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Pothole (copyright Simon MacMichael).jpg400 cyclists killed or seriously injured due to potholes in past decade - and trend is worsening
Almost 400 cyclists in Great Britain have been killed or seriously injured since 2007 due to crashes caused by potholes. The figures have prompted Cycling UK, which says that casualties are on “a steadily worsening trend,” to urge the government to take action.
Today is National Pothole Day and the charity, which launched the Fill That Hole website and smartphone app in 2010, is calling on the government to double spend on repairing road defects from £6 billion to £12 billion.
Under figures released by the Department for Transport in response to a question from Hornsey and Wood Green MP Catherine West since 2007 some 22 cyclists have been killed and 368 seriously injured as a result of “poor or defective roads.”
Cycling UK points out that while 17 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in 2007, a decade later, in 2016, the figure stood at 64 and it believes the poor state of Britain’s roads and insufficient money being allocated to fixing them is to blame.
Sam Jones, the charity’s senior campaigns officer, commented: “Cycling UK is incredibly concerned to see what is clearly a trend on the up showing more people being killed or seriously injured while cycling, all because our roads are in a shocking state.
“Unfortunately for cyclists if they hit a pothole, then it’s not just a costly repair bill but also a strong possibility of personal injury or in the worst cases death.”
Since the figures are based on police STATS19 reports, Cycling UK believes that they only provide a “snapshot” of the issue and that the full extent of casualties among cyclists will be higher since many incidents will not be reported.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance says it will take a decade and £12 billion to make Britain’s roads safe, and Jones continued: “It’s clear the UK has a pothole problem and it won’t be cheap to fix, but given the cost to human life the country is not investing enough.
“Current estimates suggest it will cost over £12 billion to fix our roads, but the Government’s committed only £6 billion up till 2021.
“The Government’s cycle safety review is due in the very near future – fixing our roads first must therefore be a priority, not just for cycle safety but every other road user too.”
Highlighting the £15 billion being spent on motorways and trunk roads to 2020, he added: “Cycling UK wants to see the government adopt a fix it first policy. Let’s mend the roads everyone uses every day before spending money on building new motorways and trunk roads.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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12 comments
More than a month ago I reported a pothole to TfL. It's on a downhill curve in a 30mph limit section of the South Cicular near the Horniman Museum in S London. It's still there. If someone on a road bike, scooter or motorbike hits that at 30mph, which is all too possible, they'll be in trouble and especially if it's wet. There's a barrier there and a fallen rider could easily bash into that or be flung out of the bus lane in front of a car. But TfL just doesn't seem to give a stuff.
Mind you I was in Edinburgh recently and the roads there are in even worse state than in London. It's not just the cobbled streets in the New Town either.
It's not just potholes, but tramlines also present a danger to cyclists.
the cure?
1) surly 29 fork
2) wide 29+ rim
3) 29+ tyre
and just blaaaat over urban obstacles.
less rolling resistance than your skinniest roadie tyres.
your lbs will appreciate the work.
Afaik, Leeds has an atrocious record for pedestrians ksi...maybe the potholes are the only means of traffic calming until we get mandatory 15 mph zones in all urban areas.
If it's National Pothole Day today, when is National Speed Bump Day? Eh? Eh? I bet there isn't one, thanks to the biased, snowflake, mung-bean-eating, honest-hard-working-sleeping-policeman-hating, remoaning, communist, liberal elite who control everything. It's political correctness gone mad.
When is a judge gonna sentence a lazy hole filling guy to 18 months for manslaughter?
I think you'd have to sue the relevant council as the council bear the responsibility for repairing the roads (who they get to do that is their own business). Unfortunately, the council has to be notified about the pothole before the incident in order to be held fully responsible.
that's not actually true, it helps but there are national guidelines for councils with respect to checking the highway/repairs http://www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org/en/UKRLG-and-boards/uk-roads-board/we... it's a sizeable hole then it's not likely to have appeared overnight or even within a week or three.
This is also helpful https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/pothole-claims
Section 58 rebuffs should be ignored, councils do that as a std 'go get fucked' response.
My car insurer has just changed my policy so that I don't lose my NCD if I claim for pothole damage.
When you consider a new alloy plus tyre can easily be in the region of £1k (assuming dealer fit) its a valuable benefit.
Very noticeable that roads have deteriorated considerably since last week's cold weather - several new and deep potholes on my car commute.
I think something could be done to reduce the cost/time of repairs, one of the roads near me has been closed for two weeks for resurfacing and all they've laid is around 100yds of tarmace on a single carriageway. I know the weather has been bad but surely they can lay quicker than that.
So, who decided that National Pothole Day would be the same day as International Women's Day?
Anyway... I can't help but wonder how much money would be magically created to deal with this if it was 400 law abiding motorists killed or seriously injured due to potholes in past decade?
..probably about the same I reckon.
What i hav just read?)) So u say potholes its something very unususal on UK roads... heh... If follow these statistics - ewery 1st cyclist in UA shuould be dead))) Your cyclists is so rarely see potholes, so dont know how to deal with them))
Come over to Leeds, I'll show some pot holes. There are a number of roads that are more pothole/repair than solid tarmac. Hell we have off-road bridleways that are smoother than tarmaced roads.
And for once cyclists aren't seen as the scourge of the earth in the Daily Hate's reporting of the problem:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5474997/Potholes-leave-400-cycli...