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Potholes must be solved and smart motorways abolished, says the AA in its latest motoring manifesto, to which almost 12,000 of its members responded.
It has today launched its motoring manifesto to reveal the problems that drivers believe need to be solved most urgently.
To create “driver confidence”, the motoring organization believes a “gradual licensing” system needs to be implemented, along with much better road maintenance, the removal of smart motorways and better infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Ahead of the upcoming local and mayoral elections, and a pending general election, five critical areas of action were highlighted to address motorist concerns: driver support, sustainable future, smoother travel, safer roads and strengthening the industry.
Potholes are causing a real problem on roads across the country and councils are constantly under pressure to allocate more funding to improve road surface quality.
Road maintenance: pothole crisis
Road maintenance was the most critical area when it came to drivers in the survey, with 96 per cent of AA members saying road management is the top transport issue.
The national pothole crisis was estimated to cost drivers almost half a billion pounds last year, with the AA reporting more than 600,000 pothole-related incidents in 2023.
The AA wants the Government to shield local road maintenance funding from the unveiled £8.3bn HS2 allocation, increasing and accelerating spending in England in the first three years.
Local authorities are urged to limit the practice of temporary pothole repairs or patches and, where possible, all potholes or patches that need to be repaired permanently.
Road safety: abolish smart motorways
Four in five 81 motorists want “smart” motorways scrapped, according to the manifesto.
In 2023, Rishi Sunak canceled all future smart motorway projects due to financial pressures and a lack of public confidence in these “smart” roads.
The AA is calling on the Government to reinstate the hard shoulder on existing smart motorway projects using dynamic hard shoulder technology.
The RAC also separately urged the Government to reclaim the verges earlier this month.
Currently, the congestion benefits of smart motorways are being lost, with more than a third of drivers not using the inside lane for fear of vehicles ahead breaking down, and any incident causing serious congestion and delays. for emergency services to reach the scene of the accident. .
A ‘graduate driving licence’ would make newly qualified drivers unable to drive their peers for six months after passing their practical test.
New drivers: introduce graduate licenses
Nearly three-quarters of drivers think a graduated license that limits the number of passengers is a good idea.
A graduated driving license (GDL) would limit newly qualified drivers in some areas, including not having fellow passengers for six months, a policy backed by the AA Driving School and the AA Trust.
Save drivers money
Around seven in 10 respondents believe road tax will rise and in July 2022, the AA found that almost two-thirds of motorists were driving less or cutting back on spending due to record petrol prices.
With young people and families feeling the biggest impact, the AA wants to maintain the current freeze on fuel taxes and improve the transparency of fuel prices.
The new ‘Pumpwatch’ scheme where fuel stations will be legally obliged to share live information about their pump prices within 30 minutes of any change, is backed by the AA.
With 87 per cent opposed to increasing taxes on petrol and diesel cars, the AA wants vehicle excise duty (VED) for electric vehicles to remain lower than those for fuel cars to incentivize their adoption.
It also calls for a 25 per cent reduction in Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) across the board and a 50 per cent reduction for new drivers to help those hit by disproportionately high premiums and facing being priced out of the market. .
Expanding and improving electric vehicle charging was very important to respondents: 65 percent wanted better infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Switch to electric vehicles: improve infrastructure and information
Much of the AA’s manifesto is dedicated to electric vehicles and the transition to all-electric driving.
The AA found that charging was most important to drivers, with 65 per cent wanting better infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Ways to achieve this include reducing VAT for on-street collection from 20 per cent to 5 per cent to match at-home collection.
The Government was widely criticized for its refusal to listen to the industry-wide campaign on “fair taxes for a just transition” and reduce taxes on electric vehicles, particularly VAT, in its spring budget.
The AA wants more attention to be paid to electric vehicle infrastructure, from greater use of public premises for night-time charging and speeding up planning and connecting to the grid, to supporting charging station operators (CPO) incorporating the load into the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).
The RTFO is a government body that supports the decarbonisation of transport and the move to renewable fuels.
And better communication about the switch to electric is very important: 81 percent of AA members want the organization to actively challenge misinformation about electric vehicles, and 75 percent want AA to do so by providing accurate information .
In response, the AA wants the Government to consider reinstating the joint industry-government Go Ultra Low information and advertising campaign.
Edmund King, president of the AA, added: ‘The AA manifesto is supported by surveys of our members.
‘We know that permanently fixing potholes is the number one issue, but we also know that drivers want measures to eliminate ‘smart’ motorways, improve safety for new drivers and receive more incentives and guarantees before switching to vehicles with zero emissions.
‘Our message to all parties is “motorsport issues.”
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