Welsh councils who responded to a Freedom of Information request by the Newyddion 9 programme detailed their spending.

Swansea council and Ceredigion council said they had spent more than £5m between 2010- 2015 filling in potholes after complaints from the public and on compensation.

One person in Ceredigion was given £83,264 after sustaining an injury from falling over a pothole.

Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Gwynedd and Cardiff councils could not provide the relevant information.

'Significant challenge'

The RAC said more funding was needed in order to prevent the continuing decline of roads in Wales.

Ed Evans from the RAC said: "Over the last 10 years we've had twice the number of callouts from people who've had an accident after hitting a pothole.

"Every year the number of people reporting accidents due to potholes has increased.

"Instead of just doing panic patch repairs, councils need a programme of replacing our roads to a high standard and keeping it to a high standard.

"Sorting it out at the beginning is the answer. If you let it (a pothole) go until the end of the year, you'll get one big claim after an accident and they still have to repair it, and the cost is much much higher than if you repair it when the problems first appear."

A WLGA spokesman said: "Performance figures over recent years suggest that a reducing percentage of Wales' road network is actually deemed to be in a poor condition, which is a remarkable achievement by councils when considered against the extreme pressures being placed on local budgets."

He added: "Finding the level of funds required to maintain our roads is a significant challenge in such a climate, especially when overall public spending on roads and transport has reduced by 22% after adjusting for inflation since the onset of UK austerity."

Bikers and Potholes a Very Dangerous Combination

A motorcyclist has been left with a bloody face after hitting a deep pothole.

It could have been much worse for this biker. 

The man, thought to be in his 40s, hit the pothole, which is believed to have been around 20cm deep and 30cm wide, on Marlowe Avenue at around 1.30pm today, 6 August.

The casualty suffered minor injuries and did not require an ambulance.

Shortly after the incident, a member of the Highways department at Swindon Borough Council arrived at the scene to immediately fill in the pothole.

In the UK, the local authorities currently pay out more than £30 million in compensation claims due to the poor condition of the nation’s highways.

Wiltshire Police were at the scene, and have been approached for comment.

Are you a two wheeled road user who knows of a pothole that needs filling? Then click here to REPORT A POTHOLE then share your report easily on social media to alert other road users.

Hard Evidence and Data Proves The Pothole Problem Is Getting Worse

The proportion of vehicle breakdowns caused by potholes has more than doubled over the last ten years, our friends at The RAC have found.

Thousands of motorists need help each month for issues like faulty suspension springs or broken shock absorbers - most of which occur due to potholes, the RAC said. REPORT A POTHOLE NOW

In the 12 months to June, some 0.9% of its 2.4 million call outs were due to pothole-related damage, compared to just 0.4% over the same period in 2006.

The figures show a sudden rise in pothole damage between 2007 and 2009, when the proportion of incidents rose from 0.5% to 1.1%.

RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: "The condition of our local roads has deteriorated drastically in the last decade.

"This analysis suggests that the quality of the UK's roads suffered a steady decline from the start of 2007 through to the end of 2009, presumably due to lack of investment in maintenance and resurfacing during worsening economic times.

"Since then, injections of short-term funding have addressed the immediate aftermath of periods of extreme weather but have not been sufficient to tackle the underlying problem."

Earlier this year, the Government announced the first allocation of a £250m a year funding boost to help remove potholes, with nearly one million potholes estimated to be repaired in England in 12 months.