How to avoid damage when hitting a pothole
The long delays to the Daytona 500 last weekend are an abrupt reminder that bumpy season is just around the corner. To avoid considerable repair costs, it is crucial to know how to go through potholes and how best to react after doing so.
If you’re driving at a fast enough speed that you can’t avoid hitting a pothole, there are a few things you need to do before impact to prevent unnecessary damage to your car.
Although it may sound simple, the best thing to do before hitting a pothole is to slow down. Many drivers subscribe to the theory that one can avoid a pothole by flying over it at high speed, but unfortunately the laws of gravity rarely allow this theory to come into play.
After slowing down your vehicle to the best of your ability, be sure to take your foot off the brake before impact.
“That will seriously increase the damage,” said Larry Rubenstein, owner of Route 1 Auto Service in Peabody, Massachusetts, quoted by Boston.com. “Now, in addition to the wall stopping the wheel, your brakes also stop it. You’ll have to get over the pothole.”
Also, to avoid losing control of your vehicle, be sure to hold the steering wheel firmly with both hands before hitting a pothole.
“Hitting a pothole when you have a loose grip on the steering wheel can cause the steering wheel to break to the left or right, and your car against another car or off the road,” says Rich White, executive director of the Car Care Council. , cited by AOL Autos.
In the meantime, after hitting a pothole, it’s important to do a quick quality check of your vehicle’s major systems. If your car is moving one way or the other, you may have an alignment problem, a common thing after a violent impact.
“Also, if you feel a loss of control, if you feel the car bottoming out or bouncing excessively on rough roads, those are indicators that the steering and suspension may have been damaged,” adds White.
If your car is damaged, contact your insurance company to see if it is covered. Local and state-maintained highways have different statutes on public responsibility.
