Motorists play 'dodgems' to avoid potholes

Nearly one-in-three British drivers (10.5 million) have taken dangerous evasive action in the past two months to avoid hitting a pothole. Indeed according to Kwik-Fit research, one-in-five motorists have even swerved towards oncoming traffic to dodge one of the estimated three million craters now blighting Britain’s crumbling roads, after the harshest winter for 18 years.

It's little wonder motorists are playing dodgems, given Kwik-Fit’s research found that 6.2 million motorists suffered pothole damage to their vehicle in the past year, racking up over £380 million just to repair their wheels and tyres – not to mention the cost of repairing, suspension, exhausts and bodywork.

Other extreme and dangerous manoeuvres undertaken by motorists to avoid potholes include: excessive braking (7%), hitting the kerb (3%) and even mounting the pavement (2%).

David White, customer services director, at Kwik-Fit, commented: “Potholes are like the mines of the road with motorists doing whatever they can to dodge them. The huge rise in numbers since the winter means that millions of motorists are regularly making dangerous split-second decisions to avoid damaging their cars.”

He continued: “With motorists having to pay so much attention to ‘minesweeping’ the road ahead, the worry is they aren’t focusing enough on the everyday, expected motoring hazards either.”

Motorists who suspect they may have damaged a tyre, wheel, exhaust or shock absorber as a result of hitting (or avoiding) a pothole can get their car checked over for free at any one of Kwik-Fit’s 595 UK centres.

For more information, visit kwik-fit.com