I was coming home from Sunday lunch several weeks ago, slight rain.

Normally drive this roadway in the center but a large truck was coming from the other direction, no problem, just move over where I belong (I thought). The rain had filled this pothole such that it was invisible until the THUD. Got home (@ 6 miles away) and heard a hiss. I guess the fact I got home is a blessing since the spare tire hadn’t been replaced after it self-destructed several months back.

Welp…the tire was destroyed, the wheel was bent.

So…two new front tires, new spare tire, FE alignment, new (used) front wheel.

Life is good.

wj


A hidden money pit when wet.



Be happy, you got home!

 

Gotta love those rain filled potholes!
I hit one with another car some years ago, thought I blew the tire. Pulled into an empty lot, saw the tire was still up (even though I got a whump-whump while driving. Limping home I hit another pothole with the same wheel!
So 2 bends in the wheel and a nice bulge in the sidewall. Fortunately found a place that could repair the wheel (2 others said no), as it was no longer made, and unable to locate a used one.

 

Most municipalities will cover costs due to poorly maintained roads. I hit a pothole once on a side street in a town of about 40k people, the city paid to have my wheel repaired. It was only a couple hundred bucks, but it was a good thing for me to not pay.

 

True. I filed a claim with my city, only to get a ‘denied’ letter several weeks later, claiming the state maintained that part of the road. Figured it was pointless to try a claim with the state, and ate the cost.

 

Ouch! That is indeed a Texas-sized money pit.

 

Been there done that twice. Once in Chicago on the lower level of Wacker Drive in 2007. And once in LA last summer on an approach to and on ramp to the NB 405 by the Howard Hughes Center. Neither of the cities would belly up.

 

We're plagued with potholes in the UK too.

More used to swinging a mike stand than a shovel, in March 2022 the veteran rock star Rod Stewart took to repairing potholes himself near his home in Harlow, Essex when he couldn't use his Ferrari.




Graham

 

New York City streets have been eating-up my tyres as fast as I replace them; one on the 59th Street Bridge, and another on the Transverse through Central Park. Three so far this year, one only a month old. Oh, the third developed a bubble and was fortunately covered by road hazard "insurance" from Mavis. Our low profile tyres aren't meant for these mean streets...
Good luck getting compensation from NYC DOT...

 

Simon & Garfunkel had some advice about that. Slow down you move too fast ......





In theory we can claim compensation for pohole damage from Local Authorities here in the UK but, just like NYC, good luck with that.

Graham

 

Paul Simon lives near me, maybe I can get him to 'regionalize' the feelin' groovy lyrics with a line about Comal County Country Roads!
wj

 

AKA driving in New York.