The Cost of Not Fixing Street Potholes in 2023

Potholes have formed everywhere due to the recent harsh winter weather conditions, posing a real hazard to residents, commuters and business owners alike.

AAA reports that one out of ten drivers who hit a pothole experienced damage significant enough to require immediate repair, including flat tires, bent rims and vehicle alignment issues.

1. Damage to Vehicles

Since winter thawing has occurred across America, roads across the nation are currently filled with potholes. While these craters may be annoying, their damage could cost car owners billions every year according to research by QuoteWizard.

Problematic water seeping beneath pavement creates voids that grow larger as the ground freezes and thaws throughout winter, creating an ever-repeating cycle of heave, push, and settle that eventually wears away at road surfaces until eventually collapse creates potholes in their path.

Pothole repair should be undertaken promptly - before they grow too large to ignore. Otherwise, any small bump could cause your tires to lose grip and either burst or strike against your vehicle wheel, leading to costly repairs and even potentially hazardous accidents.

One thousand of the annual 33,000 traffic deaths can be linked back to poor road conditions - potholes included. Poor road conditions cause drivers to swerve out of control, leading to head-on collisions or other unsafe crashes. Even if a crash does not occur, impact from hitting a pothole can still cause severe injury to all passengers in your vehicle; including broken bones, whiplash injuries, concussions, spinal cord trauma and internal hemorrhages.

At high speeds, hitting a pothole at higher speeds can damage both brakes and suspension systems, leading to costly and inconvenient repairs that add up over time.

Notably, with enough evidence and documentation in hand, you may be eligible to file a claim with your city for reimbursement if pothole-related damage to your car occurs. In order to do this successfully, take photographs or videos showing both the damage and your car as well as receiving estimates from at least two mechanics on repair costs.

When running a business with heavy customer traffic, parking on lots full of potholes should not be an option. Not only would this look awful but customers could potentially damage their cars and sue you!

2. Damage to Property

Potholes are an epidemic on America's roads. These tiny cracks in pavement are responsible for billions in vehicle damage and many highway deaths; and their presence only worsens during warmer temperatures when winter weather thaws out, leaving an army of car-crushing potholes behind.

These holes occur when water seeps beneath the surface of a road, freezes and then thaws repeatedly, repeatedly stressing its surface until it cracks open into chunks and holes. As traffic drives over these gaps, their pieces grow larger until eventually too much force can keep the asphalt together to hold together.

As potholes increase in size, they present greater risks to drivers and pedestrians alike. Drivers struck by large potholes can be forced off the road, potentially losing control of their vehicles and risking suspension damage or an accident; pedestrians who walk over unrepaired potholes are at greater risk of tripping and falling - potentially injuring themselves in the process.

Even when drivers take precautionary steps to avoid potholes, potholes can still cause costly vehicle damage. Just one accidental jolt from hitting a pothole could ruin a vehicle's alignment, necessitating costly mechanical repairs or even total loss. These issues can be avoided by quickly repairing potholes when they appear.

If your vehicle was affected by a pothole, contact the appropriate road jurisdiction to file a claim and get repair estimates from at least two mechanics. Remember that municipalities only accept liability for damage caused by defects that they know about either through workers spotting them themselves or from people reporting them directly to authorities.

Potholes present an immediate risk to customers visiting business locations. Failure to fix them promptly puts your customers at risk of injury or property damage that could lead to lawsuits; plus an unsightly parking lot full of potholes won't attract new ones!

3. Damage to the Environment

Traffic's constant movement across weak pavement surfaces can deteriorate them into potholes, damaging not only the road surface but also exposing vehicles beneath to additional wear and tear, including tire swelling that leads to loss of grip on the roadway and suspension damage. Therefore, it's crucial that potholes are repaired as soon as they appear in order to limit further car damage and prevent additional expenses for repair work later on.

Potholes present serious hazards to vehicles at high speeds, requiring costly suspension repairs to protect against damage to suspension components. Swerving to avoid them may put your life and others at risk by potentially driving into oncoming traffic or losing control.

Potholes can increase fuel consumption by encouraging drivers to speed up in order to navigate around them or hit the brakes suddenly, increasing engine temperatures due to friction from breaking and acceleration that burns gas faster than usual, possibly damaging alignment and tires in the process.

Pothole repairs should be completed as quickly as possible to reduce emissions, according to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, who have conducted various local government case studies that highlight more environmentally friendly approaches such as using recycled material for road resurfacing or conducting long-life binder trials.

Potholes can have serious repercussions for business owners and visitors. A customer who visits your store or restaurant and discovers its parking lot full of potholes will likely leave without coming back, or will complain about it on social media - this is certainly not what you want for word-of-mouth advertising about your company!

Oakland's EBMUD provides an app where residents can report potholes and other street issues; Robert Prinz from Bike East Bay has reported more than 50 requests through Oakland 311 to fix potholes; it helps maintenance crews recognize them faster.

4. Damage to the Economy

Recent Arctic blast and winter-like thaw has left roads across America littered with potholes. These dangerous craters can damage cars and result in costly repairs for drivers; moreover, they pose safety risks that may necessitate expensive lawsuits for businesses; finding quick and cost-effective methods of fixing potholes quickly is key for both motorists and business owners alike.

Political realities often play a decisive role when it comes to allocating budget for road maintenance, determining which roads receive funds for repair. Each city has their own formula for allocating these funds - most prioritize streets with poor condition or heavy traffic loads as the top priorities - though that approach doesn't always take race and socioeconomic status into account - for instance a recent Oakland study discovered that low-income neighborhoods like Fruitvale suffered most from subpar roads.

Potholes can cost drivers over $300 in repairs to their tires, rims and suspension. That amount can be especially troubling for low-income households that struggle to make ends meet each month and an unexpected expense could push them further into debt. Furthermore, those of lower economic status tend to miss work when their car becomes disabled by bad roads resulting in lost income from being unable to use their car as they normally would.

Though potholes cannot be completely prevented, improved planning and monitoring of roads can make a difference. Local governments can invest in road maintenance using innovative tools that detect cracks before they turn into potholes; such tools are more cost-effective and effective than their traditional counterparts.

Comprehensive street care programs could save taxpayers billions in repairs and maintenance costs, yet political obstacles remain an obstacle. Frustrated citizens will continue to file lawsuits over damaged vehicles and bankrupt businesses; until such time, people should report road issues immediately so they can avoid the financial and personal harm that results from waiting too long to fix a pothole.