National Polehole Day

15 January 2024

The AA says it dealt with 631,852 pothole-related incidents in 2023, the highest for five years, with tyre, wheel, steering, and suspension damaged by poor road surfaces.

That was an increase of 16% on the previous year (543,000 incidents), while last month the breakdown and recovery firm dealt with 62,000 incidents, an increase of 15% when compared to December 2022.

A new partnership has been launched on National Pothole Day between road users and industry to help tackle potholes.

The Pothole Partnership, formed by the AA, the National Motorcyclists Council, British Cycling, IAM RoadSmart, the British Motorcyclists Federation and manufacturer JCB, has unveiled a new five-point plan to help tackle the issue.

Cycling UK has refreshed its pothole reporting tool, Fill That Hole , which has helped nearly 200,000 defects get reported over the whole of the UK since its launch in 2007. Data from the new system will also allow Cycling UK 'to monitor how potholes impact different road users for the first time'. Cyclists are particularly vulnerable to potholes and up to 15% of cyclists injured in crashes dealt with by Cycling UK’s legal services team said the incident was related to a road defect.

The new system also lets users report on other problems that could pose a risk such as broken traffic lights, incorrect or damaged signage, or debris on the road.

It has estimated that pothole damage to vehicles cost £474m in the past year, based on an average cost of £250 for repairs for each incident it attended and rounded up to represent all drivers.