Damage from potholes on UK roads cost drivers around £1.7 billion during the past year.
It marks a 35 percent increase on the £1.2 billion spent in the previous year, and is £500 million more than seen pre-pandemic.
According to Kwik Fit, which compiled the data, it represents the largest amount seen since the company began tracking pothole costs.
Millions of drivers affected
Kwik Fit found that 59 percent of UK drivers had hit at least one pothole a week during the previous year. This was up from 46 percent reported the year previously.
Of those surveyed, 46 percent said road surfaces in their local area had become worse during the last 12 months. Only 16 percent said conditions had improved, with Londoners most likely to say their roads were now better.
Some 13.3 million drivers said their car had suffered pothole damage during the last year. The average individual repair bill came to £132.
Half of all pothole damage suffered was to tyres, followed by wheels (29 percent) and suspension (also 29 percent). One in 10 suffered damage to engine components.
‘Papering over the cracks’
Roger Griggs, communications director at Kwik Fit, said: “The total cost of potholes to the nation’s drivers is rising due to a combination of factors – worsening road surfaces, the impact of inflation on individual repair costs and car use getting back to near pre-pandemic levels.
“We all know there are huge demands on public finances at the moment, but the reality is that drivers have been consistently calling for a strategic plan to effectively bring our roads up to scratch for many years. It is not sufficient to just carry out emergency patching of the worst areas – this is always going to be a case of papering over the cracks.”
Kwik Fit encourages drivers to report potholes to their local authority, where it can add to the existing £12 billion backlog of road repair work.
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