Eighty people a day – 30,000 across 2023 – were left stuck by the likes of broken suspension, damaged shock absorbers and written-off wheels.
The RAC announced the toll a year after the Daily Express revealed it would take £13billion and at least a decade to repair our crumbling roads.
The Government has committed an extra £8.3billion over 11 years.
The rescue service’s Simon Williams said: “Potholes are so much more than an irritation.
“They are a serious danger to all road users which we fear will get worse as the weather gets colder.
“Local councils have been cash-strapped for years, causing roads across the country to fall into disrepair – and leaving drivers fighting for compensation when their vehicles are inevitably damaged.
“The cracks in Britain’s road maintenance system have once again been embarrassingly exposed.”
Highways experts say the Government money will not be enough.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance said it would take at least a decade to repair the damage. Among the poor stretches of road left to further degrade is the one outside Cumnor House School in Danehill, East Sussex.
A year ago school chiefs warned that a series of craters near the gates was forcing parents and other drivers on to the opposite side of carriageway on a blind bend. The damage has still not been repaired.
East Sussex Highways said: “We are responsible for more than 2,000 miles of road so prioritise our work to ensure potholes that present the greatest danger to road users are repaired as quickly as possible.”
The RAC study showed it was called out to 5,153 pothole-related breakdowns in the final three months of 2023.
It said that was the most for the same period since 2017.
It now expects another exceptionally busy period until spring as water makes its way into cracks in roads, freezes and expands, causing further damage.
- Are your roads blighted by potholes? Please send your examples to hell to giles.sheldrick@reachplc.com
