The UK’s most dangerous potholes have been revealed – do you drive by one?
Local councils are facing £3millions in injuries and damages compensations caused by dangerous potholes.
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Drivers have reportedly been left with serious injuries – including broken bones and lacerations, lost teeth and neck injuries.
To cover for the costs, local authorities across the country have been forking out £32,164,629 in payouts from 2010.
According to the Sunday Mirror, the worst offender is Kent – with £4.25million in damages made by a pothole in Maidstone.
This huge compensation came just three years after the Kent Council had splashed £250,000 on another pothole in the same area.
Essex has been crowned second splashing £1,916,448.06 in dangerous roads.
And Hertfordshire County Council comes third with local authorities forking out £1,530,850 in damages.
However, not all the cash is paid directly from the council account as those with insurance are covered by their premium.
The £32 million only covers the top ten payouts made by local authorities – with figures estimated to rise even more.
UK’s most expensive potholes
- Kent County Council – £4,902,618
- Essex County Council – £1,916,448.06
- Hertfordshire County Council- £1,530,850
- Surrey County Council – £810,051
- Durham County Council – £797,785.50
- Wiltshire Council – £760,332.88
- Lancashire County Council – £709,459.43
- Staffordshire County Council – £598,148.37
- Manchester City Council – £581,100
- Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council – £558,489.27
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “These shocking figures could have been far lower if councils had had certainty of funding from government years ago.
“As it was, the amount of maintenance work, such as surface dressing and complete resurfacing, has suffered leading to roads deteriorating every year.
“This is a lose-lose situation as drivers suffer expensive damage to their cars and then have to fight for compensation, while councils have to fork out funds – a wholly unnecessary situation that both parties could well do without.
“The Government has now committed to giving local councils £8.3bn over 11 years, so we hope this means they can start to bring at least some of their roads back up to standard.
“Going forwards, we want to see 2p-a-litre from fuel duty revenue ringfenced for local roads as this would give councils certainty of funding to continue to plan proper long-term maintenance.”
It comes as a motoring expert revealed whether you can still claim for pothole-related damage to your car even after the hole has been filled.
A whopping 23,000 drivers were compensated for repairs related to the state of Britain’s roads, government figures revealed this week.
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