2016

FACT SHEET
AUTOMOTIVE
ENGINEERING
POTHOLE DAMAGE

BACKGROUND
Waterandtracthetwoagentsinvolvedinpotholeforma oncanbeasphalts
worstenemies.Togethertheywreakhavoconpavementthathasalreadybeen
compromisedbyfactorslikeage,overuse,inadequatemaintenanceandexposureto
theelements.Waterseepagethroughsurfacelayercracksandotheropeningscan
erodetheroadbed,whichresultsinthecrea onofasubsurfacecavity.Whenvehicles
rollovertheweakenedarea,thesurfacelayercrumblesintothegapbeneathanda
potholematerializes.

Flat res,bentwheelsanddamagesuspensioncomponentsallarecommon
automo veissuescausedbypotholerunins.AAArecommendsvisi ngaAAA
ApprovedAutoRepairfacilityorcer fiedtechniciantoassessandfixanypothole
damage.

KEYFINDINGS

AccordingtoarecentAAAsurvey:

Twothirds(64percent)ofU.S.driversareconcerned
aboutpotholesonlocalroadways.
74percentofdriversintheNortheast
68percentofdriversintheMidwest
61percentofdriversintheSouth
57percentofdriversintheWest

Driversages45andolderaremorelikelytobe
concernedaboutpotholesthanyoungerdrivers(ages
1844).

Morethanhalfofdriverswithhouseholdincomesof
lessthan$75,000annuallyareveryconcernedabout
potholes.Onlyonethirdofdriverswithhousehold
incomesof$75,000ormoreannuallyreportthesame
levelofconcern.

Vehiclerepairbillsrelatedtopotholedamagehavecost
U.S.drivers$15billionoverthelastfiveyears;oran
averageof$3billionannually.

NEWSROOM.AAA.COM

Tounderstandhowpotholedamage
aectsdrivers,AAApursuedthree
linesofinquiry:

1. HowconcernedareU.S.drivers
aboutpotholesonlocal
roadways?

2. Howcommonispotholerelated
vehicledamage?

3. Howmuchdoestherepairof
potholerelatedvehicledamage
costU.S.driversannually?

15percentofU.S.drivers(16millionmotorists)report
sustainingvehicledamagethatrequiredrepairasaresult
ofhi ngapotholeatleastonceinthelastfiveyears.
20percentofdriversintheNortheast
16percentofdriversintheSouth
15percentofdriversintheWest
10percentofdriversintheMidwest

Nearlyonethird(31percent)ofdriversaged3544report
incurringpotholerelatedvehicledamagethatrequired
repairinthelastfiveyears,morethananyotheragegroup.

U.S.driversthatexperiencedpotholedamagethat
requiredrepairhadithappenanaverageofthree mesin
thelastfiveyears.

U.S.driversreportanaveragerepairbillof$306torepair
potholedamagetotheirvehicle.Sixtyfourpercentreport
repairbillsof$250orless,30percentreportbillsgreater
than$250andupto$1,000,and6percentreportbillsin
excessof$1,000.

COMMONTYPESOFPOTHOLERELATEDVEHICLEDAMAGE
TIRES:
Whendamagedbyapothole, resarecommonlycut,tornorpuncturedin
awaythatisnotsalvageable.Anew recancostlessthan$100toover
$500dependingonthevehicle.

WHEELS:
Theforceofapotholestrikecanbendorbreakwheelsinawaythat
cannotbeprofessionallyrepaired.Inthatcase,adrivercanexpectto
spend$300ormoreforeachreplacementwheel.Lossofbalanceweights
isalsoacommonformofpotholedamageandnecessitates re/wheel
assemblyrebalancing,typicallycos nglessthan$50.

SUSPENSIONS:
Potholescanalsoinflictexpensivesuspensionrelateddamage.Vehicleswithdamagedsuspensionsmayhavebentorbroken
partsthatrequirea en on,resul nginrepairbillsthatcouldaddupto$1,000ormore.Minorsuspensionissuesmaybe
addressedbysuspensionrealignment,cos nganaverageof$75to$150.

AAARECOMMENDATIONS

Since resaretheonlycushionbetweena
potholeandavehicle,itscri caltoensurethat
resareproperlyinflatedandhaveadequate
treaddepth.

Toavoidstrikingapothole,remainalert,scanthe
roadaheadanddriveatleast34secondsbehind
thevehicleahead.
Whenapotholeencounterisunavoidable,slow
downasmuchaspossiblebutreleasethebrakes
andstraightenthesteeringwheelbeforestriking
thepothole.

Checktoseeifyourvehicleisequippedwitha
spare reora reinflatorkit.Ensurethespare
reisproperlyinflatedorunderstand reinflator
kitinstruc onsandlimita onsbeforetrouble
strikes.

Whenfacedwithaflat re,AAAmemberscan
requestassistanceat(800)AAAHELP,byvisi ng
AAA.com/RoadsideAssistanceorviatheAAA
MobileApp.

NEWSROOM.AAA.COM

METHODOLOGY
Forsurveydatarelatedtothecostofpotholedamage:

AtelephonesurveywasconductedQ1,2016usingtwo
probabilitysamples:randomlyselectedlandlinetelephone
numbersandrandomlyselectedmobile(cell)telephone
numbers.Thecombinedsampleconsistsof1,007adults(18
yearsoldandolder)livinginthecon nentalUnitedStates.Of
the1,007interviews,507werefromthelandlinesampleand
500fromthecellphonesample.Themarginoferrorforthe
sampleof1,007is+/3.09%atthe95%confidencelevel.

ForsurveydatarelatedtoAmericanconcernlevelsof
potholesonlocalroadways:

AtelephonesurveywasconductedQ3,2015usingtwo
probabilitysamples:randomlyselectedlandlinetelephone
numbersandrandomlyselectedmobile(cell)telephone
numbers.Thecombinedsampleconsistsof1,008adults(18
yearsoldandolder)livinginthecon nentalUnitedStates.Of
the1,008interviews,508werefromthelandlinesampleand
500fromthecellphonesample.Themarginoferrorforthe
sampleof1,008is+/3.09%atthe95%confidencelevel.