The ALARM report reveals a staggering sixteen point three billion pounds is needed to fix the country's roads. The Asphalt Industry Alliance, which carried out the research, says our nation's highways are heading towards 'breaking point'. Tax-paying motorists are keen for the issues to be fixed but cash-strapped councils are struggling to keep up.
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00:00 "It's always been something that everyone's aware of, potholes are a bugbear of every
00:05 UK motorist and it's quite apparent that that problem seems to be getting worse and worse.
00:11 So punctures, buckling of wheels down to causing more serious issues like the bending of the
00:22 axle and the tracking can be put out which costs a lot of money."
00:26 But it's not just the damage to cars caused by hitting a spot of road damage direct that
00:31 can cause issues for UK motorists. Potholes can also affect the way in which we drive,
00:36 causing road traffic accidents too.
00:37 "It also can have adverse effects on driving styles because if people are aware of potholes
00:43 and they're trying to protect their vehicles from being damaged, your peripheral vision
00:48 can be reduced quite substantially. So instead of looking at all the hazards that are in
00:53 front of you, your eyes are more focused on the road in front of you which means you're
00:57 more susceptible to an accident really."
01:00 So it can be anything from punctures to wheel damage to alloy damage, in the worst cases
01:06 even steering or suspension. And we've actually found over the last year it's the worst for
01:13 at least five years with something like 637,000 call-outs which is just an astonishing number
01:23 in financial terms. We actually estimate it's costing UK drivers almost half a billion pounds
01:32 a year to get their cars fixed as a result of potholes. So it really is a major, major
01:39 problem out there at the moment.
01:41 And just why is the problem worsening in recent months and years?
01:46 What we've found is that there's quite a direct correlation with the state of the roads and
01:52 the weather. So on days when it rains and rains heavily, we get more pothole-related