audi40

Potholes are formed when water seeps into cracks, freezes and expands. The more swings in temperature between freezing and warmer weather like we're having in the northeast this year, the more potholes since there's more cycles of water freezing and expanding to open up potholes, which the plows just make worse.

subterFUSE

Don't file a claim with your insurance. This is what will happen:

They will give you bare-minimum to replace the wheels, and then they will pro-rate the remaining life of the tires. The total they calculate might not even be enough to pass your deductible, in which case they deny the claim and you get nothing. THEN, they will raise your premiums for filing a claim.

I know, because that's what they did to me when I hit a pothole here after a tropical storm blew through.

Unless the pothole was previously reported to the city/county/whatever you won't stand a chance of collecting anything. You basically have to prove they knew about it and deliberately did nothing to fix it.

subterFUSE

We have potholes here in Florida, but never have road salt or freezing between cracks.

Actually, I believe most potholes are caused when the dirt beneath the road gets washed away or eroded. Once there is no support beneath the road, the weight of the passing cars causes the surface to crumble.

audi40

I thought potholes in FL were called sink holes

But after a little further research, both of our explanations are on point:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pothole

snagitseven

If they are repairable, absolutely. A wheel straightener tech would be able to tell you right away if they weren't. Over the last 12 years, I've had at least 6 wheels straightened on several cars and they were all fine afterward. There was only one that was beyond repair several years ago - it was an after-market Ronal wheel that turned into a pretzel after hitting a good size pothole. I never much cared for those wheels.

irenesbob

It is the positioning of the plow blade so that it rests on the road surface and scrapes along. When the plow hits a seam in a concrete roadway (there are many in the NYC area) or a small crack or irregularity in any roadway surface it can throw up a substantial chunk of pavement. I see it happening all the time where I live. You hear the plow scraping along with sparks flying up, then it hits a road irregularity or seam and "bang!", then a piece of the road surface is broken off and pushed to the side of the road, sometimes buried in the snow bank becoming a hazard to motorists in and of itself. The resultant pothole then gets filled with water, freezes, thaws, re-freezes as others have mentioned until it becomes much bigger and more dangerous.

s5blitzer

Curious ... are German highways built better and if so, why?

Thanks!

irenesbob

It is not so much that the roads are built better, but am told that they have plows that are positioned several inches off the ground (some plows have ruber tires at the leaading edge) so they can race down the Autobahn at considerable speed without damaging either the road surface or the plowing equipment. Salt and sand are spread and the traffic going over the residual amount melts the remaing snow down fairly quickly. Drivers expect a bit of snow to be left on the road and drive accordingly and most put on winter tires.
My experiene in the NYC area is that drivers get would up over even a dusting of snow and expect the plows to scraoe away every bit of the white stuff. They pay for this in the spring when it becomes pothole city.

snagitseven

Actually...while plows can add to the damage after a pothole has already formed, they are initially caused by temperature extremes and water:

"Potholes form because asphalt road surfaces eventually crack under the heat of the day and the constant stresses of traffic. These cracks allow snow and rainwater to seep into the underlying dirt and gravel. During cold winter nights, this water freezes and expands".

irenesbob

I have observed over the years in the NYC metro area that in years having cold but relatively snow-free winters the roads are in much better condition come spring than they are in years when winter brings lots of snowfalls (like this one). Once the plows rip up even a little piece of the surface the water, freezing, etc. routine certainly contributes to and worsens the situation by making the potholes bigger. In my cooperative we have the contractor drizzle some hot sealing stuff on the blacktop in late summer to keep moisture/water from getting in where there are cracks. I do agree there can be lots of causes of potholes aside from plows. On the closest major street near me there were no potholes the day before this past week’s snow storm. By yesterday in a three block stretch there are at least 20 or 30 “new” potholes that were not previously there, even though we had been through some pretty cold periods, then warm ones, then cold again before the snow. In this situation the plowing really did make a mess out of the roadway. It is like a mine field now, in a matter of one day.