Potholes are a fact of life and something that we all try to avoid on B.C. roads. Sometimes it is not possible and the result is damage to your vehicle. Who is responsible for the cost of that damage?
Primary Responsibility for Potholes
The primary responsibility to avoid vehicle damage from driving through a pothole falls on the driver. You must leave sufficient following distance and scan as far down the road as possible to avoid any type of problem you might encounter.
Keeping tires properly inflated and being cautious of puddles is good driving practice at all times. Doing both of these things can help avoid problems with potholes.
Provincial and Local Governments
Road maintenance is a government responsibility. While we might expect our roads to be in perfect condition at all times that is not a reasonable expectation. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) maintains over 47,000 kilometres of highway.
Highway maintenance specifications published by the MOTI explains how potholes are triaged for repair.
Local governments have the same responsibilities.
Commonly Damaged Suspension Parts
Making an ICBC Claim
Damage to your vehicle from contact with potholes is part of your optional collision coverage and you are responsible for paying the deductable.
If you choose not to buy coverage, the entire repair bill will be yours.
Claims Against the Province or Municipality
The MOTI provides the following advice to consider before making a claim:
Please keep in mind, in order for a claim to be payable by the Province, there must be proof that there was negligence on the part of the ministry and/or highways contractor. If there was no negligence, the claim is not payable.
Section 744 of the Local Government Act protects municipalities, regional districts and their boards against liability from the breakdown of a road.
In either case, you would have to prove negligence for failing to repair the potholes to be successful in a claim for damages. You would be wise to obtain legal advice before starting an action.
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I'd like to clarify the statement: "Damage to your vehicle from contact with potholes is part of your optional collision coverage and you are responsible for paying the deductible". Your statement is exactly correct, however some readers are going to interpret this as "you damage your car you pay your deductible and that's it". It's a COLLISION claim, your vehicle collided with the road.
What happens when you place a claim under your collision coverage ? Your Claims Rated Scale goes up. If you haven't had a liable claim in 10 years it will be "forgiven" otherwise, your rates will go up.
It's like hitting a rock slide on the highway, if the slide is moving and you collide with it, or it hits you, it's a comprehensive claim (doesn't affect your rates), if the rocks are stationary, a collision claim.
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Turns out I have an experience relative to making claims for damages. Not the pothole kind, but rather signage.
I once built an RV from a small school bus. While parking said unit on a road in Victoria. (Jutland ave.) I incurred some damage to my clearance light.
I was reversing to the curb, and although the hydro pole and municipal post were set back from the curb. The sign attached to the muni post was not. This combined with the height of the sign didn't afford me to see it in my mirror. Also was the issue of the grade of the road at the curb which had a final drop from the pavement to the poured cement that caused my unit to lean further over to the sidewalk , bringing the top corner well over the curb line. The result was a damaged clearance lamp.
So, I contacted the public works superintendent and not only did he offer to have the lamp fixed, he scheduled a crew to fix the sign problem along the entire 2 blocks of road. Now of course I saved the taxpayer money by doing the repair myself. And the super and I did have a laugh over the fact that the whole lamp assembly was less expensive than just the lens.
Sometimes, if you know who to call and do so with humility. You can get problems solved the old fashioned way.
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Potholes, the whole story