Potholes!

I don't have a great knowledge of the state of the roads in other towns, but the the potholes within our town's boundaries are atrocious, and have to be seen to be believed.
The council have taken to putting cones in the deepest, this means wide vehicles have to mount the pavement to avoid the cones! 
A taxi driver I was talking to the other day had recently cracked his alloy wheel when his cab dropped into one notorious hole, and was in the process of claiming off the council. Good luck with that I thought... I destroyed an almost new tyre on my motorbike just before Christmas when the sidewall contacted the sharp edge of an exposed cast iron manhole cover frame. I put in a claim with photos of the metalwork, only to be sent by email a copy of the council engineer's report dated six months previously stating that the road in question had passed the annual inspection, they had fulfilled their legal requirement, so tough luck... 
Al.

Deadly aren't they Al, I used to ride a bike so I fear for anyone who does, a lot of man holes around here are about to disappear down their own holes very soon I recon.

 The trouble with deep pot holes is when they are filled with water you have no idea what lies beneath.

Pete

Have look at the media coverage regarding "the Daventry Banksy " and potholes.
Told a local Councillor the other day about the state of the roads and hopefully there will be no problems with thousands of bikers going there for their annual motorcycle festival. Fingers crossed for that one.

I think the pot holes around here are the worst I have experienced in this Country.  I suppose at this time of year they will be at their worst due to winter flood and frost damage but there are so many of them I can't see the repairs happening quickly.  I agree, when they are full of water you have no idea how deep they are and at night on unlit roads they are very difficult to see.

Interesting.

Living just below the southern border of the Peak District I'm very familiar with potholes on the quiet roads that I've cycled on with a group for the last 15 years. Over the winter the number of potholes that have developed on the main roads has been prolific and carrying out remedial works very much specific to the responsible local authority. We did our first local cycle 'road ride' a week past Wednesday and were expecting horrendous pothole but actually it was no different to previous years.

Maybe the increase of electric cars with their high torque is bad for the tarmac?

Peter Brown wrote:Maybe the increase of electric cars with their high torque is bad for the tarmac?

And weight! That's not just EVs though. I recently read an article that listed the top selling three cars from a decade ago compared to the top selling three from 2023. It was interesting to read that all three from 2023 were over a ton heavier than those in 2013.. 
This seems barmy to me, family numbers haven't grown in the last decade, raw materials aren't cheaper, fuel isn't cheaper, the environment isn't cleaner, congestion is worse than ever. So why do motor manufactures build ever larger vehicles?
A neighbour down the road runs a huge crew cab thing that's twice the size and about three times the weight of my car. He says he wouldn't feel safe on the roads in anything smaller... it's kind of an arms race in motor vehicles...
Al.

My 2012 Volvo V 50 estate is more than adequate for all our needs, vast boot then cavernous with the seats down.

Park it in Lidl's (or anywhere else for that matter!) next to newish 3 door hatch it looks tiny.
Of course, the cars have got bigger but the parking spaces haven't........