Potholes and frost heaves can be dangerous
The winter weather creates potholes, frost heaves and bumps in the road, especially in the northern climates such as New England where the country roads experience almost continual snows and freezing temperatures. Driving over a winter pothole on stricken roads is a dangerous safety hazard, which can cause accidents and damage to your car. As your car "rocks and rolls" down the road, as a passenger, you are "hanging on for dear life" and as a driver, you can be as cautious as possible and still hit a huge pothole orfrost heavethat can send your car flying.
The budget for building country roads may not be as large as the budget for major highways. (Major highways don't experience potholes like small country roads do). The tarmac or macadam laid out on country roads may be laid out directly onto the existing soil, which may be very heavy and almost like clay and therefore not porous enough to absorb melting and icing up of snows and other winter precipitation. When this occurs, you get frost heaves and potholes.Potholesare caused by plowing and salting. Frost heaves are caused by freezing water that expands under the tarmac raising the tarmac into a huge bump.
Major highways are constructed with sand and gravel under the tarmac or asphalt giving the road a much more porous foundation, therefore precipitation is able to seep further underneath the surface. Also major highways experience more traffic, which helps to melt the snow or ice before it can begin to cause damage.
Potholes are dangerous, because if you are driving too fast, or actually within the speed limit but too fast to absorb the shock of hitting the pothole, your car can swerve or go into a tail-spin, perhaps hitting a car in the other lane. There can be extensive to minimal damage to your car depending on the severity of the pothole hit.
The best way to avoid potholes is to keep your eyes on the road and watch for them. Look directly in front of you and as far into the distance as you can see. Try to see them coming up as far ahead as possible. Also watch out for puddles, because underneath the puddle there may be a pothole. Don't drive over potholes; drive around them, but not into the opposite lane if cars are coming.
Don't brake into a pothole,but slow down your car before getting to the pothole and then drive around it, not over it.
The best bet is to drive about 10 to 15 miles slower than the speed limit while watching out for potholes. If there are no other drivers on the road, either behind you or in front of you, you do not have to keep up your speed. If you are not driving too fast, it is easier to slow down your car and not brake too quickly.
It might be harder to avoid potholes if there are a lot of cars on the road, since you might have to keep up your speed, but use your common sense and drive with caution as slowly as possible considering the other drivers on the road.
If you do hit a potholeor a frost heave and feel it may have damaged your car, it is important to have the suspension system and steering system checked by your regular inspection station. If these parts of your car are no longer functioning properly they should be repaired as soon as possible to avoid further damage to your car and also to avoid accidents. Wheel alignment should also be checked.
Driving on roads that have a lot of potholes and frost heaves requires extreme caution. Always keep your eyes on the road, look ahead, and observe closely everything around you. Look for potholes, so you can know they are coming up so as to avoid them. Slow down when driving along a road filled with frost heaves and potholes.
