Back in the 60s a rough ride was blamed on the road by the English and on the car by the French. Now it seems the English can blame both.

There is clearly a gap in the market for those fat squishy seats and soft suspension on Gallic cars of yore.

Another couple of reasons, though i agree with stupid wheels and concrete springs being a big reason.

So many people are driving cars too big and wide for their competence, you only have to go near a car park to see this in all its glory, helped no end by buying cars with the turning circle of Titanic.

Tailgating, they have to sit on the crown of the road for two reasons, 1. in a vain attempt to intimidate or force the driver in front (who can't go anywhere cos he's following) faster, they try to burn teh driver in front with glare from their eyes. 2. because they are jammed right up the vehicle in front they have no field of vision at all and are too thick to realise why, hence crown of road to see round.

It can be quite amusing if you have one of these idiots behind to travel quite normally for some time, then when you approach a kerbed centre refuge to just skim your offside wheels past it, that sometimes wakes them up.

I followed in fascination a young chap with a young lady passenger one day on the way to work, absolutely torrential rain and this clown is jammed right up the back of this lorry in the maelstrom of storm force spray its kicking up, i sat back about 200 yards and i could barely make the car out at all in that deluge, a future statistic there, hope the young lady finds someone with a brain and moves on before the inevitable, you just know young clown will always drive like this.

JohnF. ''There is clearly a gap in the market for those fat squishy seats and soft suspension on Gallic cars of yore.'',

its been filled by 4x4's that can ride pot holes and don't fall apart or break springs.

Edited by gordonbennet on 17/02/2017 at 12:11

One example in Southampton was resurfaced not too long ago but in the last year large kerbside potholes have been re-appearing again. Is it that the contractors are doing the job on the cheap, or is it just not possible to create a road surface that can withstand the amount and weight of traffic present today?

let me guess its on a section which is heavily used by the heaviest lorries, main approach to the docks? sorry main exit route, the majority returning lorries will be entering empty save the car transporters going down to gate 4.

its three axle trailers mainly, the vast majority of which don't have a steering axle, they literally rip the road apart on corners, only 8 tons per axle on the typical trailer but you stand beside a tight corner heavily used by such lorries and listen to the sounds those tyres make as they try to pull the surface off.

edit, if you turn a loaded artic like this tight in a premieses without locking the automated manual gearbox from hell in low gear, very often the box will try to change up but the drag from those 4 tyres (front and rear trailer axles) trying to come off the rims is so much that it can stall the engine and drag the lorry back several feet by tyre force alone, imagine what that force is doing to the road every minute of every day.

So'ton now one the three major import routes of containerised or lorry transported foreign made tat, all that vast tonnage constantly wearing the same funnelled bits of road out.

Edited by gordonbennet on 17/02/2017 at 12:51