Meeting of the Parliament 19 December 2024
Many Scots will be driving to visit family and friends over Christmas. The RAC has warned that the next few days will be the busiest festive travel period in a decade. With such a high volume of motorists on the road network, I thank Pam Gosal for securing the time to debate the pothole emergency this afternoon—and it is an emergency.
It is one of those topics about which people say, “What are you talking about?” If someone asks what our last debate was about and you say, “Potholes”, they will ask, “Potholes?” but, actually, at the moment, everybody has a pothole story, either from their own experience or their family’s. Therefore, it is an issue, and it is an emergency right now. Constituents across the north-east raise the issue consistently.
Potholes are a menace. They are costing cash-strapped councils millions of pounds and they are costing drivers hundreds of pounds in repairs. This is during a cost of living crisis, so people feel that cost even more. Potholes can cause burst tyres, engine issues and even collisions. They can affect lives and livelihoods. This week, when I said that I was going to make a speech on potholes, one constituent told me that her son had written off his car, driving from Carnoustie to Arbroath, after going over a pothole at night, that she said he could not see. Fortunately, he was lucky and he survived, but too many other drivers and cyclists have been badly injured because of road defects.
Unfortunately, councils are trying to make up for shortfalls in funding, and they are having to magic up money that they simply do not have for repairs.