RAC Report on Motoring 2023: State of our roads

  • Marc's Avatar
    Community Manager
    Do you think the roads where you live are getting worse?

    The 2023 RAC Report on Motoring has found that two thirds of drivers believe that the roads are getting worse.

    More the 67% say the roads where they live are worse than 12 months ago - it's the biggest number of drivers in years.

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    Less than a third - 29% - said the roads where in about the same condition as a year ago.

    Is anyone surprise by these numbers?

    Here's a link to the RAC website where you can download the full report.

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  • 4 Replies

  • Drivingforfun's Avatar
    I've only been driving a few years, 5 I think now? That said, I think they are worse.

    When I learnt to drive, country lane driving was a big part of my learning. Avoiding dangerous "craters" in the middle of the road, that could cause serious damage to a car or an accident, was not part of the learning experience. I was taught to avoid potholes if possible, or slow down to go through them, but taught the worst that would happen is an uncomfortable bump or a popped tyre if very unlucky.

    Dangerous potholes/subsidences were present at the sides of the road so you learnt to not drive at the edge of the road. Now, though, there are big ones in the middle of some roads. On a couple of roads the road space on one side is completely unusable - you have to treat it as an obstruction like a parked car and go round it when there is no oncoming traffic.

    One thing I have noticed that I hadn't picked up on before is potholes where the lane dividers are motorways and dual carriageways. Fortunately the lanes themselves are OK as far as my experience goes but when changing lane you have to be careful not to hit a big hole as you move across!
  • Rolebama's Avatar
    The lane between the water tower on the A1 and Sutton, after the roundabout cost me two wheels back in December. Two weeks ago my car grounded at the same place bacause the 'repair' had subsided. Last week my daughter took us that way and they are now overfilled.
    We have had two roads re-surfaced locally over the last few years, and they are now rollercoaster rides. It seems that the contractors chosen by the Borough do not understand the words 'flat' or 'even'.
    So, yes, the roads are getting noticeably worse.
  • Drivingforfun's Avatar
    Rolebama, I think I know the exact bit of road you mean. If I am thinking of the correct road, the solution appears to have been to take the speed limit from NSL down to 40.
  • Rolebama's Avatar
    I have seen those 40 signs and believe them to be fake. (There are no repeaters on the road after the second sign.)Coming off the roundabout, on that concrete bit od road, I have seen articulated lorries take that entranceway on the left where they swan-neck, blocking the road completely.