£2m bill for injuries from our cracked pavements
explain why a £1.2billion Government plan to encourage youngsters to walk or cycle to school “has fallen flat” with numbers opting to do so dropping by two per cent to 44 per cent.
At the same time, a poll found that AA members believe that Britain’s pavements are in just as poor a state as the nation’s potholed roads.
AA president Edmund King claimed the problem was worse at night. He said: “The Government and local authorities repeatedly encourage drivers to leave their cars at home and take to their feet or to two wheels for short journeys.
“But the state of the pavements means walkers are expected to run the gauntlet of pavement hazards that are just as dangerous as the potholes that can injure or kill cyclists and damage cars.
“Pavements are particularly dangerous at night and more so in places where street lights are switched off after midnight to save money.
“The fact that more than 10,300 claims have been made in just 12 months for pavement injuries confirms that walking can be like negotiating a minefield.”
The AA research found that three in four respondents complained about uneven surfaces, litter and cars parked on pavements.
More than two-thirds said paths were encroached on by overgrown trees and hedges.
And two in five said they encounter temporary signs such as roadworks signs partly blocking pavements.
Council chiefs blamed a lack of cash for the state of the nation’s pavements.
Priority
A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: “Councils know that the condition of pavements is a key priority for residents and want to make sure they are safe to use by all pedestrians. Councils do a huge amount to maintain pavements with the resources available.
“Any deterioration of our roads and pavements is down to decades of underfunding from successive governments and recent severe winters. Councils want to bring them fully up to scratch, but need a fairer funding deal and greater government investment to allow this to happen.”