Lacklustre Pothole Performance Highlighted By Survey

THE GOVERNMENT has got a long way to go to convince drivers that they have the pothole problem in control. That’s the view of 67 percent of motorists polled by road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

According to the IAM’s survey, those respondents believe the government is doing a bad or a very bad job of maintaining the nation’s roads. Interestingly, almost two thirds (65 per cent) of female drivers believe that the government is doing a bad or very bad job, but the figure increases for male drivers 69 per cent unhappy with the current state of the roads.

Furthermore, a third of drivers (34 per cent) think that their council is cutting spending on road maintenance but 60 per cent of drivers don’t know if budgets are being cut, suggesting councils are performing poorly on informing and engaging with local residents.

Over half of drivers (52 per cent) think that local councils are doing a bad or very bad job of looking after local roads.

Commenting on the survey, IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Despite the government’s pothole review, there is a high level of dissatisfaction with the efforts of authorities to keep our roads safe and smooth drive or ride on.

“The government need to convince motorists that they have a real cure for the pothole pandemic. This can only be achieved through clear communication on new policies, more sharing of resources, sustained long-term funding and a continued commitment to eradicating the maintenance backlog of crumbling British roads.”

By Press Association reporters