Whether you’ve recently passed your driving test, or been driving for 20+ years, potholes are a problem for the majority of UK drivers – a problem that just won’t go away, especially if the results of a new report by the RAC is anything to go on.
And it seems, potholes aren’t just a problem for drivers - according to the RAC’s figures, the organisation dealt with over 6,500 breakdown jobs between January and March 2017, which were likely attributable to poor road surfaces. The last time that so many pothole-related breakdowns were recorded in a three-month period was in the first quarter of 2015 (almost 6,900 breakdowns were recorded then).
However, in the early months of 2015, the country was subjected to more days of frost and rainfall when compared to the first three months of 2017, when the nation experienced mild and moderately dry conditions.
![]()
“Our figures sadly show a surprising and unwelcome first quarter rise in the number of breakdowns where the poor quality of the road surface was a major factor. We had expected a figure no worse than that recorded in the first quarter of 2016 (4,026) and it is very concerning that the roads, strangely, appear to have deteriorated in a mild, comparatively dry winter” as commented by David Bizley, a chief engineer at the RAC.
As reports show worrying figures about the state of the UK’s roads, Inchcape Volkswagen, providers of VWservice and repairs, investigate further:
Pothole hotspots
Frequency of potholes being filled in
![]()
Number of drivers reporting damage in the past 12 months (ranked by region)*
Structural road condition percentage split in England
Sources:
And it seems, potholes aren’t just a problem for drivers - according to the RAC’s figures, the organisation dealt with over 6,500 breakdown jobs between January and March 2017, which were likely attributable to poor road surfaces. The last time that so many pothole-related breakdowns were recorded in a three-month period was in the first quarter of 2015 (almost 6,900 breakdowns were recorded then).
However, in the early months of 2015, the country was subjected to more days of frost and rainfall when compared to the first three months of 2017, when the nation experienced mild and moderately dry conditions.
“Our figures sadly show a surprising and unwelcome first quarter rise in the number of breakdowns where the poor quality of the road surface was a major factor. We had expected a figure no worse than that recorded in the first quarter of 2016 (4,026) and it is very concerning that the roads, strangely, appear to have deteriorated in a mild, comparatively dry winter” as commented by David Bizley, a chief engineer at the RAC.
As reports show worrying figures about the state of the UK’s roads, Inchcape Volkswagen, providers of VWservice and repairs, investigate further:
Pothole hotspots
FillThatHole.org.uk has compiled a league table of the top ten locations that have had the most road hazard reports.
![]()
However, the league table differs when FillThatHole.org.uk’s ranked locations on open reports though:
![]()
Frequency of potholes being filled in
The average number of potholes filled in 2016/17 per local authority across England was 13,468, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey 2017.
The top ten authorities ranked on fixed reports in FillThatHole.org.uk’s league table is as follows:
Number of drivers reporting damage in the past 12 months (ranked by region)*
Region | Number of drivers |
South East England | 941k |
London | 733k |
South West England | 721k |
Yorkshire & Humber | 720k |
North West England | 687k |
West Midlands | 609k |
Scotland | 521k |
Eastern England | 457k |
East Midlands | 365k |
North East England | 343k |
Wales | 201k |
Average cost to repair pothole damage (ranked by region)*
Region | Average cost |
Eastern England | £163.68 |
South East England | £124.93 |
London | £124.65 |
Yorkshire & Humber | £120.00 |
South West England | £119.01 |
Scotland | £109.02 |
West Midlands | £87.59 |
North West England | £87.01 |
East Midlands | £86.33 |
North East England | £72.66 |
Wales | £61.83 |
Structural road condition percentage split in England
· Percentage of roads across England in poor condition (i.e. they have less than five years’ residual life remaining) — 17 per cent.
· Percentage of roads across England in adequate condition (i.e. they have between five and 15 years’ residual life remaining) — 30 per cent.
· Percentage of roads across England in good condition (i.e. they have 15 years or more residual life remaining) — 53 per cent.
Sources:
*RAC data reported on at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/15/pothole-damage-cars-soars-two-thirds-despite-dry-mild-winter/