Road Safety Insight: Councillors Deem Potholes As ‘Annoying, Common And Uncontrollable’

The top road safety priority for local councillors is improving road surfaces and reducing potholes, according to a survey conducted by road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

74 per cent of councillors placed potholes in their top five road-safety priorities while 61 per cent think that the budgets for repairing them will decrease or stay the same.

Almost half of councillors surveyed think that road safety targets should have been kept. Fifty-eight per cent of local councillors agree that budget cuts are having a negative impact on roads and road safety, with one in four councillors strongly agreeing.

Although councillors agreed that transport was a priority half of them thought that their transport budget would reduce in the next year.

In a separate Motortrades Insight survey of councillors across the UK, nearly one in four (23.8 per cent) say potholes in their local area are ‘very annoying, common and uncontrollable’.

Road safety is a huge topic for councillors, with 80 per cent of those in Motortrades Insight’s survey knowing a person who has been ‘dramatically affected by drink driving’.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “It’s good to see that potholes are councillors’ top priority as this is a big concern for motorists.  More must be done to fix our roads before the backlog of repairs becomes unmanageable.

“The results show that different political parties offer the electorate real choice on their transport priorities. Conservative councillors are more likely to focus on road building, road surfaces and car parking, while Labour councillors appear to be more likely to prioritise road safety and the use of public transport. Liberal Democrats are more likely to focus on cycling and walking.

“Councillors say that road safety is a priority so they must put up a stronger fight to protect road safety budgets.  It’s also clear that there is a need to set up smart new targets that will help everyone in road safety focus on the highest risk groups in society.”

Drivers ‘Will Not Be Declined Car Insurance’ If They Fail To Disclose Information To Insurers Under New Consumer Insurance Act

Drivers taking out new insurance products will be given ‘added peace of mind that their claims will not be declined’ if they unknowingly fail to tell insurers everything about their lives.

Under the new Consumer Insurance Act, which comes into force on April 6, it will formalise the process of insurers asking ‘specific questions about information they need to know’.


“We want customers to take out insurance policies with the confidence that they are covered,” explained Otto Thoresen, Director General for the Association of British insurers (ABI). “By placing a legal duty on insurers to ask customers all relevant questions at point of sale, people will know exactly what they need to disclose upfront.”

Under the new Consumer Insurance Act, insurers have a ‘duty’ to ask customers all the relevant questions about the specific information required to value their car insurance.

It will also provide legal protection for motorists, with claims not being declined for not disclosing information – unless the information is ‘deliberately or carelessly withheld or misleading’.

“This Act reflects steps taken by the industry over the years to improve customer awareness of what they need to tell their insurer,” Mr Thoresen added. “For example, the ABI Code of Practice for life, critical illness and income protection insurance, which helped reduce the number of claims declined for non-disclosure.”

The new Consumer Insurance Act does not only cover car insurance, but also home, travel, life, critical illness and income protection insurance, health and pension annuities.

And it does not matter how motorists purchase their car insurance – online, telephone or even face-to-face – as the new rules still apply.

Whether anything will change in reality remains to be seen but it will require insurers to retrain staff and motorists are sceptical as to whether the Consumer Insurance Act will make any positive difference.

Motorists Brace For 25 Years Of Worsening Weather, Potholes And Dodging Mini-Craters

Potholes are destroying the finances of Britain’s hard-working drivers - motorists who are being forced into balancing their finances to pay for car repairs and food for their families.

With a recent survey revealing two thirds of motorists have found themselves in a dangerous situation, swerving to avoid a pothole, drivers in the West Midlands have been worst hit with 76 per cent swerving or braking suddenly to avoid the 2.2 million craters that plague Britain's roads.

Throughout the UK, the overall average number of motorists forced to swerve stands at 8,682,000 – or 27 per cent. That is an 11.9 per cent increase from two years ago, when only 7,757,000 drivers were estimated to have been forced to evade potholes, according to Kwik Fit estimates.

So as Britain’s roads worsen, will it get any better? No, is the simple answer, according to Sir John Beddington, the UK’s Chief Scientist, who believes there is enough CO2 in the atmosphere for there to be more droughts and floods over the coming 25 years.

And if that proves to be the case, councils would literally be throwing money down the drain in the constant battle with the weather – snow, ice and storms being the cause of worsening potholes.

“Potholes are a growing problem for motorists, not just through the damage they cause, but the fact that they force drivers to make risky manoeuvres,” explained Roger Griggs, communications director at Kwik Fit. “A motorist who suddenly veers around a hole, or brakes heavily without warning, will give other road users very little time to react.  It’s no surprise that more than three million drivers have either been in, or witnessed an accident caused by a driver avoiding a pothole and this recent spell of freezing weather is only going to make the situation worse.”

In avoiding potholes, around 2.2 million people had to come to a complete halt – a hazard to drivers and cyclists behind them who often have to swerve or slam on the brakes.

Meanwhile, nearly six million drivers hit the kerb and 1.8 million drivers irresponsibly mounted pavements, terrifying thousands of elderly people who were driving their mobility scooters, taking their adorable terriers for a walk or simply strolling to their local store to pick up the newspaper.

But local councils simply do not have the money to fix every pothole before more craters emerge.

And with winters like this year’s expected to become commonplace over the next two decades, motorists should not remain too optimistic about the UK’s pothole war being won.

Motortrades Insight recently reported on the increase in the number of cars sustaining suspension damage as a result of poor road maintenance.

http://motortradesinsight.co.uk/article_page.asp?id=238&topic=pothole-wars-motorists-brace-for-25-years-of-worsening-weather-potholes-and-dodging-mini-craters