As winter looms ever closer and people start using their cars more, we often notice the shocking state of our local roads. New research by the RAC has revealed that the state of local roads is of the highest priority for drivers, above issues like the cost of filling up, people using their phones at the wheel and the aggressive behaviour of other motorists.
The RAC’s annual report on motoring, which takes a stratified sample of drivers from across the UK and asks them questions on motoring, has been released and reveals the issues that motorists themselves feel are the most important.
Dissatisfaction on the increase
66% of motorists agreed that over the last 12 months, road surface across all networks has deteriorated, with 78% of motorists stating the state of UK roads was “generally poor.” The widespread annoyance is not fixed on one area although those in the East of England, the East Midlands and Scotland have seen an increase in dissatisfaction year on year.
People are also unhappy that of the £4.6bn that the government raises from fuel duty alone, there is no clear long-term investment plan for local roads from that sum. Almost half of the motorists would be willing to pay more tax if they knew it meant the roads would be fixed and returned to full working condition.
Beast on the streets
After the Beast from the East earlier this year caused havoc on roads across the country, the statistics on the poor state of roads will have been affected by this. Nevertheless, earlier this year after the spell of bad weather, the Department for Transport announced a meagre £100 million extra budget available to local authorities to fix the worst of the potholes. While this may sound like a large sum, the actual amount needed to return our roads to a working state is around £9.3 billion. The £9.3 billion encompasses the maintenance backlog and was estimated by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) in their annual report earlier this year.
The annual report from the AIA showed that a fifth of all local roads are in “poor structural condition” meaning that they have a life expectancy of five years or less. This is three percent up from last year and continues with the rising trend. While some of this is due to the Beast from the East, the RAC Pothole Index, which is aggregated to remove seasonal effects, shows that the state of roads has reduced considerably since 2017.
Angry drivers on the phone
Directly behind the state of local roads, a high number of motorists listed the behaviour of other drivers as a concern for them, namely related to mobile phone use behind the wheel. The aggressive behaviour of other drivers is a major concern for drivers with it coming fourth in the list overall concerns.
Drink driving had a large statistically significant increase of people who knew or thought they had driven over the limit in the past 12 months, rising from 8% to 12%. This increase is worrying as the number of deaths attributable to drink driving increased in the latest batch of government statistics released.
The higher cost of motoring
The third highest concern for motorists was the rising cost of motoring, which includes car insurance, parking costs and any other taxes.
The vast majority of motorists say that their fuel costs have increased since last year, which reflects the rising wholesale costs, the weakened pound against the dollar and increased oil prices.
Alongside fuel prices, the only other place with an increase in concern from motorists was the cost of parking. Cash-strapped councils are charging more than ever for parking, and the cost of permits has increased as well. This could potentially be influenced by the surcharge applied by some councils, mainly in central London, to diesel cars.
What should change?
The RAC, acting as a voice for the motorist, recommended some changes based on the report. One solution they proposed was ringfencing two pence from fuel duty to go towards repairing roads. Over 10 years they estimated this would raise £9.4bn, enough to cover the current backlog. Motorists also said they were concerned with the seeming lack of a long-term plan to improve local road quality, and so the RAC recommended that the government produce a strategy on repairing roads and ensuring they can withstand all weathers.
A large majority of motorists were also concerned at the state of major roads on the strategic road network and so the RAC recommended that Highways England review their policy and processes on repairing larger roads in order to gain maximum efficiency.
As said by the road safety charity BRAKE, the RAC backed a call to lower the legal blood alcohol limit to 50mg in order to minimise the injuries and deaths that could potentially happen as a result of drink driving.
What do you think of the suggestions made by the RAC? What would you change in the motoring world? Let us know in the comments below
I agree the state of our local roads here in London are shocking and shameful . What does this say about us as a country and what do our visitors think of us ?
You think London roads are bad???
A large stream of revenue being missed right under the backward governments nose is from foreign vehicles on UK roads. Take HGVs for example, they come from abroad with fuel tanks brimmed run about on UK roads clocking up many hundreds of thousands of miles and essentially pay nothing towards the system. They then return back abroad then the cycle repeats. This is an unfair practice not only on UK tax payers and road users but also on the UK haulage companies who all pay their taxes to operate in the UK. Surely they could introduce a permit to use the UK system required at any border entrance? This scenario will also apply to the vast majority of foreign cars and vans, albeit they will need to at least buy fuel in the UK at some point.
This is the most retarded comment I have ever read in my life.
Do you think UK lorries don’t go abroad to export UK goods? What do you think would happen if we start charging foreign lorries tax and whatever else you feel like.
I bet it’s people like you (selfish c***s) who voted Brexit without thinking about bigger consequences
Agree 100% with every thing you say !
British lorry drivers abroad have to pay tolls to use the roads, unlike here. And I knew a c**t like you would have to bring Brexit into a statement that has nothing to do with it
However strong you feel about something you don’t need to use bad language
It’s called freedom of expression, something which is sadly being eroded by this country’s government and the EU (thankfully we’re soon to be escaping the EU’s efforts). You might not like what one person says but the moment you try to limit someones speech is the moment you also start to limit your own.
even so – expletives are unnecessary
Fred, I think you missed the point here. If you look at messages prior to this comment you’ll see that somebody who calls himself Mski was the one to use the 4 letter expletive, referring to those who voted to leave the EU as relating to that expression. What ‘moggie63’ is pointing out is that not only was that language unnecessary, but that using a thread on the subject of road haulage in this context has nothing to do with Brexit. I concur.
Shows a total lack of knowledge of the English language.
Its not even true – thats the best bit. They have to buy a permit (The HGV Levy) to operate here in the case of anything over 12 tonnes. But yes would agree with the rest of the comment, quite clearly the type that would refer to themselves as an Ex-pat when living in Spain and not see themselves as an immigrant etc.
I see somebody doesn’t know the difference in laws here and abroad, British lorries have to pay just the same as none British abroad ,foreign lorries contribute nothing to our roads. There are more foreign lorries taking more goods from the U.K. when they have unloaded than the British take over there. I could go more about the differences but it would fill a full page in a newspaper.
The HGV levy for all goods vehicles over 12 tonnes visiting the UK was introduced in April 2014. For a typical 5 axle artic the rate is £10 per day, with discounts being available for weekly, monthly or annual levies.
Many more EU lorries in UK than vice versa.
Bill where is the evidence to support your statement?
Ferry and Channel Tunnel train loadings – In any event travel the A1 or M6 and see how many HGVs are foreign – 40%, more, less?
This suggestion is discriminatory invite retaliation from What s that Vehicles tax should be reduced and fuel tax increased to compensate. That way when the foreign vehicles refuel, they will be making a contribution.
Another is the number of EU drivers working here and not registering their vehicles here within the statutory time limit. That would mean them paying vehicle taxes and requiring MOTs – a safety improvement. Also hey would need insurance that many get away without.
Both Austria & Switzerland charge all vehicles to use their motorways, France has toll motorways. Seems reasonable to charge all foreign vehicle a contribution to maintain the roads BUT the issue is where would the money go. Highways England maintains trunk roads in England, Transport Scotland likewise in Scotland and a similar arrangement in Wales. Problem is foreign vehicles travel throughout the UK so no doubt there would be issues as to where the money would go. No doubt Westminster would claim it for English roads.
Our lorries pay tolls on the continent,so your argument doesn’t hold water.
Just goes to show that you have not put your brain in gear.
Typical remoaner, blaming Brexit. Who are the selfish c@@@s? The majority voted to leave. End of accept it, or shut it.
Im telling you now brexs**t is going to cost us and this country billions for years to come we are going to suffer for many years…
Im telling you now brexsxxt is going to cost us and this country billions for years to come we are going to suffer for many years…
When I was driving across Europe I had to pay toll charges, every so many kilometres you had to cough up, nothing is free in European countries
re***d comment in re***d language – we have to pay in EU, road tolls etc and we have to buy fuel if we go so far – EU is a big place! Let the tractor units change at the borders and see what happens, we then pay for using our roads (which we do already) and they pay for theirs.
No I didn’t vote Brexit – I did think the consequences through. I have changed my mind totally now I see how the EU so-called ‘negotiators’ are behaving – total greed! Time we were out and stopped bankrolling the EU. Time we stopped spending money we haven’t got on the EU and spent it in our own poor instead of someone else’s rich.
Hi Miski,
I know that at one point our lorries had smaller tanks so had to at least refuel on the content at least once and usually twice with the French Ferry Ports being one stopping point prior to the Tumnel opening on the way home…. Foreign truckers still fill up at Calais and try their best to get back their before refilling of if they have to they fill up with the minimum to get them out of the UK
Driving across France our truckers can’t get anywhere without paying the TOLLS on the motorway and I’m sure other countries are the same … The only TOLLS we have are some tunnel and bridge TOLLS so really expecting every foreign lorry to pay some kind of charge to use our roads isn’t really that bad an idea.
What do you think happens to uk lorries abroad?. We have to pay road tolls and buy permits when driving in Europe. So fairs fair that we charge foreign lorries to use our roads.
What you write is totally ridiculous ! British lorries lorries go to Continental Europe to export British goods !
……. and out drivers don’t do the same in Europe?
Probably not as fuel is slightly cheaper over here. Diesel, especially although that, has sored over the past year.
Just to let you know, The haulier of any foreign HGV’s has to have a permit to use UK roads. If this permit is not present and the driver of the vehicle is caught on a UK road there is a pretty hefty fine that has to be paid immediately, there and then. Many foreign vehicles are pulled over for these checks daily! There was a recent program on UK TV that broadcast exactly the issue that you have a concern about.
Well the Germans charge lorries including foreign ones a road use charge called Maut. That’s money raised for upkeep of the roads. Maybe something worth looking at. If you reduce other charges for domestic lorries then nobody would complain, would they? I can’t blame foreign lorry drivers for filling up before getting to Blighty if diesel is cheaper over there.
I went on holiday to France a few weeks ago. Diesel prices were around 1Euro40 to the litre. I filled before I went and only put in enough on the last day to get me home! If we start imposing permit fees to use our roads, they will reciprocate. Let’s not open a can of worms!
Since you went to France a few weeks ago I find this comment a little strange. A few years ago I drove through France to the Pyrenees and ended up paying a lot of money in tolls, so to my mind they are already ‘imposing permit fees’ so I think the argument is that we could ‘reciprocate’. I can only assume that if you didn’t pay any ‘fees’ you used the minor roads that are toll free, however I wouldn’t want to drive an HGV across France on many of those roads.
You’ll have a problem, many are weight limited.
Ever driven on the RN10? sometimes you can’t pull in to the nearside lane because of all the lorries driving ‘in convoy’
Rob, driving on the French toll autoroutes is a choice you make not a permit system. And you may have noticed on your drive down them that there aren’t actually many trucks on them because they’re so expensive. Most of the trucks are trundling along the “N” roads which are not “minor” roads.
John your reasoning is a bit off, €1.40 equates to roughly £1.26. In the UK it’s £1.32 for diesel so no great difference there, the BIG difference is they don’t have to cough up for road tax every year, theirs is included in their fuel
And UK HGVs using mainland european roads ???
I don
t see many foreignjuggernautsthundering along many roads in the area I live, Sussex - close to all the ports. What I did see, when I was in logistics, was European trucks unloading at the gigantic warehouses that have sprung up over the last 30 years - mostly in the south east. Just about all of them use, for example, transport cafes at, or near, the depot. I have seen some of the drivers, mostly north Europeans, buying large quantities of clothing and hardware - all of which is taxed at 20%, the revenue going into general tax as does road fund excise. The fact is thatroad taxand fuel duty should be hypothecated to repair the entire transport infrastructure. One of those items should be a HGV park near to Folkestone to relieve the M20 of the ludicrous back up of HGVs trying to get out of the UK!So there are even more coming here than I thought!!!! Is that why the South east roads are so good compared to other parts of the country?
Its ok we are getting back control after brexit….dont make me laugh…
Johan, have you driven abroad lately? If you had, then you’d know that Diesel in France is at least as expensive as it is here in the UK with the exchange rate we have at the moment. And any permit system would contravene the EU free trade treaty. And even after we leave the EU such a system would be introduced by the EU for UK vehicles entering the EU. I don’t think you’ve thought it through very well.
1 First zero on drugs and drink while being in charge of wheels on the highway incl push bikes motorised transport etc.
2 automatic right to sue road authorities for pothole repairs local or quangos or contractor
3 Phones zero tolerance must inform insurance coy
4 fuel for rural areas over 15 miles from major distribution duty rebate of at 10 p per lit including commercial vehicles
5 all parking in uk flat rate no private operators operating
6 SOME PEOLE NEED THEIR TRANSPORT just to get there
7 it was successive governments that distributed the population hence the need for transport to work
D Bastow
Of major concern to myself is the poor driving skills of many drivers especially mum’s on the school run. Too fast, no indicating, me first attitude, highway code? what’s that? Not to mention ignoring the safety of other people’s children.
I agree – why can’t all drivers indicate before and during making a manoeuvre (turning in and out of roundabouts, changing lanes, turning at junctions etc.) ? The number of times I have shouted “Indicate !” out of my window or flashed lights/sounded my horn at such bad driving and anti-social attitude !
I was taught “mirror, signal, manoeuvre”, very rare to see that being done these days
You are right it’s usually signal during the operation of turning or after,which I have seen many times
Most seem to do the exact opposite. i.e. manoeuvre, signal, then look in the mirror to see who’s blowing their horn!
On the occasions when I’m walking, motorists inability to signal really riles me at a busy staggered crossroads where I could have crossed safely and speedily if they had bothered to signal, but hey at that moment I’m a pedestrian, so I don’t matter. I watch carefully, so see how they’ve positioned their vehicle and watch for how their wheels are placed. With luck, I have guessed correctly, and can cross, but often I’m left waiting and then sometimes yell ‘signal’!
If they’re not indicating, I start crossing whilst keeping an eye on them. So far they’ve been going slow enough to stop before having me jump onto their bonnet. If they make any protest I point at the indicators on their car and shrug my shoulders.
lack of courtesy to other road users and selfishness are the hallmark of of those who fail to indicate, especially at roundabouts where lane discipline is almost unknown, the nearside lane becoming a single straight line across. The folly of undertaking on the roundabout is magnified by the car horn concerto usually played by the undertaker.
Lets swap some speed cameras for roundabout cameras.
The left hand land on a roundabout always was for straight on – the problem is lane weaving so we need dashcams like the Russians and then the police can have all the evidence we want to give them – as and aside, how about marking lanes on roundabouts?
On the matter of roundabout cameras, come to my locality – I cross over a motorway on my way to work every day and the roundabout has not only cameras but also traffic lights. Ever since the lights were introduced, traffic flow has been wrecked because the lights tend to either act against oncoming traffic (rather than helping oncoming traffic flow most efficiently) or they act slowly enough in positive response to traffic that they effectively act against it. The nanny-state totalitarianism of this whole set-up is overseen by the cameras. By the by, we had one day during the last week when (mysteriously) all the traffic lights on that roundabout were switched off and the common-sense unpoliced traffic flow was so much better than usual that it reminded me just how bad the lights really are. Even worse, years ago, I’m sure I read that the lights introduced on that roundabout were supposed to only operate during peak times – the presumption being to bring some nanny-state control to potential gridlocks (even though the lights contribute to gridlock), but i can attest that they run 24/7. Worse still, the local council has taken to installing lights on other roundabouts – Nanny State loves a good project!
Golly! Do you feel your little brass halo getting brighter as you shout?
Here in Birmingham, indicators are considered an optional extra that many dont even know are fitted as standard. The Highway Code has never been bought, let alone glanced at, and if a car cannot do 50 in a 30mph zone, there is something wrong with the carb or injection system. Most have a mobile permanently glued to the ear, and screaming at 40 into a corner, with the vehicle dangerously leaning over, is normal, so motorists and pedestrians cannot even guess their intentions. And where are the police? Made redundant or retired so the few have to do the duty of the many, and are failing, miserably.
The police are all now online, arresting folk for hurting each others feelings in tweets.
I agree. It’s always amused me that those vehicles with a “Baby on Board” sign in the back window are the one’s that drive like a complete twat.
Again a report based on England not the UK. In relation to alcohol limit, Scotland already had a lower limit but you simply ignore the facts.
Road maintenance should not be conducted by the local authorities. These should be maintained at a national level so that money raised from motorists is put back onto the infrastructure. Councils will happily waste money on speed restrictions such as speed bumps and width restrictions. The irony is, in a lot of these instances they install these in areas where roads are so bad you couldn’t speed if you wanted too because you are trying to dodge potholes. They also don’t seem to understand that uneven road surfaces interrupt modern ABS systems meaning stopping distances can be increased even when the limit isn’t being exceeded.
The RAC recommended that ONLY 2p ( presumably per £1) of fuel duty be ringfenced to go towards the roads? 2p??! Great opening offer lads, shrewd negotiation tactic…. Not.
EVERY PENNY RAISED BY FUEL DUTY SHOULD GO ON THE ROADS. IT IS A CAR TAX IN EVERYTHING BUT NAME.
The other big change needed is a total overhaul of driver training. Minimum age to start lessons should move to 18, and competentcy should be assessed over an accumulation of a set number of training hours, like pilots have log flying hours. Passing a 30 minute test after nine hours of lessons is an absurdly low benchmark: people should be doing 60, maybe even 80 hours of supervised training as a minimum, including at least ten hours on motorways, ten hours in darkness and ten hours in foul weather. Existing drivers should have to carry out six hours of supervised and assessed driving every year AND submit sight test and hearing test results in order to keep their licences.
Good roads are a right, not a privilege; a driving licence is a privilege, not a right.
Great thoughts bet the back log would be a long time takes 5 months to get driving test in parts of the Midlands
Crazy
While the driving test is not fit for purpose given modern road conditions, your suggestion is way over the top and would just increase the pen pushers and lead to yet more tax increases to pay for them.
By the Lord Harry, Mr Co-pilot, that’s a tall order and I’m sure that, as ever, drivers would unlearn their tuition when let loose on our roads unsupervised. Better to train a robot than the fickle human.
Now there’s a thought. Getting back to the original topic, would the futuristic driverless vehicles cope with potholes, or even the dreaded sinkhole?
Would the responsible person in the vehicle need training and hold a licence and be alcohol free?
Probably by then, the sleeping policemen will have woke up and gone off to chase murderers and rapists.
By the Lord Harry, Mr Co-pilot, that’s a tall order and I’m sure that, as ever, drivers would unlearn their tuition when let loose on our roads unsupervised. Better to train a robot than the fickle human.
Now there’s a thought. Getting back to the original topic, would the futuristic driverless vehicles cope with potholes, or even the dreaded sinkhole?
Would the responsible person in the vehicle need training and hold a licence and be alcohol free?
Probably by then, the sleeping policemen will have woke up and gone off to chase murderers and rapists.
Town and City centres are dying and one of the major reasons is poor access. It is a major barrier for me and I think twice before venturing into town centres. Make parking plentiful and free and people will come back.
That idea of yours clashes terribly with the idea of trying to reduce air pollution in cities. If anything, we should be spreading everything out, not condensing cities even further. Town centres used to be things like grocers and butchers, now its all designer clothes and electronics. Town centres should go back to how they were and move the national chain companies to out of town shopping centres.
This is what is happening, except that the centres will become an wasteland as the big ones move out and where most little shops closed years ago and now we are building acres of retail parks for the multinationals that you still need cars to get to or they will be unreachable wastelands – just breeds pollution
Come to Northumberland … … We need more carparks here because they are often free and often full.
If they stop repairing roads then everyone will have to slow down, therefore saving a fortune. That includes those who drive too fast over sleeping policemen.
So that’s where they all are
Miles and miles of stationary traffic, nice one. very good for your health the economy and the environment. Don’t give up your day job.
Isn’t this what the councils and government want – than they can fine us for pollution – parking out of place in the world’s biggest linear carpark and for obstruction!!!!!
After March 2019 permits will have to be part of govt strategy to combat eu traffic into U.K. You can bet that the U.K. will be ripped of by fuel tariffs from the E U. As a former coach driver with 30 plus years driving in the E U road tolls to me are a fair way to proceed. Has the govt got the balls to implement this formula NO BLOODY CHANCE. NO BOTTLE Period
TOO RIGHT THEY HAVE NO BOTTLE – WE ARE RIPPED OFF ENOUGH BY GOVERNMENT ALREADY WITHOUT ADDING ROAD TOLLS WHICH GO TO PRIVATE COMPANIES ANYHOW – anyone listening?
I drove from my home in the north west down to Sussex a few weeks ago. I was staggered to find that the roads around that area were like motor racing tracks – pot hole free, and even the tarmac was all one colour and not a patchwork quilt of repairs. Why can’t every area get the same treatment, because my area is a disgrace.
Also the 70mph limit which is political
and cameras designed to milk the cashcows called drivers – ones put in safe places, near end of the hill where justification is just to cash more money
Or, as happened on a bye pass around the village of Leadenham in Lincolnshire – it was opened with a speed camera in place at the bottom of the hill. There was one lane for going down and two for the climb up. I laugh when people call them “safety cameras representing roads where many accidents have occurred due to speeding motorists” – it was a new byepass with no history.!
Drink Driiving limit should br zero
Jonh,
Thanks for your point (I see you feel so strongly about it you said it twice).
So….what do you propose to do about drivers who can’t drive, even when they are stone cold sober?
p gibbo
If you are talking about meds then these people should be able to prove they are on meds and if those meds say do not drive or operate machinery then they should not drive or operate machinery whilst on those meds. maybe they should get someone else to drive them or get a taxi, bus or walk.
Drink briving should be zero.
By the state of your typing, it looks like you might have had a couple.
Cheers! Hic.
Exactly RAC! My main thought is that where we live in South West London, it seems to me that most poor road surfaces ,are due to repaired road works deteriorating after a year or so. I think that Utility Sevices which dig up roads and repair them after thier work is completed, should be asked for a contribution to completely resurface the road. Patching them is a waste of time & money !
I drive on roads now that are full of pot holes, country lane where you have to suffer a drop of 2-6 inches or more if you want to pull over to let someone pass the opposite way or to stop by the side of the road for a short break or to take in the view. I don’t want to wait 10 years until HMG had accumulated a huge pot of money. I believe that the money ‘saved’ will ultimately be squandered on other projects as successive government try to buy an extended stay in power. The pot hole problem has been with us for a number of years now, temporary repairs are obviously not the answer. Why not get a proper job done first time every time . Surely that would save money in the longer term. Each Temporary repair must cost something and it is seemingly waste as the repair can be scoured out again quite quickly.
Agree, some of the country roads are positively dangerous, short sighted budget management is built in to the system with the rules imposed by the Treasury. I have never forgotten seeing a poor bloke trying to repair a fairly small but very deep hole in the road at peak rush hour, running to and fro dodging the cars as he used a trowel to shovel tarmac in. Not surprisingly it had all come out within 24 hours.
My concern is the number of “drivers” that do not know very much about driving and very little about motoring laws and regulations
My first comment is that absolutely NO BONUSES are paid to anyone in Highways England nor the Highways Departments of local authorities until they have successfully done the job they are paid to do and there are no potholes over a week old.
Driving is a personal choice, drinking is a personal choice, using a phone in a car is a personal choice. Drinking any alcohol before driving and using a phone at the wheel are both voluntary actions that can and do cause accidents, death and injury and should be regarded as a DELIBERATE choice of causing such harm and should be severely punished including confiscating the phones and crushing the cars. The message would soon get across.
Crushing the car would also penalise or in rural areas make life impossible for others wh share the car and need to drive for normal life (buying food/work/general travel. He bloke in the family is not usually the only one whe drives!!
People think that no insurance or drink driving does not affect others – what about other law abiding people on the road as well as the car sharers – crush the car – we are all at risk – get the message across … hard for the victims as will as the perpetrator – alternative? Do nothing or more of the same that does not work now?
What about the walloping pothole in the sb A1 near Morpeth that was there for at least 6 weeks last winter? WE pay enough – does no-one ever look at the road for us or are the roads so bad there is no point as fix one and 3 more appear.
We are having to pay around 300% in tax on our fuel (i.e. only a quarter of the price we pay, is the cost of the fuel). Then we have to pay Road Tax (not to mention all the other taxes that the state squeezes out of us – income tax, inheritance tax, stamp duty, value added tax etc., etc.) If only successive governments would not waste our hard-earned money (e.g. giving millions to a girls’ choir in Somalia, comes to mind, as reported in the newspapers) we could be taxed less and have our money spent on things that would benefit the people from whom the money comes in the first place.
Have to agree about the roads, I’m disabled, currently using a motorcycle with my walking stick(s) clipped onto the rear top box. 3 times recently I’ve hit potholes so bad they’ve jarred the stick(s) out of three seperate clips and I’ve had to circle back for them.
Why is fuel duty being discussed as an option for road repairs? Everyone already pays huge sums of money in road tax. We all know that the Government likes to re-name and do anything to detract attention from this tax. I always thought road tax was for fixing the roads. Nowadays, the vast sums just get syphoned off into the treasury to the best of my knowledge. I have heard that the sums exceed one billion pounds a week! Motorists already pay for the most amazing quality roads. It is just that the Government doesn’t use the money for what it is intended. It doesn’t matter what taxes the Govt. takes. They just have no will or intention to fix the roads. I don’t understand it, because it is both dangerous to people, and damages cars. It is also shameful when foreign visitors come here for holidays and creates an appalling impression.
Read this http://ipayroadtax.com/no-such-thing-as-road-tax/bring-back-the-road-fund/
Someone please lobby for the return of the Road Fund with its original intent ie the tax we motorists and hauliers pay each year should all go without exception towards the maintenance and repair of Britain’s roads, not into the Exchequer’s coffer to be spent on all those questionable projects.
Sorry Winston, if you saw the state of our roads today you’d have made a different decision.
Wouldn’t it be better to catch the current drink drive offenders first rather than reducing the limit and catching offenders on a lower than the current limit. Once you are effectively catching the majority of offenders then lower the limit.
Agreed. We now have far too many thought police sitting at a desk and not enough bobbies on the beat or out in patrol cars.
People cutting through on coming traffic at junctions, on bends, going the wrong way round roundabouts and the general tactic of if there’s a problem on the road then speed UP
My pet hate after the potholes is drivers that never indicate.
RAC suggestions make sound sense but will any government listen?
Too many small village roads have to accept large lorries or even worse passenger free Double Decker busses. If the road ain’t wide enough for 2 of the same vehicles to pass in opposite directions then these vehicles should not be allowed.
New house planning permission should have a certain amount of parking space in relation to the size of the building. Planning to extend an existing property should be declined if the new building size does not meet the parking space requirement.
Old buildings with no parking space should have double yellow lines in front so as to prevent any parking. This may well bring down the price of quaint property but the buyers are aware there is no parking when they purchase.
The highway code advice for not parking on a bend or on a junction should become law and be enforced..
Friend lives in a new block of extra-care flats – local bus once an hour. 58 flats, many people disabled, 35 parking places so when carers, employees, works personnel, visitors and others come there are cars, vans etc parked all over the place and the road outside – so where do residents park??? The council, we are told, forbad the provision of more parking places. There are now double yellow lines on the road outside to ‘solve the parking problem’ – even that is too far for many residents to walk uphill with shopping etc. … … more bright ideas?
I am the one who ‘moans’ about drivers using their mobile phones. For instance, today whilst driving I was approaching a roundabout, and as I arrived there a van, to my left came straight out in front of me with the driver not even looking to his right and was texting on his phone.
Had I arrived at the roundabout a second earlier, he would have driven into the side of my
passenger side, and most probably would have killed my wife, or seriously injured her. I might add that this van was not travelling at a ‘slow’ speed.
Now Look Here RAC – the motorist pays ever increasing demands on everything to do with motoring — fuel price rises mean increase in fuel tax – an ever increasing road fund licence – and fuel price escalator is said to be coming back – and you have the gall to suggest that an increase in the fuel levy should be used to fund road repairs! I THINK NOT. Who’s side are you on? Certainly not the motorists from my point of view!
Totally agree that speed bumps are damaging cars and should be removed. They’ve cost me £100s even though I always slow for them and never exceed the local speed limit.
My biggest concern is the unnecessary changes to car front lights:
a) LED lights are FAR TOO BRIGHT are not focused properly in the dipped position and cause temporary dazzling to oncoming drivers approaching hill crests and speed bumps.
b) Automatic switching on of headlights should be banned! They switch on even in daylight even as cars are just passing under trees or bridges and this continual repetition is MOST ANNOYING to car drivers they are following.
c) So called daylight driving lights are also TOO BRIGHT and far bigger than they need to be, more often seeming to be incorporated as a feature of the car’s styling rather than as an indicator lamp. One, low intensity bulb on each side is all that is required.
d) A few years ago when driving on the continent, it was necessary to change one’s headlamp bulbs to those with a yellowish tinge to avoid dazzling. Now, LED lamps seem to deliver a splash of intensely bright white light and when (so called) dipped do not display a ‘cut off’ line to demonstrate the limit of their greatest illumination. All cars so fitted should be subject to efficiency testing – even before their MOTs are due. I am convinced that these lights can be a contributory CAUSE TO ACCIDENTS – particularly at night on motorways when drivers can be faced with MULTIPLE LIGHTS in front and in the driving mirror.
The use of very large 6-axle lorries should be restricted to motorways and dual carriage ways between ports and storage depots. They are NOT COMPATIBLE with single carriageway roads and are a danger and inconvenience. Local deliveries can be effected by smaller vans.
Here’s an idea. Put ALL the duty from fuel back into the road network and when it is all fixed or enough budget for the repairs has been raised, we then lower fuel duty to sensible levels and stop ripping off the motorist!
At the moment my biggest gripe is the pretend roadworks at M5 Jcn 4A. It causes unnecessary congestion wasting time and fuel, just because Highways England want people to use the M42 not the M5 to reach junction 9 on the M6.
Potholes and poor road surfaces are priority but the speed humps should also be removed as these also cause damage to vehicles, and they also cause more pollution from our vehicles. As for drink driving there should be zero tolerance, NO alcohol, one unit to one persons reaction is different to another persons reaction. Handling alcohol and its affects are different for each and every individual, so non should be allowed.
I think that all the money raised from road tax should be put back in to the road network, as I have been told was the idea in the first place.
Also I think there should be better way to manage the companies who repair the road across the country as I heard that in some areas it will costing on average double to repair the roads/potholes then in other areas.
I think that all roads should be governed by one department, which duties should be to not only reduce the cost of repairing roads/potholes which will mean more roads will be repaired with the money we have, but also get the road repaired quicker which will also reduced the costs.
Also I think that some money is been wasted due to compensation for vehicles been damaged by a pothole which was reported 3 weeks ago but was still not repaired at the time the vehicle was damaged.
Also I think that once a price is given to repair the pothole or the road we should not pay anymore if the work overruns or the company has underestimated the repair, as how many times has the repair costed more than quote due to overruns and underestimated.
Thanks for reading.
I agree with the above suggestion & would like to add the use of recyclable plastic for long lasting flexible surfacing.
I agree with the above statement & would like to add the use of recycling plastic into a longer lasting road surface.
Road surfaces do use plastics. It gets ground off as dust and causes further micro plastic pollution. No east answers there it seems
Did it twice before
I for one would not be happy to pay more, with the amount of money the government take from the motorists from fuel and road taxes. All cars should paid road tax even if they are electric, they still wear the road out as much as other cars. Also if it’s on the fuel we all pay for the miles we do, be it 100 or 10000.
What happened to the plastic re-surface material (instead of tarmac) being developed in the Netherlands, as reported in The Advanced Motoring magazine of three years ago?
Agee entirely. The state of the roads is terrible. It’s bad for drivers and even worse for cyclists. The choice is to avoid or try riding over them. In any event there is the risk of falling off and into following traffic or oncoming traffic. I’m a cyclist too. It’s like risking your life on a daily basis.
Forecasts for the year 2018/2019 Vehicle Excise Duty and Fuel Duties, paid by us the motorist, will bring into the Government coffers £34.4billion and they are saying an extra £100 million is enough to sort out our roads!!!! Its laughable we pay these duties to go on the roads, if we get to the major roads and motorways without damage, and then if we have to have repairs done because of the state of the roads we have to foot the bill. Motoring Organisations are saying to get all our roads to a good standard it would cost £9.3billion!!!!!!!!! Surely 25.1billion is enough for any other road strategies they have.
Much harsher penalties for drinkdriving and phone use are needed. Offending drivers should have their cars confiscated, as at the moment points and fines are no deterrent to serial offenders.
This is why I drive 70 series tyres. They are less susceptible to curb and pothole damage.
The blood alcohol limit should be zero, zero tolerance, also their needs to be more police officers to enforce this
No motorist pays enough to compensate for the enormous environmental damage done by motoring – both directly in terms of pollution and damage from road construction, and indirectly in terms of vehicle manufacture and the production of materials used in construction of vehicles, roads and associated transport infrastructure, and the extraction and production of fuels. In the last 100 years we have greeted an ever growing legacy for which future generations will pay an enormous price. Arguments about the relative merits of petrol/diesel is trivial by comparison.
sorry if caught the wheel with a phone …the phone and car should be crushed only then will people learn many have died including children,and no i will not want to pay more tax stop GIVING away 15 BILLION to FOREIGN AID every year this country might be a bit better off!!!!!
As a cyclist and a car driver, I find that it is the attitude of the minority of road users in all groups that need to change in general. My best bug is road users who like to air their views on other peoples mistakes. I find it best, just to worry about what I am doing.
A particular nuisance are the metal covers in the road surface over water supply valves and hydrants. These often sink in the road surface, partly, I suspect, due to the flexible stone surround on the pipes. These are a hazard for cyclists too. The water companies are responsible for these.