Pothole season has arrived across New York, with cracked and crumbling pavement creating large holes in roads and parking lots. Anyone who hits one of these potholes with their vehicles could do some major damage.
"Even going down a 30 mile per hour street, for example, when you hit a decent sized pothole, that's gonna jar your whole wheel well area, not just your tires, but any suspension components," said Richard Yauger, a fleet operations associate manager for AAA of Western and Central New York. "Could definitely chip or damage your rim area, control arm struts."
At least half the roadside calls to AAA right now involves potholes, according to Yauger, and he said it’s not surprising considering the rough winter we’ve been having.
"The moisture seeping into the cracks of the roads and that causes them to expand and contract," he said. "And the thawing, it gets a little warmer, then it freezes again. And then just overall plow traffic. The plow is eating up the roads, it definitely adds up. It takes a toll."
The best advice is to avoid driving over a pothole, if at all possible. But Yauger said even hitting a pothole in a parking lot can cause major damage to a vehicle.
"So if it's like a parking lot pot hole, and you're turning your steering wheel getting ready to pull on your parking spot you hit that just right that could eat up your rim instead of making a small puncture in the tire and making the tire repairable, it could make it not repairable, and you'd have to buy a whole new tire," he said.
AAA advises drivers to make sure tires are in good shape, and then scan the road for potholes. If you hit one, and then hear or feel any new or unusual noises or vibrations, it may be time for a trip to a mechanic.
