AXA Insurance Blog

Road conditions are responsible for 3pc of all fatal collisions according to the Road Safety Authority, yet the Independent has recently reported that Government spending on all local and regional roads has fallen by more than €200m from the €607m allocated in 2009.

The spokesperson for the Department of Transport said this budget is intended to “supplement” local resources, and it was a matter for each council to improve and maintain roads.

But that still leaves an awful lot of roads with an awful lot of potholes which can be attributed to the sudden thaw of snow and ice that cracked the road surface on Jan 15^th and 16^th.

Now I don’t mean to be sensationalist and imply that our national road infrastructure resembles a post apocalyptic battlefield but when potholes fill with rain water, they disappear from view and the danger escalates. Earlier this month an AA poll of 3,000 motorists revealed 85pc of drivers have hit a pothole in the previous month.

So unless the Department of Transport do a U-turn on their budgets my advice to those planning a road trip soon is to slow down and keep a look out for potholes, especially on any secondary roads. And make sure you have a spare tyre in your boot.

And should you be unfortunate enough to hit a pothole and damage your tyres, it’s comforting to know that one of the many benefits of being an AXA customer is the free puncture repair* from any branch of Fast fit (*terms & conditions apply) .

Also you can use your AXA Plus card to get 15% off most stuff in Halfords – to find out more about our customer loyalty programme, click on this link for AXA Plus.

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