51 / 96
RAC Pothole Index
The RAC has used its database of over 2 million breakdowns attended each
year to develop the RAC Pothole Index as an ongoing monitor of the state of
the UK’s roads. The index uses the share of all breakdowns where damage
from potholes, such as damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension
springs and distorted wheels, is likely to have been a major contributor.
The share is averaged over the previous
12 months to remove seasonal effects
and a correction is applied to take
account of the overall improvement in
vehicle reliability over time.
The index uses the share at the start
of 2006 as a benchmark and the value
of the index is therefore a measure of
how likely a motorist’s vehicle is to
suffer pothole damage compared to
the start of 2006. Thus an index of 1.2
would mean the likelihood of pothole
damage had increased by 20%.
The index shows that there was a
steady deterioration in the condition
of roads between 2005 and 2010 as
highways authorities’ budgets were
tightened and many cut back on
preventative maintenance. There
have been several extreme weather
events over the last six years and the
Government has provided additional
funding to address the pothole
damage that resulted.
However, the index shows that while
this funding has addressed the
immediate effects of the bad weather,
it has been insufficient to tackle the
underlying deterioration that occurred
prior to 2010. Going forward, the RAC
will publish the index quarterly.
Motorists wanting to report a pothole
should visit the RAC website or
download the free RAC Report
Pothole mobile app for their iPhone
or Android smartphone.
2006
2016
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
51
3.0 The state of our roads