Thankfully, the snow has cleared for most of the country and the roads are returning to normal after a prolonged period of what the Daily Mail would undoubtedly call 'Ice Chaos'.
However, with the snow thawing, a more serious problem now faces British motorists -- potholes.
Anybody who's ventured out onto the roads over the past few days and weeks will have noticed that Britain's road network is an absolute disgrace. Considering that motorists contribute an estimated £45bn to the exchequer annually, you'd have thought that some of that money could have been spent on repairing our crumbling road network.
It's estimated that repairing all of the UK's potholes would cost the not inconsiderable sum of £13bn; however, this figure has undoubtedly been inflated thanks to the procrastination and cost-cutting of local councils. Rather than repair a road properly, councils tend to favour quicker and cheaper bodge-jobs which, of course, only delay the problem, necessitating a more thorough and expensive fix at a later date.
Last month, consumer magazine Which? released a report revealing that local councils forked out £22.8m in compensation to motorists for injuries and vehicle repairs caused by badly maintained roads -- a drop in the ocean compared to the £13bn it would take to repair them. Unless something drastic happens, it therefore seems unlikely that the councils are going to bust a gut to get these roads repaired.
And, considering that potholes are a potentially lethal blight on our road network, the councils' lackadaisical attitude towards the problem could eventually prove fatal. Will the Government begin looking for a solution now, or do we have to wait until AFTER a fatal accident has occurred?
Of course, we do realise that Britain is hardly rolling in cash at the moment; however, our roads are an essential part of our economy and continued underinvestment in the road network can only harm the economic recovery.
So, what do you think? Should the Government start spending a bit more of our tax money on the roads? Leave your comments below.
