Best practice guidance for the management of highway liability risk exposures has been revised and will be published early this year, the UK Roads Liaison Group (UKRLG) has announced.
Major changes are understood to include the introduction of a risk-based approach; authorities will be asked to look at their processes and systems and come up with their own minimum standards.
The new edition of the Highway Risk & Liability Guide updates the current edition, which was released in 2009.
'The document aims to provide a reference source and practical guidance on best practice in the management of highway liability risk exposures. In particular it will consider how to apply the principles of risk management and a risk-based approach to highway liability claims exposure,' the UKRLG said.
Last October, RAC Foundation research suggested drivers made at least 31,483 claims against councils for vehicle damage caused by poor road conditions in the last financial year.
This equates to a claim being submitted every seventeen minutes in 2015/16.
The cost of these claims runs to millions of pounds.
Councils only paid out in just over a quarter (26.9%) of cases, with the best authorities defending 85% to 90% of their claims.
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