2010 is living up to its billing as the year of the pothole, according to the AA.
Following the severe winter, secondary roads are in poor condition and cash-strapped local authorities are struggling to fix the potholes that are regularly appearing as spring continues.
An AA survey of 7,000 motorists shows that 22.9 per cent report having hit a pothole severe enough to warrant a garage repair or a call out to the AA since the start of 2010
“Often a pothole just hits the car and gives the driver a major fright, but does not actually do any damage. However there are plenty of cases where it is an expensive repair,” says Conor Faughnan, director of policy AA Ireland.
In most cases the repair cost is modest – 24 per cent of the time it is less than €100 and could simply be a replacement tyre or a tracking re-alignment, and 45 per cent of the time the repair costs less than €400.
However there are cases where substantial repairs are needed to systems like the ESC stability control system, track-rod replacement or suspension damage. Then you can be talking big costs, in some cases more than €1,500.
“We had one person tell us that a broken front axle cost more than €10,000 in the end, although damage that severe is very rare,” says Faughnan. “And of course there is the possibility that a pothole could cause a serious accident. Mostly, however, it was replacement tyres, wheels, track rods and suspension damage.”
Motorists were asked whether they had reported the pothole to the local authority and, if so, what had been done about it. Some 24 per cent reported the pothole, and in 17 per cent of cases it was repaired. In other cases local authorities have at least been sympathetic to the driver, but nevertheless 57 per cent of drivers said the local authority did nothing about it.
