Warranty Direct has entered the pothole debate by claiming UK roads are nearing ‘Third World’ standards.
The statement came from the company’s Managing Director, Duncan McClure Fisher as he condemned UK roads to the scrapheap: “Unless something more is done soon, we’ll be faced with a road network that would be more at home in a Third World country.“Whether it’s the cumulative effect of continuously driving on bad roads or the sudden jolting of a deep pothole which does the harm, our crumbling roads are costing motorists millions."The statement follows a recent report by Potholes.co.uk which said that British roads and their disintegration were costing motorists a huge £3million every day on repairs relating to potholes at an average cost of £312 for unfortunate drivers.Figures surrounding costs and repercussions vary however it is clear the situation needs tackling and that is exactly what the UK government attempted to do by pledging a further £100million to roadside maintenance.Unfortunately that figure is spread over 433 local authorities and fails to mask the fact that road maintenance funding has been cut by some 15 per cent and when that is combined with two consecutive freezing winters it is easy to see why UK roads are in such a sorry state.McClure Fisher hit the nail on the head when he concluded: “Councils need to wise up and get creative about how to address the problem."Easier said than done.