The increasing numbers of potholes pitting Britain's roads could affect the insurance industry, a major new report indicated today.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) released the data, which show that there is currently a 13-year road maintenance backlog being faced by local authorities - and that pothole numbers increased by 32 percent in England and Wales last year.
The group's Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey - or ALARM for short - also called for increased investment from the government to help alleviate the pothole problem. Britain's drivers are already facing rising car insurance bills, with extra claims likely to have been caused by the rising pothole problem.
Figures from the AA released earlier this week showed that the typical premium rose in cost by over one percent in the first quarter of the year - the first January-March increase noted by the car insurance provider since 2004.
Mike Linley, AIA chairman, also suggested that the potholes had an environmental, as well as financial, impact. "Free flowing traffic on unobstructed roads is the most environmentally friendly and the safest," he commented. "Vehicles that have to constantly stop and start generate more emissions and with a road opening or pothole every 120 yards, or one every 110 metres, free flowing traffic seems like an impossible dream."
AIA analysis also suggests that work on potholes would provide a "fiscal stimulus" effect to the economy, promoting recovery from the current recession. "Highway maintenance work provides the 'shovel-ready' projects the government is looking for to stimulate the economy with almost immediate effect," Mr Linley claimed.
There are currently over 30 million drivers in the UK - two in three of the adult population.
