Author: PA Media

Drivers in England waste an average of 38 hours on the road due to delays each year, new research has found.

Equivalent to over 2,200 minutes or 136,000 seconds, the wasted time combines to mean that a total of 1.3 billion hours are wasted by all motorists each year due to delays.

The study, by comparison site Go Compare, used Department for Transport figures on the average road delay per delivery mile alongside DVLA mileage data from 2022 to find out how much time is lost each year. This figure was then applied to the estimated number of licensed vehicles in England.

Looking at delays on major motorways, A- and B-roads, it found that most hours are lost on the latter. However, an average of six hours are wasted by each motorist on the motorway and A-road network managed by National Highways, with each driver losing a day and a half on these roads due to delays in 2022.

Tom Banks, car insurance expert at Go Compare, said: “There’s never a good time to be caught in traffic and losing such a huge amount of time while going nowhere is extremely frustrating.

“Although navigating traffic is stressful, it’s important to stay as calm and alert as possible, making sure to keep an eye on all the vehicles around you. Otherwise, you risk colliding with another driver.”

Overall, the total amount of time lost to delays by all drivers during a year is 55 million days or 1.3 billion hours. As the person lives for around 28,000 days in a lifetime, it’s the equivalent of over 19,000 lifetimes spent waiting in traffic.

Pothole-related breakdowns reached a five-year high in 2023, new figures show.

The AA said it received 632,000 call outs to vehicles damaged by road defects last year.

That is a 16% increase compared with the previous 12 months, and is the most since 666,000 in 2018 when many roads were damaged by prolonged extreme cold weather from the so-called Beast from the East.

Common vehicle problems caused by potholes include punctures, distorted wheels, damaged shock absorbers and broken suspension springs.

Potholes are often formed when water enters cracks in the road surface, then freezes and expands.

The AA is part of a new coalition named the Pothole Partnership which marked National Pothole Day on Monday by sending a five-point plan to central and local government officials to press the case for more effective road repairs.

This includes making permanent repairs rather than using temporary patches, accelerating the distribution of pothole-repair funding, and full transparency from local authorities on their progress in tackling backlogs of road repair.

Other members are the National Motorcyclists Council, British Cycling, IAM RoadSmart, the British Motorcyclists Federation and pothole repair machine manufacturer JCB.

AA president Edmund King said: “Last year, AA patrols dealt with more than 600,000 pothole-related incidents which on a national scale will have cost drivers almost half a billion pounds.

“Currently, we often have a vicious circle of: pothole formed; damage caused; pothole patched; pothole reappears with more damage caused. What we need are more permanent repairs.”

The RAC announced it has joined forces with technology company Metricell to encourage drivers to use a new mobile app named Stan to automatically collect data on road conditions via smartphone cameras.

Metricell will share the information it receives with highways authorities.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Potholes are so much more than an irritation – they are a very serious danger to all road users which we fear will only get worse as the weather gets colder during these next few months.

“To prevent water damaging the roads in these winter months when it freezes and expands, we implore local highways authorities to completely resurface those in the worst condition and carry out more surface dressing between April and September on roads that are starting to deteriorate.”

In November, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to tackle “the scourge of potholes” with an extra £8.3 billion of funding over 11 years for local roads maintenance in England using money saved by scrapping HS2 north of Birmingham.

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson said this “decisive action” is “the biggest ever funding increase for local road improvements and enough to resurface over 5,000 miles of roads across the country”.

Darren Rodwell, transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “Councils share the concerns of all road users with the state of our roads and are doing all they can to tackle the £14 billion backlog of road repairs, including learning from and adopting innovative techniques.

“Greater, long-term and year-on-year consistency of funding for the maintenance of all parts of our highways will help them achieve this.”

The DfT launched a consultation on Monday to crackdown on utility companies letting roadworks overrun in England, which it believes could cut congestion and generate an additional £100 million over 10 years to resurface roads.

The proposed measures include extending the current £10,000 per day fines for overrunning street works from non-bank holiday weekdays only to include weekends and bank holidays.

There is also a plan to double fines from £500 to a maximum of £1,000 for companies who breach the conditions of a project, such as working without a permit.

The consultation is part of the Government’s programme to support people to use their cars.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “After investing an extra £8.3 billion to resurface roads across England – the largest ever increase in funding for local road improvements – this Government continues to back drivers with these new measures from our Plan for Drivers.

“Our new measures seek to free up our roads from overrunning street works, cut down traffic jams and generate up to £100 million extra to resurface roads up and down the country.”

The government has announced new measures that aim to tackle street works that overrun into weekends and bank holidays.

A consultation has been launched today as part of the government’s ‘plan for drivers’, which aims to reduce the knock-on effects of delayed street works on traffic and travel times.

While utility companies can currently be fined £10,000 per day for overrunning works on weekdays, it doesn’t apply to the weekend and bank holidays. The government is hoping to change this as a ‘deterrent for working on the busiest days for road travel’.

The government also hopes to redirect ‘at least 50 per cent’ of the fines and ‘lane rental’ fees that authorities can charge companies to be used to improve the roads and repair potholes. It says that the measures could add up to an extra £100m over 10 years to improve road surfaces while also cutting congestion and journey times.

Roads Minister Guy Opperman said: “Being stuck in traffic is infuriating for drivers. Too often traffic jams are caused by overrunning street works.

“This Government is backing drivers, with a robust approach to utility companies and others, who dig up our streets. We will seek to massively increase fines for companies that breach conditions and fine works that overrun into weekends and bank holidays while making the rental for such works help generate up to an extra £100 million to improve local roads.”

Though the government said it’s ‘essential’ that utility companies can carry out vital works, it says that the street works carried out in England 2022/23 cost the economy ‘around £4bn’ in disruption to journeys.

The announcement coincides with National Pothole Day, with the RAC announcing on the same day that its patrols attended 30,000 pothole-related breakdowns in 2023. These included faults relating to broken suspension components and distorted wheels, and represented a 33 per cent increase on the previous year.

More than four out of five (85%) drivers affected by headlight glare say the problem is getting worse, a survey suggests.

The RAC, which commissioned the poll, called on the Government to fund an independent study into the issue.

It believes headlights appear brighter on modern cars because their use of LED rather than traditional halogen bulbs creates a more intense and focused beam, which improves a driver’s view but can be to the detriment of other road users.

Other potential factors include badly aligned headlights and the increase in the number of cars that sit higher on the road, such as SUVs.

The survey of 2,000 UK drivers suggested 89% think some car headlights are too bright.

Two-thirds (67%) of those affected by headlight glare say being dazzled forces them to slow down considerably until they can see clearly again, while 64% believe some headlights are so bright they risk causing accidents.

One in seven (14%) drivers aged 65 and over said the issue is so bad they avoid driving at night.

Government figures show that since 2013 there has been an average of 280 collisions on Britain’s roads every year where dazzling headlights were a contributory factor.

Of these, six a year involved someone losing their life.

The RAC has raised the issue of headlight glare with the Department for Transport (DfT) and has been working with Labour peer Baroness Hayter to seek action.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “Our figures suggest drivers are more concerned than ever about headlight glare, with a huge proportion wanting to see something done about it.

“We urgently need the Government to take a closer look at the issue, ideally by commissioning an independent study to understand what’s causing an increase in reports of dazzling and, most importantly, what can be done to keep drivers safe.

“With spring still a long way off, there’s a good chance many people will do most of their driving in darkness over the next few months and, according to our research, that means an awful lot of drivers will experience the discomfort and even danger that comes from being dazzled by headlights.”

Mike Bowen, director of knowledge and research at the College of Optometrists, said: “The results from this research by the RAC are helpful to inform our understanding of how changes in vehicle headlight technologies may be affecting both the functional vision of young and older drivers – and their visual comfort – when driving at night.

“We urge the Government to commission more technical and clinical research to have a better understanding of this issue and what should be done to ease the effects of dazzling headlights.”

Baroness Hayter said: “The RAC has demonstrated that some car headlights can dazzle, causing a danger for oncoming drivers. We know drivers in other countries share this concern.

“So, Government should take action now to be on the side of road safety.”

Nicholas Lyes, director of policy and standards at road safety charity IAM RoadSmart, said: “Drivers are increasingly telling us they are concerned by modern headlights and some are now even limiting the amount of time they spend driving during darkness to avoid glare.

“Being dazzled by a headlight has a worrying impact on road safety and we need policymakers to take this matter seriously.”

A DfT spokesperson said: “We take safety on our roads extremely seriously and last year we strengthened requirements for headlamps to reduce glare, following advice from an international expert group.

“All headlights must adhere to strict technical standards in order for vehicles to be approved for our roads.”

– The survey of 2,000 UK drivers was conducted by research company Online95 in December.

Mark Drakeford has suggested drivers will not be fined for breaching the new default 20mph speed limit in Wales if they were “genuinely confused”.

The outgoing First Minister said those who “deliberately” break the law will face consequences but that police will not jump straight to enforcement if people have simply “misunderstood”.

Last year, Wales became the first country in the UK to drop the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph in built-up areas. Enforcement of the limit begins this month.

Asked during a press conference in Cardiff about the possibility of people being fined because the messaging over the law has not been clear enough, Mr Drakeford said: “I don’t think they will be fined in those circumstances.

“I think if the police find somebody driving above 20 miles an hour and the reason is because they are genuinely confused about that, then that’s why the police will always start with education and conversation.

“I don’t think in those circumstances of genuine confusion, the police will move to enforcement.”

The First Minister conceded that the policy should be “fine-tuned” and kept “under review” to ensure consistency across different local authorities throughout Wales.

There have been “anomalies” in its introduction, he said, including with road signage which some drivers have complained is unclear.

Mr Drakeford said that in cases where motorists drive “well above” the limit the law would have to be enforced.

Asked to specify what speed would be considered “well above” 20mph, he said previous cases relating to pre-existing 20mph zones had involved people driving “closer to 30 than 20”.

“Not a couple of miles over, but well in excess of what people were obliged to do, so if that’s a sort of rule of thumb I think that’s how the police have interpreted that so far,” he said.

A petition against the rollout of the law, on the Welsh Parliament’s petitions page, has now been signed by more than 460,000 people.

The two candidates in the running to replace Mr Drakeford as the next Welsh Labour leader after his planned resignation in March have said they would launch a review of the law if elected.

Mr Drakeford said on Monday he had been clear from the outset that the policy would be kept under review.

Outlining the wider agenda for the last months of his leadership, the Welsh Labour leader said getting the draft 2024-25 budget passed through the Senedd would be a “key piece of work.”

He hit out at “real-terms” cuts in the block grant received by the UK Government.

The budget is now now worth £1.3 billion less than when it was set by then-chancellor Rishi Sunak three years ago due to inflation, he said.

“It’s after more than a decade of austerity, a botched Brexit, a Covid pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis that we’ve had to make some very stark and difficult choices as we developed the draft budget for 2024-25,” he told the conference.

BT is launching a trial to convert street cabinets traditionally used for broadband and phone cables into electric vehicle chargers.

The pilot will see the first unit powered up in East Lothian in Scotland, with the potential to upgrade 60,000 cabinets to support EV charging and help boost sustainable transport.

The scheme is being run by Etc, the start-up and digital incubation arm of the BT Group, and has been unveiled ahead of the CES technology convention in Las Vegas – where the technology has been recognised as an innovation champion for the 2024 show for outstanding design and engineering.

The annual trade show, which attracts around 100,000 attendees and some of the biggest tech firms in the world unveiling new products, officially opens on Tuesday.

Etc plans to upgrade near end-of-life green street cabinets as EV charging points to extend their usefulness.

The firm said it would consider a range of technical, commercial and operational points to establish if the scheme could be rolled out more widely.

Tom Guy, Etc chief executive, said: “Our new charging solution is a huge step in bringing EV charging kerbside and exploring how we can address key barriers customers are currently facing.

“Working closely with local councils in Scotland and more widely across the UK, we are at a critical stage of our journey in tackling a very real customer problem that sits at the heart of our wider purpose to connect for good.”

“This is a key step in our mission to build products and services right now that work for the future, with positive transformation at the heart.”

Etc also announced it was scaling an app-based solution for remote health care in the north of England, which enables clinicians to monitor patients and identify the risk of serious cardiovascular events.

Previously piloted among just over 1,000 patients, it is now to be trialled among 228,000 people based in Warrington, Cheshire.

The app involves patients uploading their vitals and biometrics for clinicians to monitor, identify and reduce or manage cardiovascular disease using early monitoring and pre-emptive intervention.

A Government target for electric car chargers near motorways has been missed, new analysis shows.

The Department for Transport (DfT) set an ambition for there to be at least six rapid or ultra-rapid chargers at every motorway service area in England by the end of 2023.

But just 46 out of 119 sites (39%) meet the target, according to RAC analysis of data from charger locator service Zapmap.

That is up from 23% at the end of April.

Four locations – Leicester Forest on both sides of the M1, Tebay South on the M6 and Barton Park on the A1(M) – have no charging facilities whatsoever.

Rapid charge points can add 100 miles of range to an electric vehicle (EV) in around 35 minutes.

They are seen as crucial to encouraging more motorists who make long journeys to switch from petrol or diesel to electric.

A DfT document from March 2022 stated that “many operators” of motorway services had “embraced the ambition” to install six high-powered chargers by the end of 2023, with “over 70%” of locations having a plan to deliver this.

It added: “We will continue to work with site operators to ensure that every site is reached.”

The document stated that a £950 million rapid charging fund would support the rollout of these chargepoints across England’s motorways and major A roads.

The fund was set to be available for applications from spring 2023 but has not been opened.

A £70 million pilot scheme for up to 10 motorway service areas and a consultation on the wider fund were launched in November last year.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s clear from our research that the Government has fallen well short of its target of having six high-powered chargers at every motorway service area in England.

“There is undoubtedly an eagerness among chargepoint companies and motorway service operators to install these types of units but unfortunately, it’s often the high-power cabling to the grid that’s the major barrier which is out of their hands.

“More clearly needs to be done to make this process simpler than it is currently.

“Hopefully once the Government’s rapid charging fund kicks fully into action, some of these hurdles will be overcome.

“We continue to believe that the wide availability of ultra-rapid charging is crucial in giving both current and future EV drivers confidence to know they can easily make journeys beyond the range of their vehicles in a time-efficient way.”

A DfT spokeswoman said: “The number of public chargepoints is surging across the country and around 96% of motorway services now offer charging facilities for drivers.

“As well as our £70 million pilot to help roll out ultra-rapid chargepoints on motorways, we are driving forward the biggest reforms to our electricity grid since the 1950s – halving the time it takes to build networks, and speeding up connections.”

Workers at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action in a row over plans to reduce a backlog of driving tests.

More than 1,900 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union in England, Wales and Scotland backed action by 90.5% on a turnout of 59.21%.

Strike dates will be announced in due course.

The union said its members, who carry out driving tests and approve people to be driving instructors, are in dispute with management over plans to reduce the tests backlog.

A programme being driven by Transport Secretary Mark Harper poses “significant safety risks” to test candidates and examiners, as well as an erosion of staff’s terms and conditions, the union claimed.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “To recover a backlog of tests that was their own making, Mark Harper and management in the DVSA have demonstrated that they are willing not only to jeopardise our members’ safety and attack their terms and conditions.

“They are also showing scant regard for safety standards for driving test candidates.

“This huge ballot result for PCS members at the DVSA indicates that that they are prepared to take highly disruptive strike action across England, Wales and Scotland to protect the integrity of the driving test and their existing terms and conditions.

“Although they desperately want to see a reduction in waiting times, our members will not tolerate paying the price for political stunts and managerial failings that threaten to further undermine this vital public service.”

DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder said: “DVSA colleagues do an outstanding job in helping to keep our roads safe.

“We are working hard to reduce waiting times, which includes employing new driving examiners on flexible contracts with weekend hours.

“The safety of driving examiners, customers and all road users is hugely important, and we always assess and reduce any risks. We will not tolerate any form of abuse.

“It is disappointing that the PCS ballot supports industrial action. We remain open to talks with PCS to find a resolution.

“We will update customers on any impact as soon as we have more information.”

Most drivers put themselves in danger during motorway breakdowns, a survey suggests.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of motorists said they would stand in front of or next to their car, an RAC poll indicated.

One in 10 (11%) respondents said they would stay in their vehicle.

The RAC warned that these actions put people at risk in the event of another driver colliding with their broken-down vehicle.

Only a fifth (22%) of those surveyed said they would follow safety guidance, which is to stand to the rear of their vehicle and as far as possible from traffic, ideally behind a barrier.

If someone cannot easily get out, they should keep their seatbelt on and call 999.

Reports from nearly 200 RAC patrols revealed that 78% of drivers they have assisted on motorways were still in their vehicles when they arrived.

RAC patrols James Pallister and Glen Johnson have created a video to demonstrate what people should do when they break down on a motorway.

Mr Pallister, who is based in North East, said: “Increasingly, when we arrive at the scene of a motorway breakdown we find members still inside their vehicles, or standing next to or in front of them – two of the most dangerous places to be with vehicles approaching at fast speeds.”

Mr Johnson, who works in north-west England, said: “Standing in the wrong place can be the difference between staying safe and being seriously injured, or worse.

“Our number one priority is ensuring our members stay safe on the roads, so we’re always looking for new ways to communicate the right thing to do after breaking down.”

RAC spokeswoman Alice Simpson said: “In cold wet weather, it’s very tempting for anyone who breaks down on a motorway to stay in their cars.

“Sadly, we know from experience this is absolutely the wrong thing to do unless for some reason you aren’t able to get out of the vehicle.

“This is why we are always reminding people to pack plenty of layers, good waterproof clothing and sturdy footwear so they can keep warm while they wait for help.”

Drivers who get into difficulties on motorways are advised to pull over onto the hard shoulder, or an emergency refuge area if on a smart motorway without a hard shoulder.

The safety of people whose vehicles have broken down has been central to the debate over smart motorways.

Derek Jacobs, 83, died when his van was hit by a car on the M1 near Sheffield in March 2019 after he had stopped in the live inside lane following a tyre blow-out and got out of his vehicle.

The front seat passenger in the Ford Ka that hit the van, Charles Scripps, 78, died in hospital two months after the collision.

– The survey of 1,900 UK drivers was carried out for the RAC by research company Online95 between October 18 and 29. The figures were weighted to be nationally representative.

The blowing up of an ultra low emission zone (Ulez) camera was “grotesquely irresponsible”, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s spokesman said.

Counter-terror police are leading an investigation after the camera was damaged in an explosion in Sidcup, south-east London, on Wednesday night.

The incident, which is not being treated as terrorism, is believed to have been a “deliberate act”, according to the Metropolitan Police.

A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “This grotesquely irresponsible behaviour puts both lives and property at risk.

“Police are rightly investigating this dangerous and reckless act.”

Mr Khan’s decision to expand the Ulez area to cover the whole of London from August 29 has sparked a surge in vandalism of the scheme’s cameras, which use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to identify vehicles.

People who drive in the Ulez area in a vehicle that does not meet minimum emissions standards are liable for a £12.50 daily fee.

The Metropolitan Police said a “low-sophistication improvised explosive device (IED)” damaged a camera in Willersley Avenue, Sidcup, at around 6.45pm on Wednesday.

No-one was injured but vehicles and a residential property also suffered damage.

The camera, which was installed earlier that day, was cut down around one-and-a-half hours before the explosion.

Detectives are “keeping an open mind as to whether or not there is a connection between the camera being cut down and the planting of the explosive device”, the Metropolitan Police said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry said: “It is extremely concerning that an explosive device seems to have been deliberately placed in a public place.

“This could have very easily resulted in members of the public being very seriously injured.

“Because of the seriousness of this incident, we are making urgent inquiries to try and identify anyone involved, and officers with specialist expertise and capability from our Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation.

“This was an extremely dangerous incident that could have resulted in innocent members of the public being injured or worse.

“If you have any information that could assist our investigation, then I would urge you to get in touch immediately.”

The remains of an IED are being forensically examined and officers are examining CCTV footage from the area.

No arrests have been made.

Police are advising anyone who sees “suspicious activity or a suspicious device on or nearby to a Ulez” camera not to approach it and to call 999 immediately.

Figures released by the Met in November showed nearly 1,000 crimes linked to Ulez cameras being stolen or vandalised have been recorded in the past seven months.