When raining or especially at night, potholes can be nearly invisible, until your car hits it. With repairs often reaching into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars, who should be responsible for paying for them?
“I say probably the mayor of the city and probably the people that do construction,” Caitlyn Greve of Briarwood said.
“The city or the state or both, to me, you know what I mean? Who else?” Marlon Graye of Dayton said.
Graye said he blew out both front tires from a pothole last year.
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“It kinda sneaks up on you. It’s small, some of them, the ones you don’t see obviously and you ‘bam’ — you hit it and it just pops your tire, man,” Graye said.
The money to fix his car came out of his own pocket.
But the Ohio Department of Transportation may be able to reimburse some drivers.
According to ODOT's website, it is responsible for interstate, U.S. routes and state routes.
To receive payment, filers must prove:
- The vehicle was damaged after coming into contact with a dangerous condition on a road maintained by ODOT.
- That ODOT knew about the problem and failed to repair or remedy the problem.
As some drivers continue to pay on their own for repairs due to potholes, Graye said it’s good to know he could get help fixing his car.
However, he also hopes the potholes would be fixed in the first place.
“This is nothing new … not just in Ohio but everywhere. That’s an ongoing problem and they should be expecting that. When it rains it pours and the potholes form,” he said.
For local roads the same rules apply, according to state law, with drivers having to prove the same but file through the Ohio Court of Claims.
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