OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) – Driving in the rain is never fun and the weather isn’t making it any better for some people.
“The rain fills in the potholes so you really can see them when they’re full of water. And they you end hitting them and you get that damage to your vehicle,” David Kennington said.
These crippling cuts in the road can do some damage whether you’re on the highway or on surface roads.
Kenington’s wife recently felt the impact of a pothole on Highway 78.
“My wife’s car had a leaking tire. And so we took it to a tire shop, had the tire replaced. It continued to leak and it ended up being a cracked wheel from a pothole that she hit,” Kennington said.
An ABC 10News viewer called us with their own pothole incident that happened on Highway 78 Eastbound on Tuesday morning.
10News reached out to Caltrans about the pothole situation on Highway 78 that we were made aware of on Tuesday and what’s being done to mitigate it.
The agency sent us the following statement, “Caltrans is aware of recent media coverage of the storms and resulting damage, including information on how to submit claims to Caltrans for vehicle damage caused by potholes and/or debris on our state highways. Under California law, Caltrans does not insure vehicles for damage on our highways. Drivers in California must exercise caution on all roads and carry adequate automobile insurance to cover liability and property damage. However, in limited circumstances, Caltrans may be statutorily responsible for damage to a vehicle. Drivers on our state highways who believe Caltrans is responsible for damage to their vehicles can learn more about filing a claim at https://dot.ca.gov/online-services/submit-damage-claim [dot.ca.gov]. Caltrans evaluates claims for sufficiency and decides whether to reject, accept, or deny such claims.”
Scott Grinstaff is the service manager for Conover Automotive Tires, Wheels & Service in Oceanside. They’ve been seeing plenty of people come in for damage from potholes.
“All of the roads are getting tore up from the storms. We had one guy come in off of the 78, he hit a pothole and it actually broke his wheel in half. I had another car come in today with two flat tires from a pothole,” Grinstaff said.
“I would say that we’ve had at least 8 cars come in today with tire problems from the weather and the rain and the roads.”
So, when it comes down to when the rain is coming down, the advice from the folks who repair your cars is simple.
“I’m out here driving on these roads too. And what I see is people being all crazy like it’s dry, the roads are dry, and they’re not. They’re wet. Be careful, slow down, make it home,” Grinstaff said.
Caltrans said drivers should use the following link, https://csr.dot.ca.gov/ [csr.dot.ca.gov] if they encounter a pothole on a state highway.
