Potholes are highway hazard for drivers

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) - They could be your tires' worst nightmare.

In the past 48 hours, hundreds of drivers have had the same bad dream. WAVY.com found a lot of drivers with the same problem behind the wheel because of the potholes that have been showing up due to the unusual winter weather.

For hundreds of tires, a back room inside Harris Tire has become their final destination. It's the final resting place for rubber killed on the road. Many tires there are now wrecked because of an encounter with a pothole.

"He said, 'Yeah I was just coming off the off ramp and there it was,' he hit it," mechanic James Becker said of one tire blown out from a Ford F-150 pickup truck.

But with the increase in potholes comes an increase in profit for Harris Tire, at the expense of drivers like Rashee Lott. The cost to replace his damaged rim could be as much as $200.

"There's a a huge crater right after the Ballentine Boulevard exit and I hit it and that was pretty much it for the rim," he said. "I call it a crater, it wasn't a pothole, I call it a crater, that's what it looks like to me anyway."

It was large enough for Harris Manager Elmer Woodard to see. Woodard hit a pothole in nearly the same spot along Interstate 264. "When you hit them, it could make you lose control of your vehicle too."

It seems that they are everywhere because of recent weather--existing potholes grew while new ones cracked open.

"When you have a cycle of wet weather, freezing, the pavement expands, when it gets warmer it decreases in size, and it increases again when it freezes again, so you have a freezing thawing freezing cycle that pops out pavement," said Virginia Department of Transportation Spokesperson Lauren Hansen.

VDOT crews are outnumbered by their ground-level opponent in a battle that likely may not end. Still, the crews fight back. Some trucks are able to fill a pothole in minutes, but they're only a bandage to the wounded roads.

"That typically is a lot faster and a mobile operation however, the pothole patch isn't as smooth and it can pop out easier," Hansen said.

The more permanent fix can only be used when temperatures rise. Until then, it's best for drivers to proceed with caution.

If there's an interstate pothole you would like to report to VDOT, you can call 1-800-367 ROAD (7623) and press "0" to speak with an operator. You can also report a problem online HERE .

Hansen warned the hotline is only for interstate potholes. To report a problem with a city or neighborhood street, call your local government.

CLICK HERE TO REPORT POTHOLES IN VARIOUS CITIES THROUGHOUT HAMPTON ROADS.