We need to talk about potholes

OPINION

Two hands on the steering wheel, my eyes are laser-focused on the road ahead as if my life depends on it. I’m keeping my peripheral vision on alert for any threats on the outside and am ready to dodge hazards in front.

As I drive, I hum Super Mario Kart music, embracing my go-to character, Mario himself, in my favourite kart, the Teddy Buggy, with my trusty sidekick beside me, Baby Mario, aka my youngest daughter in the Biddybuggy.

But no, I’m not playing Mario Kart, I’m driving my actual car, doing the school run. However, just like Mario Kart, as I drive, I’m attempting to avoid the multiple hazards, in this case, not weapons hurled at me by other players but potholes that litter the 5km stretch of major road in regional Victoria between our home and her school.

Living in a regional Victorian city and driving on its roads daily, along with those on its outskirts, I find myself avoiding, attempting to avoid, or unfortunately not avoiding a pothole daily, not just on the school run but when I travel elsewhere too.

While so far, I’ve managed to escape any major damage to my car (or myself), there have been a few close calls where other drivers have attempted to avoid plunging into the enormous crater-sized potholes, swerving onto my side of the road in the process.

Research and information published by law firms such as Slater and Gordon, roadside assistance organisations NRMA and RACV, and even media companies, including Australian Community Media (ACM), consistently reveal that country roads are often in the worst condition, with potholes being one of the major issues cited by their residents.

City or the country; the truth is, potholes are everywhere.

Potholes – holes in the roadway often caused by the expansion and contraction of groundwater – are not only annoying, but they can be incredibly dangerous, even deadly, and they are wreaking havoc on Aussie roads, putting countless drivers and their passengers at risk.

They can also leave extensive (and expensive) damage to your car; everything from punctures and broken rims to creating issues with suspension and wheel alignment.

In the regional city where I live, there have been compensation claims made by drivers who have reported excessive damage to their cars by “crater-sized” potholes on council roads and even calls for class action lawsuits have been made due to the sheer number of vehicles that have been damaged by some of them.

The situation is so dire that there was an idea by one group to ‘Adopt a Pothole’, like the Lions’ Club anti-litter program, ‘Adopt a Highway’, in the hope that this might help get potholes fixed quicker.

But it seems that nothing is doing the trick, because even when potholes are ‘fixed’, a week later, they’ve returned as if nothing was ever done and continue to plague our roads.

Even carparks aren’t immune, with parking bays in Ballarat, a regional Victorian city, making headlines with their rampant potholes as reported in their local newspaper, The Courier.

“Contractors are brought in once a year to do a basic patch job, but this usually only lasts for a few weeks before holes reappear, one employee said.

"I have seen people flatten a tire and kids fall over in there," they said.”

A further insult to injury with the rampant issue evident on both privately owned and publicly owned carparks, roads, and highways, is that our tax-paying dollars go toward our roads and infrastructure that we use, so why on earth isn’t the issue fixed properly?

While no one wants to pay taxes, the silver lining should at least be that the money we pay goes toward things that keep us safe. Unfortunately, it seems ‘should’ is the operative word. From what I see, and what many others see, not enough is being done to effectively counter this issue, and this is simply unacceptable.

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