Honest John News Driving

Pothole prevention work sees ‘encouraging’ 2025 improvement

Richard Aucock
Fri, 21 Nov 2025

There may be good news ahead in the quest to tackle the UK’s pothole crisis with the RAC reporting a 15% improvement in the amount of preventative surface dressing work taking place this year.

Industry body the Road Emulsion Association (REA) shared the stats with the RAC. It reported enough surface dressing to treat 4340 miles of road was applied between April and September this year – the key ‘preventative maintenance season’.

25% more bitumen emulsions (a key product in surface dressing) were also made, sold and used this year, again indicating that councils are trying to get on top of the pothole scourge.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams describes the figures "a step in the right direction… we welcome more local authorities carrying out surface dressing work, as this is proven to extend the life of roads by 10 to 15 years by sealing cracks and stopping water getting in."

The RAC says it is also pleased to see the government is quizzing councils on how much preventative maintenance work they’ve carried out over the last five years – and how much they plan to do in this financial year.

REA consultant and secretary Kevin Maw agreed it is a step in the right direction. "The scourge in potholes in recent years directly correlates with the reduction in surface dressing – it is a successful preventative maintenance treatment that keeps roads in good condition."

The development comes as RAC analysis of government road condition data showed that half of local highway authorities did not use any form of preventative maintenance on their A roads in the 2023/24 financial year – which could be one reason for the recent surge in potholes.

!It’s clear that this message is finally getting through," says Maw. "We hope it continues."

Ask HJ

Did hitting a pothole break my car?

In October I hit a pothole at speed. Immediately afterwards warning lights came on and the car started juddering and wouldn’t accelerate properly. Luckily there was a refuge close by and I pulled over. When we came to a halt there was a lot of smoke coming out of the exhausts and a strong smell of fuel in the cabin. I called the roadside assistance and the car was recovered and spent five weeks at the closet dealership while it was tested and repaired. A fuel sensor and spark plugs were replaced and the final diagnosis was that I had put bad fuel in the car as apparently the fuel had separated when the technicians drained the tank. I’m really flummoxed as to how I could have driven 100 miles at speed on bad fuel only for this to manifest the instant that I hit the pothole. It would be great if someone could explain this to me please as the dealership can’t.
It does seem unlikely that putting bad fuel in your car would have caused this issue to occur at the exact moment you struck a pothole, but there are a few factors to consider. Firstly we would be asking what exactly the technicians meant by 'bad fuel' - if this was the case we would want to try and trace where the fuel was purchased and investigate further. It is also worth bearing in mind that fuel added to the tank would not immediately enter the engine unless the tank was almost empty, so even if the fuel was bad you would have been able to drive normally for some time. If you are unsatisfied with the technician's explanation you may wish to consider having the car inspected by an independent engineer.
Answered by David Ross
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