Frustrations are growing among New Zealand motorists as potholes continue to pop up all across the country.
This week, Central Tyre and Automotive manager Ryan Merson told AM his Taranaki garage on Friday alone fixed between 30 and 40 cars with rims and tyres wrecked by potholes in the region.
Following the interview with Merson, AM's email inbox was flooded with furious messages about the state of New Zealand's roads - with Taranaki locals saying they're having to cross centrelines to avoid potholes.
"I've lived in Europe and the [United] States and only in Detroit have I seen worse roads," one email said.
Automobile Association (AA) road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said the frustration was unprecedented.
"I've been at the AA 12 years and I've never experienced anything like this," he told AM on Thursday.
From the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South, people want to vent their frustration about the poor state of New Zealand's roads, Thomsen said.
"What I hear most often from people is, 'The roads have never been this bad' - or that they've just never seen the roads in this sort of state so people are really concerned.
"We survey our members - the quality of the roads is the number one concern and, earlier this year, it was up to 68 percent of AA members were really concerned about the quality of our roads - and I think that number would be even higher if we did that survey again now."
But the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi was blaming a wild winter for the current state of the country's roads. AM asked Waka Kotahi to appear for an interview on Thursday but the agency instead provided a statement.
"Water and roads don't mix, and this winter we have seen it all: rain, surface flooding, swollen rivers, king tides and more rain. Cracked roads allow water to penetrate a road’s surface, causing it to crack and break, which then creates potholes," the statement said.
"Heavy rain and weather events also make repairs extremely challenging, both on state highways and on local roads. Rain can cause temporary fills to blow out, while also creating new potholes and making existing potholes larger.
"Despite the challenges, maintaining our roads safely is a top priority for Waka Kotahi, with $2.8 billion being invested to maintain and operate the country's 11,000km of State Highways through the 2021-2024 National Land Transport Programme."
While Waka Kotahi said pothole repairs were carried out through its State Highway maintenance programme, Thomsen said the AA had been concerned about the country's road conditions for years.
"We need to actually get on top of this now because these potholes, they're like a slow leak - if we don't fix them now, it just snowballs and leads to bigger and more costly work down the track," he said. "We've been underinvesting in road maintenance for a number of years now and, obviously, fixing potholes is one thing… I think the bigger and more important thing is actually investing enough so we don't have as many potholes developing."
Watch the video for the full interview with Dylan Thomsen.
