During our commute to work each day, we all inevitably encounter numerous potholes each way. While a few of them may be small, most of them are quite large and create for a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride to work.
If you live in a city with lots of potholes, here are a few safety tips from Weather.com:
• Leave plenty of room in front of your vehicle so you can avoid potholes without getting into an accident.
• If you can’t avoid a pothole, slow down before you hit it. But don’t brake directly over a pothole, which can actually cause more damage.
• When driving over the pothole, hold the steering wheel firmly to avoid losing control.
• Use caution when driving over a puddle of water because it might be a particularly deep pothole in hiding.
After a little research, we found out that potholes can cause serious damage to your car, even if they are small. So if you’re like most drivers, and have been running over potholes this winter, the Car Care Council says these are some symptoms of pothole damage:
• The car pulling toward the left or right, instead of going straight, which could indicate an alignment problem.
• Uneven tire wear, which could indicate an alignment problem.
• Low tire pressure.
• Bulges or blisters on the tire sidewalls.
• Dents in the wheel rims.
• Loss of control, swaying when making turns, bouncing excessively on rough roads, or bottoming out on city streets, which could indicate problems with the steering or suspension.
If you notice any of these symptoms you may want to take your car into a local auto body shop to have it checked for damage.
TIP: If you encounter a pothole, you should report it to your city, county or state transportation authorities. In some cases, your state, county or city may actually reimburse you for some of the repair costs.
For more information on how to avoid potholes and other driving safety tips visit al.st/1hTe3jn.
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