Why You Should Avoid Potholes in the Road

Potholes are an unfortunate reality that comes along with the driving experience. While we have plenty of great roads here in Idaho, we also have our share of potholes – that comes with the territory in a climate that experiences dramatic temperature changes throughout the year. It’s easy enough to think your car or truck can just roll right over those potholes and keep going, and often it can, but it’s best to avoid them when possible.
This article will discuss the dangers of potholes and why you’ll want to avoid them if you can. If you’ve recently hit a pothole and your vehicle needs some service to get back on track, get in touch with Taylor & Sons Chevrolet today for help. We have a reliable service department that offers honest work to drivers from throughout the Sandpoint, Ponderay, Bonners Ferry, Sagle, and other outlying areas. Make your appointment today!

Safety First
The first, and most important, reason to pay attention to avoid potholes while driving is for your own personal safety, and for the safety of those around you. Going over a pothole doesn’t always result in a dramatic impact on the vehicle, but it can. If you are traveling at a significant speed and you hit a severe pothole in the wrong way, it’s possible to lose control of the car or truck. Not only that, but the impact alone could be enough to cause injuries to those inside the vehicle.
So, avoiding potholes is helpful for keeping people safe. However, there is a word of warning to add here – you don’t want to create a dangerous situation in the process of trying to avoid the pothole. For example, if you swerve out of the way while traveling at a high speed, that action could lead to a loss of control, or you could impact another vehicle nearby. So, when approaching a pothole, it’s best to attempt to avoid it while also paying close attention to what is around your vehicle and how any movements you make will affect others. Basically, it’s the same common-sense advice that applies to any sort of driving situation – be aware, pay attention, and focus on safety above all else.

Considering the Health of Your Vehicle
The health of humans should always be the top priority in a situation like this, but there is also the matter of the health of the car or truck to consider. The violent impact that can occur when a tire strikes the inside of a pothole is not a minor issue, and it can do real damage in just an instant. Some of the possible outcomes include the following –
• Pop a tire. This is probably the most likely potential outcome when you strike a pothole, and it may be the first one you think of when considering this kind of incident. If you hit a pothole at the wrong angle, or at a high enough speed, the impact may be sufficient to pop your tire and leave you with a flat. When you feel such an event happen in the driver’s seat, don’t just assume that your tire made it through okay. Instead, make it a point to find a safe place to get off the road so you can check the tire’s condition for yourself.
• Body damage. Depending on the type of vehicle you drive, and whether it has been modified in any way, you could wind up doing body damage to your car when impacting a pothole. For example, if you have bumpers that ride very low to the ground, it might be that the bumper catches the edge of the pothole before it even gets to the tire. This form of damage may be cosmetic in nature, but it will still be frustrating and likely quite costly to fix.
• Handling problems. It’s relatively easy for a pothole strike to knock your steering out of alignment, and you may soon find that your vehicle is pulling to one side as you drive down a straight road. Again, this is something you might be able to live with for a while, but you’ll want to have it fixed at some point to continue driving safely.
• Wheel denting. The first concern is usually tires when you hit a pothole, but you might go so far as to do wheel damage as well. As you might imagine, it’s important for a wheel to be nicely round, so any damage that takes it out of round will need to be addressed.

This is not an exhaustive list of everything that can occur when you strike a pothole, but these are some of the main issues to keep in mind. It’s always best to avoid potholes, when possible, but be sure to have your vehicle checked out promptly if you do hit one and you suspect that something is wrong in the aftermath.

Pay Attention to Your Route
It can be hard to avoid potholes when you only notice them at the last moment. After all, you might not be able to see it coming until the vehicle in front of you swerves around it, so you can’t be blamed if you aren’t able to miss every one you encounter. However, you can help your chances by paying attention to the condition of the road surfaces on the route you typically travel day after day. You probably use many of the same routes routinely to get to work and other common destinations, so make a mental note if you see any potholes on those roads. Knowing what is coming will help you get your vehicle in a position to steer clear safely.
We hope you are able to avoid any potholes that come your way as you go about day-to-day life. If you do suffer some pothole damage, reach out to Taylor & Sons Chevrolet right away to make an appointment with our service department. It would be our pleasure to take care of any issues and get you back out on the road promptly. Stay safe out there!

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