Can You Get Paid For Pothole Damage In The Quad Cities?

If you've driven pretty much anywhere recently, you've hit a pothole.  It snowed, it melted, it rained, it got super cold...it did everything to make the roads crumble and create holes the size of the Grand Canyon.

While the wear and tear of hitting potholes on a daily basis might take years off your car's life, that's unfortunately on you.  But what if your car hits one of these massive holes and it causes instant damage? Can you fight the city to get them to pay for it?

No Matter Which Way You Swerve

Go to the left?  Oh, you still hit the pothole on the right.  Sway to the right?  Now you just smacked the pothole on the left.  Stay in the middle and somehow miss them...or hit them both?!

And you'll get that clunk a lot when driving around the Quad Cities.  Illinois has the 15th-worst roads in the country, while Iowa has the 29th-worst.  That actually doesn't seem that bad compared to what we actually see.  I think I lost a part of my car on Locust the other day.  But, will the city pay for the damages?

Can You Sue The City For Damage To Your Car?

How much are the damages going to cost?  Cause it's not like you can just take your car to the city mechanic and they'll fix it for free.  Like anything with the government, it's going to be a process.

Because you have to prove that the city, county, or state was negligent in maintaining the road.  "But all the roads are crap cause they don't fix them, so they are negligent!"  Yeah, I hear you, but it doesn't work that way.

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Liability will depend on proving the city had prior knowledge of the pothole and failed to repair it within a reasonable timeframe.  So if you complain about the hole, then you hit the hole hard enough a few weeks later, and it breaks your car, you've got a good case.  But if you are just making the mistake of driving in the right lane on Locust and crash into one, that's just your bad luck.

If you do receive damage to your car from a pothole, take pictures of the pothole and the damage to the vehicle.

Report the pothole immediately to the Department of Public Works or the DOT.

Don't wait, file the claim with the city.  Each city will vary in how to file the claim.  A call might get you started, but in person will be the fastest...and slowest...way to make sure the claim is filed.

Good luck as you doge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way across town.