Engineers link reduced lifespan of roads to shift to heavier cars, some bought to navigate damaged surfaces
Drivers who choose SUVs are compounding the pothole problem, experts have warned, as research showed hundreds of thousands of people bought bigger cars to navigate damaged roads.
Scientists said the cumulative effect of increasing numbers of heavier vehicles was a contributory factor in Britain’s potholes getting worse.
SUVs made up more than half of the 2m new cars sold in the UK last year, and a smaller but growing proportion of the 7m secondhand cars sold.
Recent polling showed almost one in eight drivers in parts of the country, including London and Yorkshire, had chosen to buy an SUV or heavier car partly due to concerns about road conditions.
