RICHMOND, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – After the brutal winter we’ve had, Triple-A warns you to watch out for potholes if you haven’t had that rude awakening already and be prepared. Triple-A MidAtlantic’s Morgan Dean says Americans spend billions of dollars every year to repair damages caused by potholes, with an average price tag of almost $600 per repair.  In addition to tires, damage caused by potholes may include dented rims, damaged wheels, dislodged wheel weights, displaced struts, dislocated shock absorbers, damaged exhaust systems, misaligned steering systems and ruptured ball joints. Those can run a repair price much higher.

Dean says potholes are caused by moisture running down into pavement cracks and freezing and expanding and then thawing and collapsing under the weight of vehicles, leaving a dip in the road.  Road plowing, like we saw numerous times this winter with several different snow and ice storms, can also further weaken cracked or broken sections of concrete or asphalt.

While the desire for any call is always a quick fix at the roadside, AAA Emergency Rescue data indicates that last year, almost 30% of all tire-related calls to AAA Mid-Atlantic in Virginia resulted in the need for a tow – sometimes it was because there was no useable spare in the vehicle. Many new cars do not come with spare tires, so it is critical that drivers check to make sure they have the additional road-ready tire before they find themselves in need.