Bad road surfaces and tragedies

[irc]

Around here , Glasgow area, it is often a case of choosing which potholes to drive over. I often end up with the offside wheels on the other side of the road as there is no path through the potholes while staying in my lane.

Cycling is OK, in daylight.

[mattsccm]

I am not saying that we shouldn't be entitled to decent road surfaces but that isn't going to happen.
I do feel that we should and almost universally can ride in accordance with road surfaces. If you cannot be sure slow down. Same as if a you were in a car driving into blinding sun for example. If you cannot stop in your visible distance you are going to fast. Actually I think that we all do this and make our own level of risk acceptance.
No where near as it should be but we have a choice. Take some responsibiity which we shouldn't have to take or not take it and face the consequences. Moaning, something that I am as happy as the next person to do, solves nowt. Bit of a Hobsons choice maybe?

[ANTONISH]

I am not saying that we shouldn't be entitled to decent road surfaces but that isn't going to happen.
I do feel that we should and almost universally can ride in accordance with road surfaces. If you cannot be sure slow down. Same as if a you were in a car driving into blinding sun for example. If you cannot stop in your visible distance you are going to fast. Actually I think that we all do this and make our own level of risk acceptance.
No where near as it should be but we have a choice. Take some responsibiity which we shouldn't have to take or not take it and face the consequences. Moaning, something that I am as happy as the next person to do, solves nowt. Bit of a Hobsons choice maybe?

As things are road surfaces will keep deteriorating into the future to the point where one would need an off road vehicle to progress.
For someone who remembers the quality of the road surface in the fifties it's a sad -not to say dangerous state of affairs.
There is a serious cost to the country in allowing this state of affairs to continue.
The decline has been going on for at least fifty years but in that time huge amounts of money was spent in increasing the motorway network.
That has also been badly maintained.
Compared to our european neighbours our road standards are very poor - even worse than South Africa as I was surprised to observe a few years ago.

[cycle tramp]

As things are road surfaces will keep deteriorating into the future to the point where one would need an off road vehicle to progress.
For someone who remembers the quality of the road surface in the fifties it's a sad -not to say dangerous state of affairs.
There is a serious cost to the country in allowing this state of affairs to continue.
The decline has been going on for at least fifty years but in that time huge amounts of money was spent in increasing the motorway network.
That has also been badly maintained.
Compared to our european neighbours our road standards are very poor - even worse than South Africa as I was surprised to observe a few years ago.

Rather alot has happened in the 70 years, including
(I) the increasing size of the road network - as new houses, factories and shops were built to accommodate the growing population and then the road network constructed to service them
(II) increasing amount of road traffic
(III) increasing amount of freight movement by road
(IV) the decline of the national rail network
(V) the increasing size & weight of cars, lorries, tractors
(VI) the changes in how local roads are financed, from local authorities (with support from central government) to local government without further support against a back drop of increasing demands on other services like adult and end of life social care

Whilst there is a decline in how the roads are maintained its viewed against a back drop of increasing use, by heavier vehicles, across a wider network with funds during capped or even made not available due to other demands.
Whilst we can blame the government for all or any or none of this, we have to remember that we actually voted some of them in, in the first place. Complaining on an electronic forum about the state of the roads is no use if we won't or can't be bothered to carry those same concerns to the ballot boxes on a national and local level