A giant pothole on the New South Wales south coast has caught dozens of motorists off guard, raising questions about who should take the financial fall for damage incurred to their cars.
South coast resident Craig Rogers said his colleague had an "instant blow out" this week when she drove into the enormous divot, northbound on the Princes Highway at Kiama Bends.
"She had someone come out to fix the tyre and he said there had been over 20 tyres that he has fixed on this pothole in the last week," Mr Rogers said.
"I drove past this morning and there was another car there with a blown tyre and another two up the road."
Another caller to ABC Local Radio said he had hit the same pothole.
"By the grace of God, we didn't damage the car.
"I just drove the New England Highway a couple of weeks ago and it was horrible, but nothing was as bad as that one pothole at Kiama."
Millions in damage
Cracking road base and uneven surfaces are not an uncommon sight at the moment, as heavy downpours and strong winds continue to batter New South Wales.
Local councils and the state government are now grappling with an expensive backlog of repair works.
The Wollongong and Wollondilly Local Government Areas alone have estimated repair bills in excess of $20 million.
In the Wingecarribee Shire, in the NSW Southern Highlands, the council said it had been using an average of 100 tonnes of cold mix each week to temporarily repair potholes over the past few months.
"An average pothole requires 40 kilograms of cold mix, which equates to 2,500 repairs per week," council's director of service and project delivery, Karin Targa, said.
What are your rights?
But what recourse do you have if you hit a pothole and it causes damage to your vehicle?
Probably not much, according to solicitor and Shoalhaven councillor Paul Ell.
"It is difficult. There aren't many cases of successful claims made against councils," he said.
Mr Ell said under Section 45 of the legislation, a claimant would have to satisfy two provisions to be compensated for any damage to their vehicle.
"It comes down awareness — whether the authority was specifically aware of that particular pothole, had it been reported formally," he said.
"Secondly, whether they've acted negligently in not dealing with that issue in terms of the resources they have available.
"Even if they were aware – because often these things are reported and they have records of that – is it in line with their overall functions and responsibilities and whether they have the resources?"
Report the issue
Most authorities provide a reporting and complaints tool via their website and Mr Ell strongly encouraged motorists to head there as a first port of call.
On its website, Transport for NSW said its crews "will assess the damage and coordinate repair" once a form is lodged.
But the authority warned it had already received "a high volume of enquiries".
In a statement, Transport for NSW said it was notified of the Kiama Bends pothole by the Transport Management Centre this morning, and sent crews as a priority to patch it up.
It said today's repairs were a temporary measure that would be reassessed when weather permits.
While this pothole is the responsibility of the NSW Government, the local council said it would monitor its roads and other infrastructure amid the strong winds and increased rainfall.
