Pothole damage to cars increases despite warmer winters

The number of callouts to cars damaged by potholes increased by a quarter in one year, according to new figures.

The RAC handled about 30,000 incidents last year, including damaged suspensions and wheels, despite a milder winter than previous years.

But councils said they are facing a 10-year, £12 billion backlog of repairs.

The most calls for help came from drivers in the east of England, 4,547 in total.

But the biggest increase was in south-east England, 62% up on the year before.

Winter frosts normally damage road surfaces but the RAC described the increase as "worrying" because the weather has been milder than in previous years.

The north-east of England saw an increase to 3,783 call-outs, while the RAC's 'mid-western' and 'north-west' regions, which take in Wales and the West Midlands, saw more than 3,000 incidents each.

The figures emerged on National Pothole day, set up by Colin Mahoney, the founder of the Streetrepairs.co.uk website.

English councils have already been allocated a share of £4.7 billion over six years to tackle the problem of potholes, which can lead to local authorities paying out compensation to drivers whose vehicles are damaged. A further £1.3bn is being put towards repairs of junctions, bridges and street lighting as well as an incentive scheme for councils to deliver cost-effective improvements.

'Worrying rise'

When the funding was allocated in 2014 transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said it would be enough to fix around 18 million potholes.

But RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: "It is very worrying that our patrols have dealt with more pothole-related breakdowns in 2015 than they did the year before because we did not experience a particularly cold winter in either year.

"On top of the £6 billion already promised, the Chancellor made available further funds in the Autumn Statement and whilst this is still not enough to meet the shortfall, it may hopefully mean we will see a decline in 'pothole generated breakdowns' this time next year."

Backlog

Councillor Peter Box, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils, said: "Councils fixed more potholes than ever before last year - one every 15 seconds - and keeping roads safe is one of the most important jobs we do.

"However, a backlog of road repairs of about £12 billion would already take councils more than a decade to clear."

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: "I know how important well-maintained roads are to people up and down Britain. That is why the government is providing unprecedented levels of investment, allocating a record £6 billion to councils in England to improve local roads over the next five years.

"We have topped this up with £250 million announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, specifically to tackle the blight of potholes, a £300 million increase compared to the last Parliament equipping us to fill over 4.5 million potholes."

 

 

 

 

FULL LINK TO THE BBC WEBSITE ALL CREDITS TO THE BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35322313 

 

Pothole Kills Woman Cyclist.

A triathlete was hit by a car and killed after being thrown off her bike by a pothole that the local council had failed to fix.

Kate Vanloo, 52, was riding with a friend when she cycled into the water-filled hole and was thrown into the road.

The mother of three, who completed a 950-mile charity cycle ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End last year, was killed after being struck by a car.

The road where Mrs Vanloo died was supposed to have been resurfaced before Christmas, but the work was postponed until next month after a request by a nearby farm which sells Christmas trees from its premises. 

The pothole was filled in within 48 hours of the tragedy.

Neil Adkins, 55, who runs a campsite near the country lane at Napton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire, said: ‘Road closure signs went up last month, but then nothing happened.

‘The incident was just a tragic accident. If it wasn’t for the pothole the lady would never have come off the bike, as I understand it. The car driver wasn’t to blame.’

Helena Knight, 56, a friend of Mrs Vanloo, said: ‘Kate always had a massive smile on her face. She only took up cycling and triathlons within the last decade – she was a real “doer”.

‘I’m told she’d hit a pothole which was full of water and threw her off. The other cyclist went around it – I’m assuming she was in front and Kate maybe didn’t see it in time.’

A neighbour of Mrs Vanloo said: ‘If the pothole wasn’t there, she wouldn’t have fallen. Or she could have hit the pothole and survived with a few grazes if it wasn’t for the passing car.’

The other cyclist is said to have been ‘hysterical’ after the incident last Sunday morning, while the car driver, a local woman in her 60s, was ‘devastated’.

Mrs Vanloo, who was separated from husband Julian, also 52, had been riding in nearby villages with fellow members of the Rugby Triathlon Club in the hours before the accident.

Phil Scott, 48, who was part of the group, said: ‘Kate was cycling towards home at the time with another club member who had parked her car out that way. 

'Potholes are a major problem all over the country.

‘Even though we are in a time of austerity, they need to be tackled. I don’t think that many motorists realise that if a cyclist moves out into the road they are not being difficult. 

'They may well be trying to avoid a pothole.

‘A friend from the club went up to look at the scene of the incident on Monday or Tuesday and saw workmen filling potholes in.’

Mrs Vanloo’s eldest child is 16. In a statement, her family asked to be left to grieve privately but said Mrs Vanloo had died ‘doing something that she truly loved and was her passion’.

Rugby Triathlon Club described Mrs Vanloo as ‘a fierce and determined triathlon competitor, a great coach and a valuable member of the club’s management committee’.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘When crews arrived on the scene they discovered a cyclist lying in the road following a collision with a car.

‘Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that due to the serious injuries suffered in the incident, nothing could be done to save the woman.’

Warwickshire Police are appealing for witnesses to contact them. .

Warwickshire County Council, which is responsible for highways, could not be contacted yesterday.

 

COMMENT BT STREET REPAIRS EDITOR. How many more lives will it take before they take note and listen. We are not here to sensationalise just report on facts. This is the main reason why #NationalPotholeDay should be supported by everyone. No more lives should be taken because of the state of our roads.

Our thoughts go out to Kates familiy and friends at this very difficult time.

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/34804-national-pothole-day?locale=en

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source  ANDY DOLAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL
 

National Pothole Day Friday 15th of January 2016

If you are a road user then you may wish to pencil this date in your diary, streetrepairs.co.uk is launching the second national pothole day on the 15th of January 2016. 

This pothole initiative is again being co-ordinated by Colin Mahoney of the award winning Street Repairs website.

Colin said “after the success of the 2015 #NationalPotholeDay campaign many thousands of our followers and supporters have asked us to highlight the seriousness of this major problem yet again, social media played a major role in last year’s Pothole day. I can honestly say that public sentiment is still very high in relation to this major ongoing issue and things are set to get worse. More than 88% of reports made by the public to the Street Repairs website relate to potholes”

With austerity measures and recent budget cuts to local authorities Street Repairs showcases a free way for local authorities and their constituents to engage seamlessly to action any defects which are reported in real time.

Street Repairs was launched just over two years ago and in this time has shown that the public can get action and take control of their local roads and communities. Public sentiment plays a major role and the fact that Street Repairs is an independent body free from constraints meaning their will be no outside influence on reporting. 

Transparency and clarity is the cornerstone for the website and its app. Reports made to Street Repairs will be sent to the appropriate local authority or Highways department which in turn can be published via all social media channels to warn others of impending dangers. All reports are logged and given a time-stamp on Twitter, Facebook and of course the Street Repairs website.

Local authorities have the ability to respond to the reporter by simply logging in and making a reply. It also offers the reporter the opportunity to track their report. 

Alerts and updates are provided by text, email or both to the reporter.

In order to make it very easy for everyone to make a report the developers at Street Repairs have created an intuitive mobile phone application which can be downloaded at any app store. streetrepairs.co.uk 

Colin continued to say “once again we hope the general public will showcase what their roads and communities are really like. We would like as many people as possible to join our pothole campaign on social media and by using our free system to highlight local issues quickly and easily”.


Press Contact Colin Mahoney
Tel No 01772 457 682
Twitter #NationalPotholeDay
Facebook streetrepairs
Web streetrepairs.co.uk

POTHOLES POTHOLES POTHOLES LOTS OF THEM

Following the great success of last year’s inaugural National Pothole Day, streetrepairs.co.uk is proud to announce NATIONAL POTHOLE DAY 15th January 2016.
https://streetrepairs.co.uk/national-pothole-day-2016 

The press contact of the website Colin Mahoney said: “The reaction to the first National Pothole Day was overwhelming with the national press, Sky TV, ITV, BBC, all greeting its launch with enthusiasm. Reports of potholes increased dramatically with over 88 per cent of reports now relating directly to potholes and increasing the awareness nationally of the seriousness of the problems and potential dangers relating to the disrepair of our roads.”

In 2013 two enterprising young men felt enough was enough - our road infrastructure was falling apart, as local authorities and the Government saw an easy target for constant budget cuts in road transport. The two guys decided to do something positive to help combat the UK's ever deteriorating roads and pavements and had the bright idea of setting upstreetrepairs.co.uk

Using their accumulated experience of creating innovative web sites and software they designed “Street Repairs” as a user friendly, geographically driven centralised forum for you and I to report those annoying defects. Every report entered serves to highlight issues to those local authorities that let their highways fall into disrepair. It quickly caught the imagination of more than a long suffering public, as well as praise from the likes of the RAC and Auto Express. The 15th January 2015 saw the successful launch of NATIONAL POTHOLE DAY, the very first of its kind here in the UK - and now streetrepairs.co.uk is looking forward to the second NATIONAL POTHOLE DAY on 15 January 2016.

A wholly self financed idea, free of external investment, “Street Repairs” is out there helping communities, ratepayers, and taxpayers alike. It also helps local authorities better manage worn out highways countrywide. National Pothole Day sees an enthusiastic response from the public keen to address the safety and financial issues involved.

"The highway authorities and their insurers are starting to sit up and taking notice of “Street Repairs”. They have to! We are a force fighting for you, the public”, Mahoney stated.

The 15th January 2016 is the big day for UK motorists to have their say. A THUNDERCLAP will be used for the first timehttps://www.thunderclap.it/projects/34804-national-pothole-d... 

Watch this space for more information as we countdown to NPD.

You can also find our free App here https://streetrepairs.co.uk/app

Let’s get the UK driving or riding on the roads they deserve, and the roads their taxes have actually paid for!

-Ends-

Press Contact:

Colin Mahoney
Email 
 

Autumn Statement reaction: Roads investment and potholes

RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: “We are pleased the Chancellor has sought to protect the funds allocated to the Road Investment Strategy as this demonstrates a firm commitment to protect and improve the country’s crucial road transport infrastructure in the longer term.

“The Government’s Road Investment Strategy shows that for every £1 spent on the projects identified, the return for the Government is £4 in the long term, demonstrating the clear link between investing in the nation’s roads and economic growth.

“The extra £250m being allocated to the Pothole Fund over the next five years is good news but is, of course, no more than a drop in the ocean in terms of the scale of the problem across Britain’s 245,000 miles of road. The Government’s own estimated backlog for repairing local roads is up to £8.6bn, which shows the scale of the funding shortage. We urge local authorities to use this money wisely by carrying out preventative maintenance rather than just short-term remedial repairs.

“Although the Government has a sound plan in place to finance improvements to major roads, we badly need similar thinking for local roads. We would like to see local authorities given the freedom to allocate funds to bring their roads up to standard which, according to RAC research, is exactly what their council tax payers want.”

REPORT POTHOLES HERE 

 

SOURCE OUR FRIENDS AT THE RAC