Thank you, Guy Harris, Peter Munro and Jacqueline Patton, for writing the excellent letter to ESCC I look forward to seeing the response.
Locally and nationally the proliferation of potholes has been blamed on the recent heavy rain. However, there are two factors that cause potholes: weather and traffic. Government policy has totally failed to reduce not just the numbers, but also the weight of road vehicles The number of vans on the roads has increased to 4.5m, up from 3.3m in 2012. The number of cars has increased from 27.2m in 2000 to 32.7m in 2020.
But the size and weight of cars has increased dramatically too. In 2009, SUVs accounted for just 6.6% of cars sold in the UK, in 2023 that had increased to 60%. If the trend continues then in 2027 SUV registrations could make up 75% of new registrations. Not only that, but year on year since 2001, the average SUV gets half a centimetre wider (see Transport and Environment article). And let us not forget the effect on cyclists – for each increase in width of car, that is a decrease in road width for the cyclist.
Big cars are more likely than small cars to kill people in crashes because they weigh more and have tall front ends that trap victims beneath them instead of knocking them to the side. They also pump more toxic gas into the air and eat up more space on roads and pavements. The UK is a ‘tax haven’ for polluting SUVs. Britain’s first-year vehicle excise duty (VED) charge does nothing to incentivise the purchase of less damaging cars.
And note, the gradual switch to electric cars does nothing to mitigate the damage to roads, in fact these cars are generally heavier due to the battery packs. Likewise, the amount of microplastics shed by the tyres is much the same. The solution then is not just reducing the amount of traffic, but the weight of the vehicles too.
And not to forget, domestic transport is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases of all sectors, at 26%.
So when we are talking about potholes, we also need to talk about the reckless Conservative policies that encourage climate change and endorse the irresponsibility of the motor vehicle industry. There is a direct causal link.
