13% Increase in UK Suspension, Tyre-Related Call-Outs

Startrescue.co.uk figures suggest that the recent cold weather has left the UK’s roads in a bad way, causing the number of call-outs for tyre and suspension related repairs to rise rapidly in the 2009-2010 winter season. The relatively new breakdown recovery service reported a 13 per cent increase in December and January.

Startrescue.co.uk spokesperson Ricardo Sagnella comments:  “More and more motorists are telling us that their problems are largely due to the thousands of potholes that have appeared since the ice and grit has finally cleared. Until the roads are repaired, we can see this trend continuing as motorists often have no alternative other than to hit the pothole rather than swerve at the last minute and potentially cause an accident.”

Potholes are estimated to cost motorists £300 million every year. Suspension, tyre, wheel alignment and axle failure are the most common faults caused and with the roads getting worse whilst UK councils are trying to find the extra funds needed for repairs, car owners are paying the price.

“It’s not just the cost to car owners, it’s also the inconvenience,” continued Sagnella.  “In just two months we’ve seen such a huge surge in call outs to help with the damage caused by these sometimes invisible holes in the road and our clients are furious at the cost of repairs.  Even if the roads can’t be patched up or repaired straight away the pothole hot spots should at least be marked out to ensure we try our best to avoid the harmful holes in good time, protecting our cars – and in some cases, ourselves and other road users.”