DAYTON — With the weather this winter, you may have noticed more and more potholes, and you have have even hit one.
News Center 7's Monica Castro found out how the city or state could pay for some of the damage.
Motorist Barbara Turner said the pothole problem is out of control, and that it’s harmed her car.
“I swerve around them because I don’t want to mess up my tires,” she said.
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Evan Junior said he has had to take his car into the shop after hitting a pothole.
“Mine ended up costing me almost $400 bucks,” he said.
But did you know that if you had to get repair work done after hitting a pothole in Dayton, you can file a claim with the city?
The city said drivers must first report the pothole to the public works department when you spot it. If the pothole is still not repaired and damages your car, you can file a claim through the city’s law department. The claim is called a moral obligation, but drivers will have to prove a number of things to be considered, including that the city was aware of the pothole beforehand.
Drivers also can file through the Ohio Department of Transportation’s court of claims for damage received from potholes on highways and state roads. They also will have to prove that ODOT knew but did not fix the problem.
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Turner said that she would consider filing if her car is damaged enough “because I don’t have the money to get my tires fixed and stuff.”
It’s important to report potholes when you see them, with specific locations, so that if you later hit it you can prove the city or ODOT was aware of the problem.
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