Potholes - reminder to report them

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
February 24, 2011

Please do your part to report potholes to the proper road authority. This is the season for them; right?

I drove through one in McHenry on Route 120 recently and quickly reported it to the IDOT yard in Woodstock. It was on Route 120, just west of Green Street, in the right tire track of the right, eastbound lane.

Why is it important to report them? Because road authorities will try to weasel out of paying for damage to your car by claiming that a pothole wasn't reported or that they didn't have sufficient time to fill it after it was repaired. Sorry, guys; no pass on either case. It's your road. If you don't maintain it and a driver's vehicle is damaged, you ought to pay for it.

A friend told me this morning that her son's car was damaged to the tune of $1,500. Two tires, a rim, struts. Alignment, of course.

And last week another friend informed me of pothole damage to her car.

And an attorney I know in Hoffman Estates drove through one and had $600 damage.

Do police officers, paramedics, and all government workers promptly report potholes? Who knows?

Report it to the correct road authority. I knew that Route 120 was an IDOT-maintained road, even though it was in the City of McHenry. And I already knew the phone number for the IDOT yard in Woodstock.

Would reporting it to the City of McHenry Streets or Police Department have been enough? Not in my mind. They would probably forward the information to IDOT but, if they got busy before they did so, it might slip through the cracks.

Your choices might be IDOT or a city or the county or a township. It might take a little work to find the right road authority and phone number. If you happen to be on the short end of a $1,000 claim, you'll wish that another driver had persisted and made the report.

Give someone else a chance. Do the same. Report all potholes.