BELLEVUE, Wash. — The wet winter in western Washington has left many roadways in shambles. Some drivers tell KIRO 7 they can’t drive their car without having to dodge a massive pothole; some are big enough to do some serious damage to a vehicle.
“If they hit a pothole, they can damage not only engine components but suspension components, too. It can brake shocks, shock towers,” Casey Kong with Northwest AutoCenter in Bellevue said.
Kong and other auto shops KIRO 7 spoke with off-camera say they continue to see more and more customers with damage that was caused by a large pothole on the interstate. Kong says it’s not only dangerous for drivers, but it can be expensive to fix the damage.
“I mean, Mercedes, BMWs, anywhere as little as $500 up to thousands upon thousands of dollars,” Kong said.
Those who frequent I-405 through Renton say they feel potholes can sneak up on you.
“Here, it seems like you have to kind of keep an eye out for the occasional big ole’ hole that could pop the tire or something,” one driver told KIRO 7.
According to WSDOT’s recent quarterly performance report, crews didn’t complete up to 44% of their highway maintenance asset condition targets in 2022. A spokesperson with the agency says they continue to monitor the roadways and prioritize any hazardous areas. They also tell KIRO 7 if people feel a pothole is dangerous, report it immediately.
“How we get those areas is the public seeing them. So, a big thing that we encourage drivers to do is to report these potholes,” spokesperson Aisha Dayal said.
Many drivers hope to see highway conditions improve sooner rather than later.
“A public road is something everyone travels on every single day, why can’t it be safe just as everything else?” Kong said.
Kong says most insurance policies can cover most of the costs for damage caused by a pothole, but has seen customers pay out of pocket and then see if insurance will reimburse them for it all.
If you hit a pothole on a state highway and it causes significant damage, you can file a tort claim here; however, it’s not always a guarantee you will be covered.
WSDOT provided the following statement to KIRO 7:
The performance report for highway maintenance asset condition targets is in regard to regular maintenance/key assets (i.e. guardrails, striping, lighting, etc.). These scores, which is tied into the referenced 44 percent, are based on WSDOT’s internal grading scale for these key assets. Potholes are emergent maintenance, given they can emerge without warning at any location (aka not a key asset), and are not factored into this criteria referenced from the quarterly performance report.
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