Drivers face footing a bill of more than £400 to repair their car from pothole-related damage this winter, the RAC has warned.
Vehicle damage from potholes is a common problem at this time of the year when the weather is wet as they form when water enters cracks in the road surface, and then freezes and expands.
The AA said it has already responded to almost 511,000 breakdowns caused by potholes so far this year, amounting to a daily average of more than 1,500.
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In the last month alone, the motoring company revealed it received 52,541 callouts for vehicles damaged by road defects – the most for any October on record.
The figure marks a 12% increase compared with the same month last year and more than October’s previous record high of 52,152 set in 2017.
In response to the record number of breakdowns, the AA is urging drivers to “avoid puddles” on the roads this winter and to reduce speed if there is no other alternative than to drive through.
Tony Rich, AA public relations manager, said: “Continuous poor weather and storms such as Babet, Ciaran and Debi are having a two-fold effect on driving conditions.
“What feels like relentless rainwater is covering and increasing the severity of potholes, while also holding back essential road repairs by rightly diverting roads maintenance crews to tackle fallen trees and flooded areas.
“Our advice to drivers and those on two wheels is to avoid puddles where safe to do so, but if there is no alternative other than to travel through, then reduce your speed and keep an increased distance from the vehicle in front.”
The AA said punctures, distorted wheels, damaged shock absorbers and broken suspension springs were among the most common car problems caused by potholes on the roads.
According to garage repair data analysed by the RAC, drivers face paying an average of £440 to fix their car after hitting a pothole for any damage that is more serious than a puncture.
Meanwhile, the cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at a whopping £14 billion.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised earlier this month to tackle “the scourge of potholes” with an extra £8.3 billion of funding for local roads maintenance in England. The funding will come from savings made by scrapping HS2 north of Birmingham.
In Yorkshire, the government has pledged £991 million of redirected HS2 funding for a road surfacing programme across the county, with local highway authorities including the City of York, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, and the West and South Yorkshire Combined Authorities each receiving a share.
A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesman said: “We are already investing more than £5.5 billion into highways maintenance, and our recent Network North announcement delivers an additional £8.3 billion, the biggest ever increase in funding for local road improvements, and enough to resurface up to 5,000 miles of roads.”
Darren Rodwell, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association – which represents councils in England and Wales, added: “Investing in cost-effective and resilient roads resurfacing, rather than retrospectively dealing with potholes, is a priority for councils.
“The recently announced extra £8.3 billion of funding will help with bringing more of our local road network up to scratch, including reinstating repairs for potholes that had been impacted by inflation.
“Longer term, the government should award council highways departments with five-yearly funding allocations to give more certainty, bringing councils on a par with National Highways so they can develop resurfacing programmes and other highways improvements, tackling the scourge of potholes.”
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