Road repairs which have not been done are costing drivers and insurers millions of pounds in windscreen damage, Autoglass has warned. It estimates that roads being in a poor state of repair results in the majority of its 1.1 million jobs each year.
The windscreen repair and replacement specialist said it is calling on the government to invest in making roads safer.
Managing director Ian Carlisle said: "We're now driving on some of the worst roads in Europe. Every day motorists come to us with their windscreens damaged by debris which has flown off poor road surfaces.
"The state of our roads is getting worse and motorists and insurers are paying for it with damaged windscreens which could have been avoided if our roads were kept in a reasonable state of repair.
"In recent years, windscreen damage rates have been declining, but the combination of last year's weather which damaged many of our roads and the backlog of road repairs is costing insurance companies even more money."
Autoglass says it is also bringing this issue to the fore because of its impact on the environment - it estimates that 30,000 tonnes of damaged windscreen material are discarded each year in landfill sites.
