Straight talking from the Ed’s keyboard.
People are being seriously injured and killed by deliberate neglect of the UK roads network. The current immunity from prosecution for public sector employees making decisions which endanger life has to end. Those responsible for botched or no road repairs, dangerous “smart” motorways, or poorly designed junctions and roundabouts etc. need to be prosecuted when lives are lost.
This problem also costs motor insurers millions each year in claims.
The claims issue is not as important as road safety of course, but every pothole is a potential insurance claim, since most local authorities try to dodge their responsibility for paying when suspension, wheels or tyres are damaged by potholes.
According to research just 35% of claims are actually paid across England and Wales, with 65% being rejected on average which leaves insurers – and ultimately policyholders – with the majority of the repair bill for the deliberate neglect of UK roads. This is a long term cost-cutting, and anti-driver policy trend, which all three main political parties have supported. Ironically, whilst banging the drum for more cycling all three parties have made the roads less safe for cyclists by not fixing the holes, faded road markings and raised/sunken grids – all of which present deadly hazards for anyone on two wheels.
THE HSE NEEDS TO PROSECUTE MINISTERS, COUNCIL LEADERS AND HEADS OF FINANCE
When lives are lost in Lane One on a smart motorway, or someone is thown off their bike in the dark whilst commuting, there should be an investigation into who signed off on that road design and any evidence of deliberate road neglect, failure to act on reports of potholes, grids etc. If that is proven to be the case, then that should result in a Crown court prosecution, just as it does when the HSE are involved in a workplace accident in the private sector. But no, wait – public sector exemption.
Ultimately politicians and senior civil servants are responsible for decisions affecting road safety. Accountability is long overdue on several poor judgement calls on road repairs and the roll-out of smart motorways in particular.
When will this cosy public sector immunity arrangement end? Hopefully one day in the medium term future, but the veil of secrecy surrounding the death of Sara Sharif and the refusal to name social services staff who failed to act, shows how strong the resistance is within the State. Nobody wants a witch hunt which targets low level staff, but those responsible at a senior level should face consequences just as every Director in the private sector does when it comes to failure of duty of care, corporate manslaughter and so on. Let’s level the playing field when it comes to justice.
Until then, expect more claims and more cyclist injuries as those responsible for maintaining UK roads are being paid handsomely, plus an inflation-linked pension, to do little more than employ contractors to place temporary patches on 90% of holes, sunken grids, loose chippings, cracks in the surface dressing etc.
The tech to repair potholes has been around for a few years, in the shape of the UK made JCB Pothole Pro, which means each job takes about half the time and therefore half the cost. But for some ideological reason the UK national, regional and local governments seem unwilling to spend a relatively small sum on fixing the roads. Maybe they just hate people driving and like to set bear-trap sized holes in the roads for cyclists?
Here’s some feedback on the latest UK road condition stats;
With the Department for Transport publishing its 2024 road conditions statistics, RAC head of policy Simon Williams said:
“While the percentage of A roads that are deemed to be in the worst ‘red’ condition doesn’t appear to have got any worse, it’s concerning to see that more roads that were in reasonable ‘green’ condition have now deteriorated to ‘amber’ status.
“Unfortunately, this is also the trend with B and C roads with 3% more of these now being categorised as ‘amber’ which means approximately 1,500 miles of road around the country are now significantly worse than they were.
“Drivers surveyed for this year’s RAC Report on Motoring listed the poor state of local roads as their number-one motoring issue of concern. We badly need to end the decline in the condition of our local roads, so we hope the Government’s new approach to highways funding will enable councils to plan longer-term maintenance that finally addresses this. We’re very encouraged to hear the Government talking about the need for preventative maintenance, such as surface dressing, as we know this is key to improving road surface conditions for the future. This way potholes will be prevented from appearing in the first place.”
SAGACITY SEES REGIONAL VARIANCES IN THE ROADS DATA
“Worsening conditions expose drivers and their vehicles to greater risk. But the data shows an uneven picture. Roads are particularly bad in specific areas, such as Devon and Cornwall, while B and C roads are not maintained as well as A roads. In line, some drivers will be much higher risk than others – serving as a reminder to insurers that no two drivers are the same.
“Looking ahead, roads are deteriorating, and the UK is facing more extreme weather events. To manage the risk, insurers need to draw intelligence from data to build a more granular picture of drivers at an individual level, to ensure policies suit their risk profile. Pricing customers on their age and vehicle is too broad-brush. If they live in, commute, or regularly travel through areas with deteriorating motorways and roads, insurers are going to have to take that into account when they determine their pricing.”
Dean Standing, Chief Customer Officer at Sagacity
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