One in ten road users regard their journey to work as unsafe

Leamington Spa, UK 24 October 2016 – Over a quarter (28%) of UK road users have experienced damage to their car or other vehicle due to potholes or other surface defects, according to new research by Yotta. More than one in ten of those who travel to work by road regard their journey as ‘unsafe’ because of road imperfections – with only a surprisingly low percentage (12%) able to describe their daily commute as ‘very safe’.

“Our research has uncovered some real problems for many road users. The results align with reports by the RAC that vehicle breakdowns caused by pothole related damage have more than doubled over the past year,” says Simon Topp, director of marketing and international business, Yotta.

“Drivers should be able to concentrate on the other traffic to stay safe, not be worrying about the state of the roads and pavements too.”

Inevitably, there were some marked regional differences in the survey replies, reflecting the variations in road quality across the country. For example, in South West England nearly one in five (19%) of road commuters regard their roads as ‘unsafe’.

Respondents’ views about the overall state of the road network and surrounding infrastructure in their local area are in line with these findings. A worrying 62% think conditions have declined over the past five years with only 8% thinking they have improved.