Motorists are being urged to “avoid puddles” following a record-breaking month for pothole-related breakdowns.
Breakdown specialists AA received a staggering 52,541 callouts in October for vehicles damaged by road defects – the most for any October on record.
This is a 12 per cent increase compared to the same month last year, and is slightly ahead of the previous October high of 52,152 seen in 2017.
In total, the AA has been called out for pothole-related breakdowns for the year almost 511,000 times.
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On average, more than 1,500 drivers each day call the AA to complain of a pothole-related breakdown.
The most common vehicle defects include tyre punctures, distorted wheels, damaged shock absorbers and broken suspension springs.
Drivers are paying an average of £440 if they go over a pothole and do more damage than a puncture.
It has been estimated that the total cost to repair all potholes in England and Wales would cost around £14billion.
The Government pledged an additional £8.3billion of funding for local roads maintenance in England following the scrapping of HS2.
Rishi Sunak described the pothole issues as a “scourge” across the UK, with the Prime Minister being seen attending a number of road repairs in recent months.
Tony Rich, public relations manager for the AA, said: “Continuous poor weather and storms such as Babet, Ciaran and Debi are having a two-fold effect on driving conditions.
“What feels like relentless rainwater is covering and increasing the severity of potholes, while also holding back essential road repairs by rightly diverting roads maintenance crews to tackle fallen trees and flooded areas.
“Our advice to drivers and those on two wheels is to avoid puddles where safe to do so, but if there is no alternative other than to travel through, then reduce your speed and keep an increased distance from the vehicle in front.”
There are fears that the number of pothole-related incidents could increase in the coming weeks with temperatures dropping and some experts warning of snow.
Darren Rodwell, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association – which represents councils in England and Wales, called on the Government to act to help drivers.
He added: “Investing in cost-effective and resilient roads resurfacing, rather than retrospectively dealing with potholes, is a priority for councils.
“The recently announced extra £8.3billion of funding will help with bringing more of our local road network up to scratch, including reinstating repairs for potholes that had been impacted by inflation.
“Longer term, the Government should award council highways departments with five-yearly funding allocations to give more certainty, bringing councils on a par with National Highways so they can develop resurfacing programmes and other highways improvements, tackling the scourge of potholes.”
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Rishi Sunak pledged £8.3billion for road maintenance in England
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A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “We are already investing more than £5.5billion into highways maintenance, and our recent Network North announcement delivers an additional £8.3billion, the biggest ever increase in funding for local road improvements, and enough to resurface up to 5,000 miles of roads.”
