What pothole claims cost our council
Pothole compensation for one cyclist cost Bath and North East Somerset Council 57 times more than the average payout to motorists.
An investigation by Cycling UK found the council had paid out £15,800 to a cyclist in potholerelated compensation between 2013/14 and 2017/18, while paying out an average of £277 each to 183 motorists.
The charity said the figures showed that while potholes can be an inconvenience for motorists, they are more likely to cause injury, and even death, for cyclists.
Overall, Bath and North East Somerset paid out £66,525 in compensation relating to pothole damage and injuries between 2013/14 and 2017/18.
After taking into account legal costs as well, pothole claims cost the council a total of £86,245 over the five years.
Across Britain, pothole compensation claims are costing councils 26 times more in payouts for cyclists than for motorists.
The average compensation payout per motorist was around £339, but councils paid out an average £8,826 per cyclist for incidents involving potholes - with the charity saying cyclists are being killed or seriously injured due to defective road surfaces.
“Cyclists are running the gauntlet when riding on British roads following a decade of underinvestment leading to the poor state they’re currently in,” said Cycling UK CEO Paul Tuohy. “Potholes aren’t just an expensive nuisance, they are ruining lives.”
The information was obtained by the charity through a series of Freedom of Information requests to 211 highway authorities across the UK. A total of 156 responded.
The charity asked about the amount of compensation paid out to cyclists and motorists, and the number of successful claims made over the five-year period between financial years 2013/14 and 2017/18.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates after decades of underinvestment in the local road networks it would cost £9.3 billion to repair the damage on British roads.
Cycling UK ran ‘Pothole Watch’ week from March 3 to 9 to call on the Government to adopt a ‘fix it first’ policy, and invest part of its £25 billion Road Investment Strategy, which is currently ringfenced for the building and maintenance of motorways and trunk roads, into repairing local roads.
“The Government is going to spend £25bn on maintaining and building new motorways, while effectively each year it finds some loose change for the problem of potholes on local roads,” said Mr Tuohy. “Cycling UK wants Government to adopt a ‘fix it first’ policy. Let’s repair the local roads first - the ones we all use in our cars and on our bikes everyday - before building new motorways.
“Through Pothole Watch, I want to encourage the wider public to help councils by reporting potholes.”
Cycling UK runs the reporting webtool and app Fill That Hole www.fillthathole.org.uk.