GONE TO POT
‘It could save you hundreds’ says expert as pothole-finding app helps drivers avoid costly hazards
Wazer users mark where they've encountered a pothole for others
AN expert has claimed a pothole-finding app could help drivers avoid hazards and save hundreds of pounds.
The UK is now in the midst of what is known as "pot hole season" when rain and ice combine to batter the country's roads.
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Potholes cost motorists around £500,000 last year across the UK. Now an expert has said that an app could help drivers swerve the holes that damage tyres, wheels and suspension.
Graham Conway, Managing Director at Select Car Leasing, said: "Apps like Waze, an alternative to software like Google Maps, don’t just help you navigate to a location, they also let you warn other road users about potential hazards ahead – including potholes.
"The community of ‘Wazers’ mark precisely where they’ve just encountered a pothole in the hope that others following behind might be able to avoid it.
";It’s the brilliant thing about an automotive hive mind – you get a real insight into what’s up ahead. The information is also bang up to date, with pothole reports that have not been ‘confirmed’ by other Wazers typically disappearing after 48 hours.
"If you’re driving along with the app open and you hear ‘Watch out! Pothole reported ahead!’ you can then modify your speed accordingly, and prepare to take evasive action when you eventually encounter the road crater.
"It’s not just Waze that provides this service, other infotainment systems from manufacturer’s like Mercedes-Benz and Skoda can also provide information about impending potholes."
Mr Conway added that big name car firms also provided apps that provided a similar function to Waze.
He added: "And I’d urge motorists to always have those apps or sat-nav systems open for every single journey – even if you know precisely where you’re going – so that you get an early pothole warning long before your front wheel is disappearing into one. It could potentially save you from spending hundreds of pounds at your local garage."
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The AA said it was called out 632,000 times to drivers whose cars had been crocked by road defects in 2023 — a 16 per cent increase on 2022.
Common problems caused by potholes include punctures, distorted wheels, damaged shock absorbers and broken suspensions.
The AA has called on the government and town hall bosses to do more to address the issue of road repair.
Its president Edmund King said: “We have a vicious circle of pothole formed, damage caused, pothole patched, pothole reappears with more damage caused. What we need are more permanent repairs.”
In November, PM Rishi Sunak pledged to tackle “the scourge of potholes” with an extra £8.3billion of funding over 11 years for local roads maintenance.
The Local Government Association said its members need “greater, long-term and year-on-year consistency of funding”.
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