Potholes cost West Midlands drivers more than £100 million
Damage caused by potholes has cost drivers in the West Midlands more than £100 million this past year, new figures show.
Only drivers in London and the south west had to fork out more, with the recent cold weather making the problem worse.
The capital was hardest hit with a damage cost of about £170m while drivers in Wales had to pay about £25m, the lowest out of all 11 UK regions studied.
A UK-wide study led by vehicle repair company Kwik Fit found that during the last year, potholes had caused damage to vehicles costing a total of £915m. The figure was an increase of 34 per cent, up from £684m two years ago.
Communications director at Kwik Fit Roger Griggs said the poor condition of the roads was hitting motorists’ wallets ever harder.
He said: “Unfortunately, experience of past years has shown us that the recent cold weather will only make the problem worse and we are likely to see even more drivers suffering serious damage from impacts with potholes.
“It’s important to note that while sometimes a pothole will cause a blow out to a tyre, in many cases the damage is not immediately obvious.
“Often a pothole can cause a slow puncture, bulge on the inside tyre wall or hairline crack in the wheel rim, which only becomes evident days after the impact.”
About 70 per cent of drivers said they had hit at least one pothole a week during the last 12 months, with a quarter hitting one every single day.
Drivers give a combination of factors as the reasons for hitting potholes, with 88 per cent blaming weather conditions, such as the pothole being hidden by a puddle or it being too dark to spot.
Many also said they had to make a deliberate decision to hit the pothole as avoiding it would have compromised safety.
Research showed the average cost of repairing damage to car parts including tyres, wheels, suspension and bodywork had risen from £108.60 in 2016 to £111 this year.
