Potholes – the new speed bumps!

Now that the snow and ice have gone from many of the roads in the UK, they have left another hazard for motorists – potholes. With temperatures hovering around freezing for much of the past few weeks, the conditions have been just right to allow many potholes to form.

Potholes pose a danger to all road users, caused when water gets into cracks in the road surface and then freezes and expands, eventually creating void spaces under the road surface, which shatter the tarmac and cause it to collapse. The sudden jolt you get from driving or riding over one could be a distraction at just the wrong moment, or it could even mean you lose control of your vehicle.

Yes I’ve been “Googling” again! In early 2009, a report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (the body which represents asphalt producers and contractors), said there was already a 13-year backlog of pothole repairs across the UK. 13 years! And with the recent cold weather it is likely this backlog has now increased.

According to Devon County Council, Devon has 8,000 miles of road which is the highest of any authority in the country. The council says over 40,000 potholes have been filled since last April - more than double the usual amount. And the problem has been made worse by the recent severe weather where “26 gangs, each with two to three members, have been filling in around 1,000 potholes a week”.

But let’s face it, I don’t think it is all down to the poor condition of our roads that results in the costly suspension and tyre problems that I see on a regular basis. A lack of driver concentration or understanding can be, on occasion, equally to blame. So let me explain.

On the way to drop off a customer to their workplace the other day my passenger chortled and pointed ahead at the T-junction at a white car on the other side of the road: “Look, he’s in a pothole!” Sure enough, the blue car had one back wheel embedded in the offending hole, his whole car at an angle as a result. We watched as the driver very carefully accelerated and climbed out before proceeding, completely unaffected but giving us a smile as he passed. Smart guy! He obviously does what I do and approaches every puddle in the road as a potential lake and goes through them slowly and carefully. After all, who knows what craters lurk beneath! So, he slowly goes into them, and he can slowly emerge.

Alas others are not so smart. I drove past a car last week which, five minutes earlier, had screamed past me, dodging potholes into oncoming traffic, and terrifying everyone else on the road. However, I could not resist feeling slightly gratified - actually I even gave a cheeky grin and a cheery wave - as I passed him further down the road where he was mournfully surveying a tyre as flat as a pancake from being whacked on the sharp edges of a pothole.

Potholes have been a recurring problem over the last few years, but they are much worse this year because of the amount of rain we’ve had. Car tyres and suspension repairs can be expensive, so people swerve like lunatics, protecting their vehicles before they protect their (and our) lives. I fear it is quite literally real-life dodgems out there.

This year we can add the joys of power cuts to the driving experience. Imagine if you will a combination of potholes and no traffic lights working!

In my opinion the fools who slam across the roads at all angles avoiding potholes are the same fools who hold their breath and foot-flat through blank traffic lights (unlike my customer who inches to the edge of the T-junction). Frankly, I just want to stay alive, but it sometimes feels as if the road forces are conspiring against me.

I feel I have to add another ‘how to survive’ traffic example I experienced recently to explain myself : I happily drove towards a green light and was going through (fortunately slowly because of the potholes) when a fancy car swooped past me, narrowly missing my front bumper. He slowed down and stuck his head out the window and yelled at me:. “You %^!! cow! Where did you buy your licence!” Then he revved his engine and stormed off. I was stunned: “What had I done wrong?”

It was only when I then saw more cars were hurtling towards me that I decided I’d better reverse out of the junction and get out of their way. It was then that I noticed that while my side was showing ‘green for go’, their side was totally blank. All the cars coming towards me at speed were assuming the lights were not working and doing the usual foot-flat through the lights. I had, rather naively, driven right into the storm.

So to summarise I have written a list, which goes as follows:

1. Watch the potholes and be vigilant for those dodging them;
2. Go through non-working traffic lights very, very carefully;
3. Approach working traffic lights with extreme caution, because you never know when it’s just an illusion!

But what to do? Well I'm very glad you asked. I have developed a strategy which should sit well with some council authorities. It’s the introduction of a scheme whereby potholes will not be filled in with new tarmac, instead just left as they are. This new scheme will aim to cut down on speeding, particularly in villages, which will warrant drivers to be more cautious in order not to crash and damage their cars, scare other unsuspecting drivers with their dodgem antics, or swerve into any crossing pedestrians at dark on the unlit roads. The scheme will be suitably named "doing nothing".