Road Damage Caused 71 Breakdowns Every Day in 2025 and 2026 Is Already Looking Worse

Road damage caused 71 breakdowns every single day in Britain during 2025, according to data published by the RAC, making pothole-related callouts one of the most consistent sources of demand on roadside assistance services throughout the year. The figure translates to more than 26,000 pothole-related breakdowns across 2025, and the organisation has said that early 2026 data points to the situation worsening rather than improving.

The affected vehicles ranged from everyday family cars to commercial vans, and the damage inflicted ranged from punctures and damaged alloy wheels to bent suspension components, cracked subframes, and tyres that failed at speed. In several cases, the breakdown led to a vehicle being written off by the driver’s insurance company. In every case, the driver faced inconvenience, cost, and in some instances a real safety risk from the failure of a tyre or suspension component at road speed.

The Scale of the Problem in 2025

The RAC’s pothole-related breakdown data for 2025 showed that the problem was not evenly distributed across the year. Winter months produced the highest volumes of callouts, consistent with the well-understood mechanism by which pothole formation accelerates: water penetrates road surface cracks, freezes and expands, breaking up the road surface, and the resulting voids are then enlarged by vehicle traffic. Cold and wet conditions between November 2024 and March 2025 produced a spike in new pothole formation that fed directly into the RAC’s breakdown volumes through the spring.

Spring and summer callouts were lower but remained significantly elevated compared to historical averages, suggesting that the underlying road surface condition across Britain had deteriorated to the point where even routine driving in drier conditions was producing pothole-related failures. The average road in Britain is now older than at any point in the modern era, and decades of deferred maintenance have left a backlog that current local authority budgets are inadequate to address.

The RAC’s figures were drawn from its own member callout data, which represents a sample of the UK driving population rather than a comprehensive census. Extrapolating to the full driving population suggests the true total of pothole-related breakdowns in 2025 was considerably higher than the RAC’s data alone captures. Not all drivers are RAC members, not all breakdowns result in a callout, and many instances of pothole damage, particularly slower punctures and minor suspension wear, are not connected directly to a specific pothole incident by the driver.

Why 2026 Is Already Looking Worse

The transition from 2025 to 2026 brought a winter that added significantly to the existing damage burden. Prolonged cold and wet conditions across central and northern England between December 2025 and February 2026 produced road surface deterioration that several local authorities described as the worst in recent memory. Councils in the East Midlands and Yorkshire reported receiving more pothole reports in a single month than in the whole of the previous winter.

The RAC began tracking 2026 callouts on a comparable basis from January and noted an increase in the proportion of calls attributed to road damage in the early months of the year. While full-year 2026 data is not yet available, the organisation said in commentary accompanying its most recent data release that the trajectory pointed toward a figure that could exceed the already-record 2025 level.

The Local Government Association has repeatedly warned that English local councils face a roads maintenance funding gap running into the billions. A 2024 survey of highway authorities found that the estimated cost of bringing local roads in England and Wales up to a reasonable condition would require a one-off investment of £16.3 billion, a figure that has grown each year as maintenance continues to be deferred. The gap between the investment required and the budgets available at local level has widened under successive governments, and no credible mechanism for closing it rapidly has yet been proposed.

What Pothole Damage Actually Does to Your Car

The damage a pothole inflicts on a vehicle depends on the size and depth of the hole, the speed at which it is struck, the tyre pressure, and the vehicle’s suspension design. At low speed, a modest pothole typically causes the tyre to deform and rebound without lasting damage. At higher speeds, the impact is effectively a sudden violent shock to the tyre, wheel, and suspension system simultaneously.

Tyres are the most commonly damaged component. The sharp edge of a pothole can cause the inner wall of a tyre to be pinched between the rim and the road surface, producing a sudden impact failure or a slow leak from a compromised inner wall. Some failures of this type are not immediately visible externally, meaning a driver may continue for miles on a tyre that has been structurally compromised before it deflates. A tyre that fails suddenly at motorway speeds can cause the driver to lose control.

Alloy wheels are also frequently damaged, with cracking or bending of the rim being common in severe impacts. A cracked alloy is an MOT failure and in the short term a safety risk, as a cracked rim can allow air to escape around the tyre bead. Replacement costs for alloy wheels range from around £100 for a budget replacement to several hundred pounds for a matching OEM wheel on a premium vehicle.

Suspension components take longer-term damage from repeated pothole impacts. Shock absorbers, ball joints, tracking geometry, and steering rack components can all be knocked out of specification or damaged without the driver being immediately aware. Tracking that has been knocked out of alignment causes uneven tyre wear, reducing tyre life and progressively degrading handling. A vehicle that pulls to one side after a notable pothole strike, or one where steering feels noticeably different, should be assessed promptly by a qualified mechanic.

Claiming Compensation from a Local Authority

Drivers who suffer damage from a pothole on a public road can submit a compensation claim to the local authority responsible for maintaining that road. The legal framework for such claims falls under the Highways Act 1980, which places a duty of care on highway authorities to maintain roads in a reasonable condition. A claim succeeds where the authority either knew about the pothole and failed to repair it within a reasonable time, or ought reasonably to have known about it through a regular inspection regime.

The authority’s primary defence is Section 58 of the Highways Act, which allows it to escape liability by demonstrating that it had a reasonable system of inspection and repair in place even if it was unaware of the specific defect. This defence is commonly raised and often succeeds, particularly where the road in question is a minor route inspected less frequently than a classified main road.

To maximise the prospects of a successful claim, drivers should take photographs of the pothole as soon as it is safe to do so, recording its depth and dimensions if possible. A photograph showing the pothole in relation to the road and nearby landmarks is useful for identification purposes. Record the date, time, and precise location of the pothole, and obtain written quotes for all damage repair costs from a qualified garage rather than simply paying for repairs and submitting receipts. Report the pothole to the relevant local authority using their online reporting tool, as this creates a dated record of notification.

Claims are submitted directly to the relevant council’s highways department. Many authorities have online claim portals, and the process typically involves submitting photographic evidence, repair invoices, and a description of the incident. Response times vary, but many authorities acknowledge claims within 28 days. Where a claim is rejected and the driver believes they have a valid case, the matter can be escalated to the local government ombudsman or pursued through the small claims court.

The Government’s Response

The current government has committed additional funding for local road maintenance as part of its infrastructure investment plans. In the 2025 spending settlement, an additional £500 million was allocated to pothole repair on top of the existing highways maintenance block grant to local authorities. Local government bodies cautiously welcomed the announcement while noting that the figure fell significantly short of the estimated backlog and would maintain rather than close the gap between maintenance need and available resource.

Network Rail and National Highways, which are responsible for motorways and major A roads rather than local roads, operate on separate funding settlements. The most severe pothole problem in Britain is concentrated on unclassified and minor classified roads under local authority control, which represent the vast majority of road mileage by distance, rather than on the strategic road network managed at national level.

A roads review published in early 2026 identified several recommendations for improving both the funding system and the procurement practices used by local authorities, including pooling of procurement to reduce the cost per repair and ring-fencing of pothole repair budgets to prevent highway maintenance money being redirected to other council services. Implementation of these recommendations is at an early stage.

Protecting Yourself on the Road

Drivers can reduce both the frequency and the severity of pothole-related damage through a combination of good maintenance practices and awareness. Keeping tyres inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure is the single most effective measure. Under-inflated tyres have less resistance to impact deformation and are significantly more vulnerable to pothole damage than correctly inflated tyres, while the reduced sidewall stiffness increases the risk of inner wall failure.

When approaching a pothole, reducing speed before reaching it reduces the energy of impact significantly. A vehicle hitting a pothole at 20 mph inflicts roughly four times less force on the tyre and suspension than the same vehicle hitting the same pothole at 40 mph. Where a pothole cannot be avoided, keeping both hands on the wheel and not braking hard at the moment of impact allows the suspension to absorb the strike more effectively.

After any notable impact with a pothole, check the tyre visually for sidewall damage and monitor the tyre pressure for the next few days. If the vehicle tracks noticeably to one side or the steering feels different after a pothole strike, have the alignment and suspension checked before the next long journey. Early detection of damage is both cheaper to repair and safer than driving on compromised components.

Sources:

• RAC: Pothole breakdown data
• Asphalt Industry Alliance: Annual Road Condition survey
• Highways Act 1980 Section 58