by Alice Scarsi
How bad is the drainage on Britain’s roads? According to an AA survey, the situation is worrying
A survey conducted by the AA looking at the condition of Britain’s roads has revealed that motorists across the UK believe that road drainage has been as bad this winter as it was during the last one.
68 per cent of 18,806 AA members polled in late January were keen to accept that puddles and pools of water on the road were “much worse than they used to be” and, despite local councils across the country being unable to be blamed for all that Mother Nature has to throw at us, road users’ levels of sympathy with councils has crashed to a shocking 53 per cent following this past winter.
50 per cent of those interviewed declared that, where they live, heavy rain leaves roads pockmarked with pools of water managing to create a driving menace. Although this compares with 51 per cent at the same time last year, those feeling strongly about the hazard have risen to one in five of all members.
Rural parts of the UK, predictably enough, stand out as the worst areas for puddles, pools and small lakes on roads. However, the parity of the South East within these areas underlines the bleak conditions of rainy roads in the most populated part of the country. From the results of the study, it is quite apparent that AA members feel that roads proving the biggest threat are in South East England.
Two-thirds of drivers, 66 per cent of the questioned, argue that councils don’t clear drains as well as they used to in past years – a consideration that could heavily weigh on the shoulder of councilmen now that local elections are approaching; after all bad road drainage will surely be one of the key issues that will drives the vote.
Edmund King, the AA’s president, harshly commented the results of the poll: “Without last winter’s extensive flooding and ‘biblical’ levels of rainfall to drown out complaints of bad road drainage, this winter’s better weather has left councils high and dry to criticism of poor road maintenance.
“Arguably, roads pockmarked by puddles and pools of water pose more of a hazard to more drivers than flooding – floods are no-go areas, while deep patches of surface water are passable but perilous for drivers, bikers and cyclists. They also hide the potholes road users might otherwise avoid,” King continued.
Highlighting the necessity of a serious intervention required, King went on: “Potholes and the condition of the road surface may be the focus of the Department for Transport report on the condition of English roads but bad drainage can present a more extensive and potentially more damaging threat to UK drivers and their vehicles. A car that loses grip and goes off the road or blows its engine because air intakes suck up water become an insurance job. Councils are rarely held to account for this level of damage – unless someone is killed.”
It goes without saying that bad road drainage is an issue likely to put more motorists’ lives in danger, even more so if you are towing a caravan. Nonetheless, the results of the survey shows that Britain’s road users feel as though councils aren’t doing as much as they can to keep their roads safe or clean.
As a user of the road, do you feel that this problem affects you? Is the situation on our roads really as bad as the poll suggests?
