Potholes are 'scaring' learners

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Driving instructors are being forced to re-route and restructure lessons to account for poor road surfaces, it has been revealed.

Instructors are having to help learners anticipate potholes and deal with obstacles, which could damage the car and drive up already high car insurance premiums for new drivers.

A survey by the AA suggested there are up to 1.5 million potholes on the roads in the UK.

AA instructors have revealed incidents of learners suffering tyre blow-outs as a result of deep potholes, and highlighted a growing need to use dual controls as learners swerve into traffic to avoid them.

One driving instructor actually broke her leg after stepping out into a pothole and had to spend four months out of work.

AA president Edmund King said: "The fabric of our local roads is a major cause for concern with surfaces crumbling and drivers at risk of damaging their vehicles and even themselves.

Ultimately we all pay more through patching and mending, and then paying out compensation rather than fixing the underlying poor condition of many of our roads."

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