Damage from potholes on rise despite mild winter
● Motoring group reports 63 per cent rise in breakdowns related to holes
The bane of every driver’s life has become an even greater nightmare with a surprise increase in pothole damage to vehicles this winter.
Breakdowns linked to holes in the road soared by nearly two-thirds from January to March compared with last year, the RAC reported today.
The motoring group said the 63 per cent increase had been unexpected because of this year’s drier winter.
It expressed concern because the 6,500 incidents across the UK amount to the highest proportion of its call-outs for at least 11 years. Damage included broken suspension springs, damaged shock absorbers and distorted wheels.
No separate Scottish figures were available, but public spending watchdogs said last year motorways and other trunk roads north of the Border were in a significantly worse state than in England.
RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: “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.
“It is very concerning that the roads, strangely, appear to have deteriorated in a mild, comparatively dry winter.
“Anyone that has experienced a breakdown as a result of hitting a pothole will know just how frustrating that can be – not to say dangerous and expensive if damage to their vehicle is sustained.”
Audit Scotland reported last August that Scotland’s motorways were in a worse condition and deteriorating faster than other roads.
The proportion of motorways which need resurfacing increased from 30 per cent to 42 per cent in three years, compared with an unchanged 37 per cent for other roads.
Neil Greig, the Scottishbased policy and research director of the IAM Roadsmart motoring group, said: “Only a firm and costed commitment to remove the backlog in the foreseeable future will deliver the high-quality roads drivers already pay so much for but far too often fail to find.”
Transport Scotland, which is responsible for trunk roads, said it had increased maintenance spending this year to more than £199 million.
A spokeswoman said: “This will allow more repairs to be carried out to road surfaces to address potholes and other
0 Planting flowers in potholes has been used as a way of highlighting the road safety danger defects, as well as safety work, inspections and bridge maintenance which will all help extend the life of the network.
“Local authorities are responsible for the maintenance of local roads. They to decide how to spend their budgets according to local needs and priorities.”
A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities said: “Scotland’s councils are committed to maintaining our local roads in as good a condition as is possible.
“This is not a simple task and roads have to compete with other demands on budgets.” School play equipment poses a potential infection hazard for young children, a study has suggested.
Testing for germ “hot spots” at two typical UK schools revealed high levels of bacteria in unexpected places.
Play equipment had more bugs on its surfaces than did door handles, radiators, stationary items and chairs.
At one school a “play” dinosaur registered a contamination reading 41 times higher than that obtained from a toilet door.
Experts from pest controllers Rentokil swabbed 130 locations at an infant and primary school and tested the samples using microbe detection equipment. From the results, they produced contamination “heat maps” showing the dirtiest areas where cleansing was most needed to prevent outbreaks of infection.
Luke Rutterford, technical manager at Rentokil Specialist Hygiene, said: “These findings may surprise many, as it is not necessarily the objects and areas they would associate with being unhygienic such as toilets, but instead items that are shared and used by multiple children which appear to be harbouring the most germs.
“Play equipment and shared items are used regularly throughout the day but rarely cleaned.”