Pothole Patrol paving the way for safer roads

It is also estimated that to repair potholes, the country spends an estimated R700 - R1 599/per square meter; and as all road users know, there are frustrations and driving pressures that come with trying to navigate around potholes.

The South African National Treasury records show that our country's road network comprises over 750 000 km of roads and streets. Based on the reports received by authority bodies, it is roughly estimated that the country has between 48 000 and 100 000 potholes to attend to at any given period of time.

What causes potholes?

The underlying causes of potholes varies - and in many instances, as a result of a combination of factors. These can include factors such as:

• The road surface is repeatedly exposed to extreme weather conditions involving water.
• Poor road maintenance.
• The road experiences high volumes of load-bearing traffic on a consistent basis.

Exposure to high temperatures over time can result in the formation of cracks in the tar. These then widen and during periods of rain, water seeps in. This erodes the consistency of the underlying layers beneath the tar, which is typically a mix of gravel and crushed rock. The erosion process causes a loss of strength and the affected area collapses, resulting in a hole.

The edges erode further the longer the area is exposed to weather elements, high volumes of traffic and even poor road maintenance; becoming bigger and more damaging for road users.

Introducing the Pothole Patrol - the joint partnership set to make a marked difference

Discovery Insure is now in partnership with The City of Joburg and Dialdirect Insurance to begin managing the repair of potholes across Johannesburg. For Discovery Insure, in particular, this unique data-driven initiative is angled at aligning with a broader purpose - enhancing and protecting people's lives. It also encourages more South Africans to become part of the Vitality Drive programme that aims to create a nation of great drivers.

Ultimately, this effort boils down to making more of our roads safer to use, more often - one pothole repair at a time. By sufficiently fixing road infrastructure in this way, this joint partnership will effectively contribute to reducing the severity and prevalence of road accidents that occur as a result of pothole involvement. For insured and uninsured road users alike, the Pothole Patrol team is set to make a positive difference that can truly impact the lives of road users in a positive way.

"We're proud to support the Joburg Roads Agency with this important initiative. We have no doubt that it will make our roads safer for everyone," says Discovery Insure Chief Executive Officer, Anton Ossip.

"Since the launch of Discovery Insure 10 years ago, we've endeavoured to push the limits and do things differently. We wanted to make people safer; we wanted to be more proactive about risk rather than reactive; and we wanted to share value with the broader society, as part of our ambition to positively impact the lives of people with whom we share our country's roads," he adds.

"We all know just how damaging, and even dangerous, potholes can be for road users. As a business, the collective impact of this hits close to home - and we're always on the lookout for ways we can make a positive difference through initiatives that align with our core purpose of enhancing and protecting lives. Through shared-value, repairing potholes is just one way we can make a difference," Ossip explains further.

A significant benefit that Discovery Insure brings to this initiative is the ability to identify potholes through the use of an extensive telematics data asset. To date, the business has collected over 14 billion km of data, which will be used to help prioritise which potholes to fix first.

"Discovery Insure will make available to the programme our significant statistical insights about road conditions, which is collected through telematics data that measures how vehicles are driven and can infer the condition of the road as a result," Ossip adds. "We will do this as a joint initiative with our partners at Dialdirect."

"In due course, we'll be launching a smartphone / mobile app for all Johannesburg residents to report potholes; but in the interim, we are requesting that potholes be reported to hotline@jra.org.za."