Council’s Flood Excuses Don’t Hold Water - Poll

MEDIA interest might have died down but thousands are still dealing with the devastation caused by the recent flooding.

Along with homeowners, motorists also battled rising water levels and deteriorating road conditions.

However, according to a new survey of its members, the AA has said that as many as 68 percent of those polled said the extreme weather had contributed to poor road conditions but 67 percent blamed councils for not maintaining drains well enough.

Of the 23,700 AA members surveyed, 37 percent felt strongly that road authorities had let them down, with 23 percent strongly arguing that relentlessly bad weather was the reason why pools of water had replaced potholes as this winter's main menace for drivers.

The poll also suggested that flooding on roads was now becoming accepted as part of the driving landscape in the UK. A total of 71 percent supported the view that "there are one or two notorious spots where big puddles develop on the road but everyone local knows about them and just deals with them".

Furthermore, more than half (51 percent) agreed that heavy rains had turned the roads around where they live into ponds and puddles.

Commenting on the survey, AA president Edmund King said: "Inevitably, after this winter's appalling weather, there will be an inquiry into the resilience of the UK's transport network. Part of that will have to include road drainage.

"The Pitt review of the flooding in the summer of 2007 found that there was a lack of data about drainage systems and who was responsible for them."

He added: "It is worrying that nearly three quarters of AA members say that, when it rains heavily, they know of stretches of local road almost guaranteed to become water-logged. If they are well-known, why haven't road authorities dealt with them - before an unwary non-local driver comes to grief?"

By Press Association reporters