High potholes in Lancashire could be preventing road accidents

There has been a constant increase of potholes on the roads throughout the last couple of years, with more people speaking out about how it has impacted their journeys.

However, Mac’s Trucks have researched how potholes can be a safety feature for vehicles, seeing a surprising correlation between the decrease in HGV accidents, the increase in HGV vehicles and the uptick in pothole cases.

Key Findings:

🛞 Number of potholes in the United Kingdom is on the rise with more than half a million reported from 81 councils in the 2021/22 financial year, according to Liberal Democrats FOI requests.

🛞 Recent GOV.UK data shows there were over 511,000 HGV vehicles licensed last year, up from 420,900 in 1994. However, in a study around HGV collisions, the data showed there were only 3,549 accidents in 2022.

🛞 Recent GOV.UK data indicates a significant drop in speed-related accidents, with only 2,572 incidents reported compared to 5,571 incidents five years ago.

🛞 Total loss gap insurance data reveals that out of the 40 million tires fitted on vehicles annually, approximately 30 million are replacements.

🛞 RAC data shows a 50% drop in reported pothole breakdowns since 2010, suggesting an overall improvement in road conditions.

🛞 Decrease in personal injury collisions - data indicates that in 2021, only 3,549 HGV drivers sustained serious injuries, a figure more than five times lower than the recorded figure in 1979.

🛞 67,439 potholes in Lancashire were recorded last year, which can be inferred that Lancashire has a lower occurrence of accidents due to the high amount of potholes.

Conclusion

The unexpected positive impact of potholes on reducing speeds and promoting safer driving conditions cannot be overlooked.

However, it's important to remember that while potholes can inadvertently contribute to safer driving conditions, it remains crucial to prioritise the maintenance of truck regulations to ensure the overall well-being of all road users.

Amount of potholes recorded:

Full table and data can be found here: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/report-a-pothole/#how-bad-is-the-pothole-problem-the-rac-pothole-index

Areas with the worst average times to fix a pothole:

Full table and data can be found here: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/report-a-pothole/#how-bad-is-the-pothole-problem-the-rac-pothole-index

Methodology

We used figures from the GOV.UK that revealed multiple road traffic statistic data throughout the years.

Firstly, we found the recent figures about the amount of HGV’s in the UK in the ‘Vehicles at the end of the quarter by licence status and body type: Great Britain and United Kingdom’ section and recognised an increase over time.

We then compared that to the amount of HGV collisions, that was found in the ‘Casualties and casualty rates, by road user type and age group, since 1979’ section, and it went down over the same amount of time. We worked this out by looking at the number of vehicles from every quarter of the year and found an average amount of all of those.

Also, the Liberal Democrats FOI request showed the amount of potholes that were reported from 81 councils in the UK. This shows the rise of potholes compared to 5 years before.

We then looked at the safety feature information from sites like AA and WeBuyAnyCar and compared that to the HGV collisions to see any significant drops in accidents that could be due to the implementation of the feature.

Then found GOV.UK’s data about how speed-related deaths have been reduced by looking in the ‘Vehicles involved in reported accidents where exceeding the speed limit was reported as a contributory factor by vehicle type and severity of accident’ section. Also, links to how potholes make people slow down due to tyre changes, where Total Loss Gap Insurance reveals most tyres fitted are replacement ones.

From the RAC data, we have worked out the massive drop in tyre changes caused by potholes by looking at the graph’s peak (2010) and the recent data. We recognised that there has been a nearly 50% decrease because it was a 350% chance in 2010 compared to a 171% now.

We found common hotspots for potholes across the UK, using data from the RAC and the AA in found these highlighted areas.

About: When it comes to buying new and used trucks, Mac’s Trucks is a name you can trust. They are a renowned commercial truck dealer based in the Huddersfield area, that specialise in high-quality trucks, including tippers, beavertails and curtainsiders from leading brands such as Volvo, Scania, DAF, Mercedes-Benz and MAN, among others.