Potholes, rubber, oil and rain It has been calculated, that even if the budgets were made and money became no object, it would still take 12 years to physically repair the roads, due to the size of the ever-growing task.
It’s easy to believe that it’s only cars and lorries that are dangerous to scooterists on the roads, but there are many more dangers beyond other vehicles…
Let’s start with potholes – what a scourge they are! For as long as I can remember, there have always been potholes out there, but surely not on the scale we have had them in recent years? I’d guess the government will have some strategic statistic they have manipulated, to try and counter-argue the case... but it just feels like the roads are worse than ever right now. Years of underspend on maintenance, combined with heavier use than ever, and the fact that many roads are simply ageing, has led to unprecedented levels of holes in our roads.
Potholes come in all shapes and sizes no matter where you are in the country. Some roads will have you weaving left and right trying to avoid them, or even put you in danger because other vehicles are swerving to avoid them. Scooters are possibly among the most vulnerable vehicles on the road in that our small 10in wheels can sink into holes that larger wheeled vehicles can drive or ride over with nothing more than a big bump, rather than a heart-stopping clatter or worse, a wheel going into a hole and staying there.
Many people must quite rightly be wondering what we pay ‘road tax’ for, but that’s an outdated term and the tax paid is actually an excise duty. Road tax was abolished in 1937 and the money raised by vehicle excise duty simply goes into treasury funds with no direct track to road maintenance at all. It’s truly amazing that 80 years on we still generally call it road tax! Currently, an average road in England is resurfaced every 54 years, and the UK road maintenance budgets are underfunded by something akin to the tune of £1 billion per year… year in, year out. It has been calculated, that even if the budgets were made and money became no object, it would still take 12 years to physically repair the roads, due to the size of the ever-growing task. So there is no obvious solution on the horizon!
Other dangers present themselves with things such as diesel spillages. Diesel is suddenly no longer the fuel to have, despite the fact that a few years ago the government was encouraging diesel use – but there are still a lot of diesel vehicles out there so a leaking diesel tank or spillage from a fuel cap not fixed correctly can be a massive danger. Diesel is basically oil so of course put it on a road surface, add some moisture or rain... and you have something akin to an ice rink! On four wheels you lose some traction or slide – but on two wheels you are sliding down the road followed by your pride and joy scraping along behind you or worse into the path of a truck coming the other way. If you are in T-shirt and jeans you will be in a world of pain and danger but wear the correct riding gear and if you are as lucky as Serena Chamberlain was recently then you may just escape with some aches and pains – unfortunately ‘Olive’ the Vespa came off worse that day.
The recent spell of very hot weather brings its own dangers too. Weeks of dry hot weather has softened many roads and the softened or melted tar has become polished smooth with very little grit texture for grip.
Plus, all the tyre rubber than gets laid down near junctions and roundabouts. So once the weather changes and the inevitable rain comes those smooth roads laden with rubber will offer little grip and become very slippery. Add the rain to oils that have not been washed off and some roads will become treacherous.
So it’s obvious that when riding scooters (or any two wheeled vehicle) you need to be super observant and aware of the road surfaces ahead of you at all times and especially in the dark, and of course wearing good quality safety/riding gear is more important now than ever. Keeping tyres correctly inflated and in good condition will help to a degree too… so be safe out there and keep your eyes most definitely on the road!