The launch of the new fourth-generation Ford Focus with technology designed to cope with Britain’s increasingly potholed roads is a sad indictment of the deteriorating state of the local road network.
The new Focus has a range of new anti-pothole features including a new chassis, independent rear suspension and an innovative continuously controlled damping (CCD) system. Every two milliseconds sensors monitor and adjust the car’s suspension, body, steering and braking to ensure a smooth ride especially over badly maintained roads. Launching the new model this week Ford explained: “The technology helps reduce the impact of driving through potholes, by detecting the edge of a pothole and adjusting the damper so that the wheel doesn’t fall as far into it. Because the tyre and wheel don’t drop as far, they don’t strike the opposite side of the pothole as harshly. The rear suspension can respond even faster, with a signal from the front wheel providing a pre-warning to the rear wheel well before it reaches the pothole.”
The CCD system is one of a number of new safety features including speed-sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, automatic lane centring and parking assistance.
Whilst welcoming the new CCD safety feature, Howard Robinson, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) said: “It is a sad indictment of the state of our roads that a car manufacturer makes a selling point of anti-pothole safety technology. Unfortunately, the evidence of decades of under-investment in maintaining the local road network and the need for such safety features is very apparent.”
The RAC has reported that its patrols attended 11% more breakdowns that could be attributed to potholes in the last quarter of 2017 compared to that of 2016. A total of 2,380 RAC member breakdowns were due to potholed damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs or distorted wheels. Meanwhile, the latest AA-Populus poll of 21,000 drivers found that 52% have had their vehicles damaged as a result of poor road conditions in recent years. Worrying, 85% of those polled say that shoddy roads make them worry about their safety when behind the wheel.
Also of concern is the high cost to cash strapped local authorities. A series of Freedom of Information requests sent to local authorities by the charity Cycling UK found that English local authorities have paid out £43.3 million in pothole compensation over five years.
“Ford are to be commended on their new safety features”, said Robinson, “However, it is worrying that our deteriorating local road network make them so necessary.”