As local and national elections loom, several motoring organisations have drawn up policy wish lists.

These hope to prompt the electorate to demand more policy action.

They hope this will encourage politicians, parties, and potential incumbents to make commitments.

The AA is the latest to launch its motoring manifesto – ‘Creating Confidence for
Drivers’

Driving forward

AA’s manifesto has been introduced to voice the issues troubling drivers, according to its own research.

  • 96% of members identified the quality of roads as their top issue
  • 81% want smart motorways to be scrapped
  • 72% back graduated driving licences limiting the number of passengers
  • 69% fear rising motoring taxes
  • 65% want improvements around EV infrastructure.

Five key policy areas

Support: addressing costs for motorists through a fuel duty freeze, better fuel price transparency and reduced Insurance Premium Tax.

Sustainability: delivering incentives, infrastructure and information to drive the switch to zero-emission vehicles.

Smoother journeys: addressing the pothole crisis with ring-fenced funds and using technology for more permanent repairs while also scrapping smart motorways.

Safety: increasing road policing and introducing graduated licences such as restricting passengers for six months after passing their test

Strengthening the industry: more significant investment in innovation and skills and introducing regulation around access to vehicle data to improve the safety, convenience, running costs and environment via connected car services.

Time for changes

The AA and its members want local and central governments to urgently address the pothole crisis.

Despite promises of extra funding to start tackling the backlog of repairs and maintenance, most local authorities need more funds to carry out the work.

Luckily, a mild winter has slowed the degradation of road surfaces.

Still, the problems are so endemic that the bill to repair the backlog is put at around £16bn, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) annual report.

Ring-fenced funds and the use of technology for more permanent repairs are called for.

Current budget spot repairs instigated over recent years need to be stopped and replaced with longer-term resurfacing.

Another headline commitment is the scrapping of what it describes as the failed experiment of ‘smart’ motorways.

This issue hit the headlines last week with another BBC Panorama investigation finding a wide-scale failure of safety equipment and technology.

The manifesto also calls for action in terms of road deaths through setting clear targets, increased road policing and addressing the tragedy of new driver deaths through graduated licences.Graduated licensing has hit the headlines over the last month with demands from road safety professionals and parents of young drivers and passengers killed by young driver actions.