Budget Pothole Investment Reaction from Gem Motoring Assist

Neil Worth, the Road Safety Officer at GEM Motoring Assist is delighted that the Chancellor is willing to pour £2.5 billion into potholes over the next five years. “Potholes are a national disgrace,” he says, “and they have been allowed to proliferate all over the country, leaving so many stretches of road in a truly dangerous state.” He says that road maintenance programmes have rolled out “too slowly” which means that potholes have become a real danger to all road users. They also cause damage. “Car suspensions are jarred, motorbike and bicycle wheels buckle, riders can be thrown to the ground, while pedestrians risk injury from tripping over. No wonder potholes have become such a scourge.” He adds that they would like to see action taken immediately so that national highways agencies and local authorities will have the means to ramp up their programme of pothole repairs. “We also want to ensure contractors work swiftly and smartly to make good the damage caused by potholes. This means fixing all the potholes in a specified area all at once, not selecting a few then coming back again and again to fix others.” Overall, he was encouraged to see the UK government making this significant investment.