The state of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roads features highly on the list of complaints made by UK drivers taking part in the RAC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual survey.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Of the 1,542 motorists who participated in the survey, over three quarters of the respondents said that major roads in the UK were deteriorating.<\/p>\n
Many of the respondents questioned what their road tax is paying for, complaining that it is certainly not going towards road maintenance.<\/p>\n
In a statement from the RAC they said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some tax from drivers should be \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcring-fenced for roads\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to stop them becoming \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcone big pothole\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
However, the Department for Transport (DfT) refutes the findings of the RAC stating that it has invested substantially in maintenance of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roads.<\/p>\n
As well as bemoaning the state of major roads across Britain, UK drivers were also critical of the state of local highways. The survey reveals that 84% of motorists think that local roads are in a poor condition and a further 75% thought that motorways and principal roads had deteriorated substantially.<\/p>\n
In a statement from the RAC, they said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The number of drivers having to foot the bill for damage caused to their vehicle by potholes has increased dramatically.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
In response, the DfT stated: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Recent harsh winters and hot summers have taken their toll on many of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roads and the cost of repair is always increasing. We are constantly looking to improve Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roadways with minimal disruption and with a view to keeping costs down so that increased tax charges are not incurred by motorists.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Yet the RAC disputes claims made by the DfT, revealing that: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Treasury collects more than \u00c2\u00a340bn in motoring taxes each year but, on average, spends just 22% of that on improving and maintaining roads \u00e2\u20ac\u201c more investment is needed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The RAC continued: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The RAC believes that without this investment the Government will be responsible for overseeing a massive decline in the state of our highways which negatively affects consumers and businesses alike, stalls the economy and stores up a huge bill for future tax payers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
In a DfT statement they said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Government is providing councils in England with more than \u00c2\u00a33bn between 2011 and 2015 to maintain their highways. It is ultimately up to local highway authorities to determine how they prioritise their funding.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
At present, Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motorway network and major \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 road highways are maintained by the Highways Agency, an executive agency of the DfT, while all other roads come under the jurisdiction of local authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The state of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s roads features highly on the list of complaints made by UK drivers taking part in the RAC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual survey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,73],"tags":[96,97,100,99],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-theory-test-today-news","category-road-safety","tag-road-safety-advice","tag-road-safety-news","tag-safe-roads","tag-safe-streets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}