Holier than thou
I have a French friend living near me in Kent. A few weeks ago we did a 'cheese and wine' trip to Ardres near Calais. We saw hardly any potholes, when they get the same weather as us in Kent. He explained that whereas the County town of Maidstone looks after the roads in our small village about 35 miles away, in France the local mayor (our equivalent I guess would be Chairman of the Parish Council) has responsibility and is given the funds for his parish. He knows where the problems are and it is a matter of pride that 'his' roads are kept in good order. David Cameron has promised to de-centralise, let's hope he keeps his word and gives powers to local people rather than 'faceless' bureaucrats in far off places.
Asked on 24 July 2010 by DH, via email
Answered by
Honest John
The same point was made recently by Richard Yarrow on the launch of the BMW F10 5-Series. We drove from Pau through the Pyrenees to Pamplona and back. The roads were all in fantastic condition, despite recent snows. Same last year on the launch of the Jaguar XF 3.0 diesel in France. Perfect roads, perfectly cleared, snow everywhere else. What has happened in the UK is that taxpayers money has been diverted into hairbrained 'traffic calming' schemes (that have made fortunes for council contractors) and the effect of these schemes, especially humps and speed cushions, has been to damage the structure of the roads from vehicles constantly pounding over them. We can only hope that our new regime will see the utter stupidity of this. Brown wasn't interested because, unlike 30 million voters, he can't drive.
Similar questions
Here, in Solihull, the local Council members are great fans of speed humps. My observation of local roads, so afflicted, is that drivers no longer slow down for them with the result that residents suffer...
There is a very quick, and often effective way of reporting potholes, dangerous "traffic calming features" etc. Just enter the details into the website www.fixmystreet.com and they pass it on to whichever...
A friend tried to contact the local Director of Roads in order to complain about the condition of the road surfaces locally. He also wanted to bring to his attention an accident he had witnessed in which...
Related models
Brilliant ride and handling, powerful and efficient diesel engines, upmarket interior, very safe, lots on the used market.
Elsewhere on 
