Potholes causing damage to vehicles is the main concern for the majority of drivers in Britain, a survey carried out by RAC has revealed.

For the first time ever, a majority of drivers – nearly six-in-10 (56%) – surveyed for the RAC Report on Motoring say the condition and maintenance of roads for which councils are responsible was one of their top motoring concerns, up seven percentage points compared to 2023 (49%).

Frustration with local roads is now an incredible 21 percentage points ahead of drivers’ second biggest concern, the cost of insuring a vehicle, and 24 ahead of the third biggest issue which is the cost of fuel.

A record, and growing, proportion of drivers are also reporting that local roads they use are in a worse state than the 12 months before.

This year, almost three-quarters (73%) of drivers say the condition of the local roads they use regularly is poorer than a year ago, compared to 67% last year and just 49% who said the same thing in 2019.

Just 6% of drivers believe local road surfaces have improved this year compared to last, a statistic that underlines the desperate state many councils now find themselves in when it comes to looking after some of their most vital assets.

More than a quarter of drivers (27%) surveyed also said their vehicle has suffered damage as a result of potholes in the last 12 months, a figure which rises to 32% among those who live in rural areas. Punctures (47%) are the most common problem reported, followed by wheel damage (43%) and broken suspension springs (29%). The RAC data showed that the average cost of repairing a family car costing anything up to £460.

The RAC’s figures show that the problem of substandard local roads is more acute in rural areas, where 81% of drivers say conditions are worse in 2024 than in 2023, and in suburban locations where the proportion is only slightly lower at 78%. Both figures are record highs.

But even in towns and cities, a majority of respondents – 53% – believe the condition of local roads they regularly drive on is worse than a year earlier. Across the UK, the greatest proportions of drivers who report the condition of local roads as being bad are those in the East Midlands (85%), the South East of England (83%) and the South West (79%). Even in London, where as many as 18% of respondents said they believed their local roads had improved during the previous 12 months, half (50%) still said the opposite.

Pothole callout increase

Separate RAC breakdown data showed that patrols went out to 25,085 pothole-related breakdowns in the 12 months to the end of June. Since the start of 2020, the total number of breakdowns most likely to be caused by potholes stands at a staggering 167,000.

The RAC said it has written to both the new Secretary of State for Transport and Minister for the Future of Roads outlining the gravity of the issue and calling for urgent clarification of the funding councils will receive for road maintenance – something that may not come until October’s Budget.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “These new figures are a damning condemnation of the commitments made by previous governments to fix Britain’s perpetual pothole plague. It’s as clear as day that councils simply haven’t had the financial support they need to bring the standard of the roads in their care up to a reasonable standard.

“Whatever promises about road maintenance funding that have been made in the past – whether that’s through things like the Pothole Action Fund or so-called ‘Challenge’ funds, where councils were asked to bid for extra cash – haven’t delivered. And it’s all road users, including drivers, bus users, and those on two wheels, who are continuing to pay the price.

“At best, journeys are made downright uncomfortable as a result of potholes, while at worst they cause expensive damage or even represent a danger to life and limb.”

“The new Government simply must do something differently. Without a promise of far more funds for councils – something we will push hard for ahead of the autumn Budget – its options are extremely limited. Put bluntly, the less we spend as a nation on our roads now, the more it will cost us in the future.”

The Department for Transport said it was supporting local authorities to fix “up to one million more potholes a year”, but did not say how much money would be allocated.