The pothole problem – what is the government doing?

Potholes have long been an issue on UK roads – you’ve likely encountered your fair share of them, whether you’ve been driving your own vehicle, or you’d decided to hire a car or hire a van from a supplier like ourselves here at Intack Self Drive. It can be nerve-wracking enough to hit a pothole in your own car, but when you’re driving a rented vehicle, that can be worrying in its own way too.

The only thing you can really do to prevent damage to a car you’re driving is simply to keep your eyes peeled for potholes, or avoid routes where you know they’re particularly common. But if that’s the only thing that drivers can do, the next big question is – what is the government doing?

The big pothole problem

To give you an idea of the scale of the problem, there are still more than a million potholes in the UK. To put that into perspective, a report from this year said that at the time of writing, there were around six potholes per mile on council-controlled roads in England and Wales. So it’s hardly surprising that “the condition and maintenance of local roads” is one of the top motoring concerns of drivers, according to research from the RAC, placing it right up there with fuel prices.

The RAC's Pothole Index says that drivers are more than one and a half times as likely to experience pothole damage as they were 15 years ago. One campaigner has warned that if serious action is not taken, more than half of Britain’s roads will have become ‘structurally unsound’ in fifteen years’ time.

Potholes are causing huge amounts of damage already – it’s a factor in more than one-in-five car write-offs, according to data from Allianz. Some drivers are getting so frustrated with it that they’re resorting to some quite creative measures to draw attention to the issue, like one man in South-East London who has begun turning them into small tableaus.

What is the government doing?

During the run-up to the election, the Labour government pledged to fund councils to repair up to a million roads, and promised multi-year funding settlements to local leaders to fix broken roads.

In its first 100 days in government, the Labour Party seems to have broadly stuck to its guns in terms of infrastructure, and it’s been a major area of focus over the last few months. Transport Minister Louise Haigh is also looking at trialling new high-tech measures too, such as systems like Project Amber – a scheme that relies on high-definition imaging to identify the areas that are most in need of attention. Now, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised a £500 million increase in road maintenance budgets next year.

However, campaigners have said that still won’t be enough. Councils have long struggled with underfunding, so it’s going to need even more investment to see serious improvements that stick. The team at Chamber UK have noted that one of the big challenges for the ministers is that they must ensure they don’t fall into the trap of “quick wins at the expense of long-term solutions”. So will they be able to do it? Well, time will tell.

Whatever happens though, here at Intack Self Drive you can always rely on us to give you the very best prices on a comprehensive range of hire vehicles. We have a fleet of more than 450 vehicles to choose from, encompassing cars, vans and minibuses – so whatever type of vehicle you need, you can count on us to have you covered. We offer daily hire and weekly hire options, and if you’re not sure exactly how long you’ll need the car for, we also offer flexi hire to give you maximum freedom and flexibility.

Got questions? No worries. Give us a call on 01254 57811, and we’ll be happy to see how we can help!