It cost the UK drivers £579,000,000 to repair pothole damage last year

The pothole nightmare has cost the UK drivers a record-breaking £579,000,000 to fix – and they can be even deadly.

If you’ve travelled on roads anywhere in the UK, the chances are you’ve hit a pothole or two.

Now motoring experts have revealed the true cost of potholes up and down the country as repair costs hit an all-time high.

And it is not just drivers who face pothole-ridden roads and the risks that come with it – they can be particularly dangerous to pedal cyclists and motorcyclists.

The AA says it was called to 643,318 pothole-related incidents last year alone.

While this is down from the year before, the cost of pothole damage has increased.

Drivers dished out a whopping £579,000,000 in repair costs last year, the AA says.

The average repair bill now stands at £300, up from the previous £250. The rise in costs is due to a combination of inflation, more advanced technology in cars and a shortage of spare parts, the AA explained.

Typical pothole damage affects the shock absorbers, suspension springs and causes distorted wheels. At worst, they can lead to the deaths of cyclists and motorcyclists.

The RAC said it saw 17% more callouts between October and December than in the previous three months after a spell of severe weather and icy conditions. Last week was one of its busiest periods in the past five years.

The latest figures come just months after dozens of drivers were taken out by a single monster pothole on the M25 in Surrey.

One of them was Tessa Pearson, 69, who spent six hours stranded on the hard shoulder with her partner. They were slapped with a £525 bill for new tyres and wheel realignments.

Meanwhile, six cyclists died and 112 were left with serious injuries in the UK because of defective road surfaces between 2017 and 2021, according to a Cycling Weekly report.

The situation has gotten so bad that the fight against potholes now has its annual awareness day – National Pothole Day marked today.

While potholes drain road users’ wallets, they also cost the UK taxpayer. To bring all pothole-riddled roads in England and Wales up to scratch would cost around £16,300,000,000.

However, there is some light ‘at the end of the pothole tunnel,’ the president of AA Edmund King said.

One of the measures is the Pothole Partnership, which was launched a year ago between the AA, British Cycling, JCB, and the National Motorcyclists Council.

He continued: ‘The Government has listened to the Pothole Partnership and is beginning to instigate policies that should lead to longer term fixes rather than the recent patchwork approach. 

‘The good news is that pothole related car incidents have declined but the bad news is that the cost of repairs has increased. Potholes are still the number one issue for drivers and more needs to be done to build on this improvement.’

What is being done to fix potholes?

Local authorities have almost £1,600,000,000 available to them for road maintenance from the government – a £500,000,000 uplift compared with the previous 12 months.

The Department for Transport has previously said it will ensure that highway authorities ‘spend the money wisely’ and that locations are maintained before holes form.

A DfT spokesperson said: ‘For too long, this country has suffered from a pothole plague, which is why we’re investing a further £500 million next year to help fill seven million more potholes.

‘This record settlement will ensure councils get their fair share and can get on with the work to fill potholes and resurface roads.

‘Britain deserves better roads, and it now has a Government that will deliver them.’

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