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pot hole.jpgCyclists being killed due to delays fixing potholes say CTC
Increasing numbers of cyclists are being killed or seriously injured on British roads and CTC, the national cycling charity, say that delays in fixing potholes are contributing to the problem. A spokesman for the Local Government Association says that a lack of funding means councils can currently only afford to patch roads and not properly resurface them.
CTC spokesman, Sam Jones, told The Times: “For cyclists, potholes aren’t mere inconveniences. They’re a real blight, where even the most minor defects can lead to serious, life-changing injuries.”
Department for Transport statistics show that 3,410 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in the 12 months to the end of March, compared with 3,383 a year earlier. While it is possible that the rise is at least partly due to increased numbers of cyclists, CTC are also keen to draw attention to the influence of the nation’s deteriorating roads.
The organisation highlights the case of Martyn Uzzell, who was killed during a charity ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats when he was thrown from his bike into the path of a car in 2011. A coroner’s inquest last year concluded that there was “no doubt whatsoever” that a 10cm pothole surrounding a drain cover was the cause of the fatal crash.
CTC's FillThatHole.org.uk website allows cyclists to log problem roads and is then updated when councils or cyclists report that a defect has been fixed. In some areas, only three per cent of damaged roads reported by CTC were said to have been repaired. The organisation says that 17 councils fixed only 1 in 10 problem roads while the majority (168) repaired less than half.
Peter Box, Transport Spokesman for the Local Government Association, said that councils fixed more potholes than ever before last year – one every 15 seconds. However, he emphasised that merely patching the surface wasn’t the best long-term approach.
“Current funding levels mean councils are only able to keep pace with patching up our roads and filling potholes rather than carrying out more cost-effective and long-term improvements.
“The amount spent on maintaining a mile of national road was 40 times higher than that spent on a mile of local road during the last Parliament. This disparity will do nothing to tackle the roads crisis we face as a country.
“Long-term and consistent investment in local road maintenance is desperately needed to improve road conditions for motorists and cyclists."
Earlier this week, Google filed a patent that could see the firm building a constantly-updated database of pothole locations. Using GPS and vertical movement sensors, vehicles would log the location of major bumps in the road and upload the information to the cloud.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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9 comments
"Department for Transport statistics show that 3,410 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in the 12 months to the end of March, compared with 3,383 a year earlier. While it is possible that the rise is at least partly due to increased numbers of cyclists, CTC are also keen to draw attention to the influence of the nation’s deteriorating roads." ... without providing a single shred of evidence to support the statement, citing one example, although painful to all involved, is not evidence of a causal effect.
There are also several councils who will not now take reorts fro sites such as fixmystreet or fillthathole as many of the defects reported are not actionable or take far to long to find due to poor location information
Actionable, what a wonderfully unhelpful term, Gloucestershire County Councils idea of a road defect is enough to get a cyclist into serious trouble. it has to be a couple of inches deep and a foot across before they regard it as a pothole. So raised man hole covers, failing trench repairs, etc. They aren't defects and so aren't actionable.
This would be amusing if the issue wasn't potentially dangerous, local road was closed for resurfacing, which they did, detail, they resurfaced the bits that weren't great and left the bits that were in serious need to work. This was last year, then this year they did another road in the same area, and did exactly the same thing!
One other thing i have noticed, Cheltenham gets a new Tory MP, and suddenly the Tory CC decides to fix the a lot of potholes, cynical.....
But this isn't a new problem, i don't actually remember the last time GCC undertook proper systematic, preventative maintenance. been an issue for decades, just getting worse.
it's not just delays it's the quality of repairs. I live in the the South Ribble area of Lancashire we've had some VERY poor repairs done lately; the kind that flick you out into the path of following traffic. Reported some today but why should we have to pay someone twice to do something that they should have done properly in the first place? They'll probably blame LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL.
Fact is that somebody is paid, AT OUR EXPENSE, to properly fix the problem. Need some good litigious folks working on our behalf.
Having a busted shoulder from a pothole in 1992 I'm well aware of the problem.
My local council is Sefton. I suspect they have a road repair schedule that is at least 3 years post survey. It is the only way to explain the way they re-surface roads that are ok and yet leave others covered in potholes.
Their subcontracted road crews will only patch what is on their survey list leaving new potholes alongside those patched as the new potholes weren't on the original survey back in 2012.
Micro Tarmac - a thin glue and gravel mix laid over an existing poor surface and the heavy wear gravel heavy surfaces are now appearing in residential roads in my area.
The smooth stuff has the best run off which means less frost damage so lasts longer - but it costs more.
The whole system is a mess.
Well done Tories! No money for proper policing, decent road surfacing, buses or the Northern Powerhouse.
So when something good happens do you credit that to the Tories?
Austerity is a political policy not an economic one. I would't recommend holding your breath whilst waiting for something good to emerge from the Tories ! !
If you can name one then go ahead ...
The FACTS are that in urban areas councils have been raped of money, if you live in a tory shire then some have had their budgets INCREASED, thats facts and not hyperbole.
So if you think the state of the roads are disgusting and pot holes are not being repaired, do not blame councils, only one body to blame and it will only get worse.
Apparently we need even more austerity and councils are looking at further 20% cuts into budgets.
Because all these potholes have sprung up since the election, and the roads were a utopia before.