SPOKANE, Wash. – In the last two years, the City of Spokane said they have filled roughly 6,000 potholes across Spokane.
As evident by just driving on certain Spokane streets on Monday, they just keep multiplying faster than they can be filled.
So what do the traffic laws say about swerving or slowing down to avoid potholes? Authorities said you should slow down.
Elizabeth Breen goes to Gonzaga University. For her, like many drivers, ask about the potholes on Spokane’s streets and you will likely hear the same things.
“Freya has been really bad, I go to Gonzaga and I live up here on the South Hill, so driving down there every day is pretty horrible,” she said.
Tom Abell and Amanda Weigum echoed a similar frustration.
“You know, it’s just like when are they going to fix these things?” Abell asked.
“Everywhere, it’s worse than, I’ve lived here since 2002 and it’s worse than I’ve ever seen it,” Weigum said.
We asked these same drivers what they do when they come across a pothole.
“When I can actually see them, then you know it’s just an oh shucks type of matter and try to veer out of the road, but there’s nowhere to go,” Weigum said.
Abell said he tries to swerve into the other lane a bit.
“And kind of freak people out, I’m sure,” he added.
Breen also said she tries to avoid it but added it can impossible sometimes to avoid it without coming into oncoming traffic.
We watched driver after driver either hit or actively move to avoid potholes like the one on Cedar street.
“Can’t always and then you just hit them and pray that you still have a tire when you get out on the other end,” Weigum said.
So what should you do if a pothole is ahead?
Law enforcement said the best thing you can do is slow down. Hitting the brakes as you come up to a hazard in the road lets other drivers behind you know there’s something you are trying to avoid.
If you have to serve into another lane, officers said to slow down or even stop until you can be sure it is clear. If you swerve quickly into another lane with a car next to you, you could cause the other driver to jerk their wheel to avoid you – which increases the likelihood of a collision.
By slowing down, officers said it also signals to them you are trying to avoid something and are not just a reckless driver they should ticket.
Officers also said you are only likely to get a ticket for swerving to miss a pothole if you cause an accident.
We also wanted to see for ourselves how the potholes were affecting people's driving. So we sent KREM 2 reporter Bre Clark out in our Mobile Stormtracker to check it out. Mobile users click here if you cannot see the video below.
