WASHINGTON, D. C. (Thursday, January 25, 2018) –– You can feel it in your bones and nether- reaches. That rough ride is caused by potholes and pavements in poor condition. Winter is scarcely over and drivers will face pricey vehicle repairs owing to run-ins with potholes on area roadways and streets.  Given the swing in temperatures, potholes can pop-up pretty prematurely, area highway departments say. It all makes for a bumpy ride. Replacing that tire damaged by a pothole can cost less than $100. Or over $500. Potholes can also inflict expensive suspension-related damage, resulting in repair bills that could add up to $1,000 or more.

“A whole lot of shaking is going on.” The freeze-thaw cycle is behind all this mayhem. And the extra vehicle and road maintenance costs. Over the course of two winters, Virginia repaired 400,000 potholes and the District has patched nearly 340,000 potholes since 2010. Maryland spends $95 to repair a single pothole. Collectively, Americans will spend $3 billion to repair damages to their vehicles caused by hitting a pothole.

· American drivers paid an average of $300 each to repair pothole-related damages to their vehicles in 2017, AAA estimated.

· The wear and tear on vehicles caused by potholes and road cracks will set-back the average American driver $523 annually in extra vehicle and road maintenance costs, according to research by TRIP.

· One in five –twenty percent – of drivers in the northeast report sustaining vehicle damage that required repair as a result of hitting a pothole at least once in the last five years, AAA calculates.

It is only mid-January, but given the weather patterns of late, potholes are cropping up unusually early across the metro area. With weekend temperatures in the 50s and early week showers, conditions are perfect for forming and weaponizing potholes. In the freeze-thaw cycle, tiny cracks in road surfaces become craters and crevices overnight, and openings in the asphalt crumble and become clefts in the subsurface.

“Water and traffic –two agents involved in pothole formation – can be asphalt’s worst enemies,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public & Government Affairs. “Worse for the weather, we can expect a bumper crop of potholes during the patching season. Together, the forces of nature, high traffic volumes, and the heavy doses of snow-removal chemicals will wreak havoc on pavement that is already compromised by factors like age, overuse, inadequate maintenance and exposure to the elements.”

“Thirty percent of U.S. drivers report an average repair bill of greater than $250 and up to $1,000,” explained James Spires, District Director, AAA Car Care Centers. “Depending on the extent of the pothole-related vehicle damage, the make and model of the vehicle, and the make of the tires, repairs could easily exceed $1,000. This clearly illustrates the need for state and area governments to maintain and repair our deteriorating roadways – and the expense to motorists when it’s not done in a timely manner.”

Vehicle repair bills related to pothole damage have cost U.S. drivers $15 billion over the last five years, calculates AAA, or an average of $3 billion annually. It is a sum dubbed the “pothole tax. A hard pothole impact can dislodge wheel weights, damage a tire or wheel, and bend or even break suspension components, said Spires. The toll includes lost hubcaps, blown and flat tires, bent rims, wheel and front end alignment woes, and steering and suspension problems, explains AAA Automotive Services. The latter can lead to uneven or faster tire wear, worn suspension parts, including ball joints, control arm and sway bar bushings, wheel bearings, upper strut mounts braking instability.

Left unchecked, the damage to cars caused by potholes and bad roads can cause drivers to experience reduced gas mileage; vibrations in the steering wheel; a noticeable change in vehicle handling, as the vehicle pulls to the right or to the left; and an uncomfortable ride for you and your passengers, caution certified auto technicians at AAA Car Care Centers in the Greater Washington area.  Pothole repair costs are increasing for local and state governments across the United State, rising from an average $23 to patch each pothole in 2010 to an average of $100 to fix each gaping pothole born and bred in 2017, depending upon the jurisdiction.

·         The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) repaired 154,800 potholes after the winter of 2014-2015, and repaired 244,067 potholes after the winter of 2015-2016, according to VDOT.

·         Reportedly, the Maryland State Highway Administration spends an average of $4 million each year patching potholes across the state, where the “average cost to repair a pothole is $95, including material, labor and traffic control in work zones.” 

·         More than 338,600 potholes were patched and filled by pothole repair crews with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) during the city’s annual “Potholepalooza” campaigns from Fiscal Year 2010 to FY 2017. That tally includes 16,670 potholes in the month-long pothole repair blitz in the spring of 2016. Last year, DDOT patched 7,600 potholes in its spring 2017 Potholepalooza campaign.

Trying to dodge potholes? Watch the traffic ahead. It’s an indication potholes might be lurking in the roadways as drivers try to dodge them. Even a puddle of water can hide deep potholes. That three billion dollars in annual vehicle repair costs isn’t pocket change. If stacked in one hundred dollar bills, a billion dollars would tower 10,000,000 inches high. Or 870 miles high, if stacked in pennies. Look at it this way, a billion dollars in $100 bills would stack up 0.63 miles high. That’s higher than “the world’s tallest building,”  the Burj Khalifa, the 160-story skyscraper, which stands 2,716.5 feet in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  Now multiply that by three, and the stack of $100 bills would soar also two miles into the sky.    

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AAA provides automotive, travel and insurance services to 57 million members nationwide and nearly 78,000 members in the District of Columbia.  AAA advocates for the safety and mobility of its members and has been committed to outstanding road service for more than 100 years.  The not-for-profit, fully tax-paying member organization works on behalf of motorists, who can now map a route, find local gas prices, discover discounts, book a hotel and track their roadside assistance service with the AAA Mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android. For more information, visit  https://aaa.com