Cost of Common Faults caused by Pot Holes

An ever growing problem for road users in this country is that of pot holes on the carriageways. Sometimes you find them in urban and rural locations, spreading right across a narrow road. This is bad enough for any driver or cyclist unfortunate enough to hit one but imagine the potential danger when one is encountered on a high speed motorway or dual carriageway. The hazard may not be seen until it is too late and the consequences can be very serious indeed. Major damage to wheels, tyres or suspension is one thing but loss of control of the vehicle could lead to a fatal accident.

It is clear then that something has to be done about this worsening problem and the Chancellor, Mr George Osborne, recently announced an extra £200 million will be made available to councils to help them to repair their roads. This is in addition to money already set aside from both local and national resources. Recent winter storms and unpredictable weather has played havoc with road surfaces and councils have struggled to keep up with repairs even though everyone sees them as absolutely necessary.

While this extra money will be a welcome acknowledgement that central government intends to address a long running problem, local authorities have been unimpressed with the amount put forward, pointing out that there is currently a £10.5 billion backlog of road repairs necessary across the country. With traffic set to increase on local roads by some 42% in the next 25 years it is clear that the problem will only increase. To make matters worse, councils are faced with thousands of claims from road users for damage to their vehicles and this, of course, will be a massive drain on their already thin financial resources.

Information provided by the Used car parts website www.breakeryard.com show scrapyards are doing a lot of business where suspension, rear axles and shock absorbers are concerned. Looking at a few examples of figures made available it is interesting to note that the most vulnerable part is the rear axle of a Peugeot 206 with a big spike in searches and sales through winter with an average quote of £139. Small cars will certainly come off badly where collisions with pot holes are concerned. For example, according to breakeryard.com the Ford Fiesta tops the lists in the two rear shock absorber categories – driver side and passenger side shocks needing replacement with the used parts being quoted at £17 a time. However the larger cars are not exempt by any means with the Vauxhall Vectra featuring in three categories. It is a popular car of course but this model is particularly vulnerable with regards to front shock absorbers and rear coil springs on both sides, costs averaging between £19 and £24 for the parts.

The bottom line of course is that ALL road users are suffering extra risks on the road due to the shocking state of repairs. No one can legislate for bad weather but it is a growing problem which needs to be addressed. Temporary fill solutions are not the answer – good quality surfacing techniques need to be used at both the road building stage and when they are in need of repair.

Name: Matt Company Name: Breaker Yard Town: Dagenham Country: United Kingdom Email: info@breakeryard.com Telephone: 07013100701 Language: English

For More information, Visits: http://www.breakeryard.com/