Industry News from Yes Insurance

As the Road Service agency prepares for the cold, wintry conditions ahead and the inevitable carriageway damage that it will bring, its chief executive Dr Malcolm McKibbin has warned Northern Ireland's motorists that the roads are "crumbling and treacherous".

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Dr McKibbin said that poor funding had led to the skid resistance of the roads dropping, with ten per cent of motorways and around 35 per cent of trunk roads at or below national skidding resistance levels.

The under-funded budget had meant that the Roads Service could only treat the road network to about 57 per cent of that recommended in national best practice guidelines.

It estimated that it would need £95 million to adequately maintain the roads, yet it was only given £45 million.

Dr McKibbin was quick to reassure motorists that the poor state of the highways would not result in more road fatalities, stating: "We are making the very best use of the funding available to us and there will be no reduction in defect repairs, street lighting, grass cutting, winter service and other safety related activities."

All road surfaces can become treacherous under wintry conditions and with extreme weather warnings arriving in the past week, motorists are advised to ensure they have sufficient breakdown cover in case of an accident.