London - Arabstoday
Irish and Welsh drivers are happy with their roads
London - Arabstoday
Road conditions in Britain are currently worse than at the start of 2012, according to a report from the Automobile Association (AA).
A third of AA members have rated the overall surface condition of their local roads as poor, very poor or terrible in a new AA Populus poll.
Local roads in Scotland and Yorkshire and Humberside fared worst with more than 40% reporting condition as poor, very poor or terrible while drivers in Northern Ireland, Wales and London reported roads to be in best condition. But, even there, more than 50% of respondents only rated them as fair.
When asked whether condition of local roads was better or worse than a year ago, 50% of all respondents said condition was worse with 14% saying much worse. Only 9% said road condition was better than a year ago and 40% said condition was about the same.
In the North East of England, 59% of respondents said conditions were worse whilst those saying the roads had improved were greatest in Wales (13%) and London (12%). The survey also found that a staggering one third of respondents had suffered pothole damage to their vehicle over the last two years.
AA members in Scotland were most likely to report pothole damage with 44% of respondents saying their cars had suffered damage. The Asphalt Industry Alliance 'Alarm Survey 2013' identifies £2.5bn maintenance backlog in England and Wales.