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Who Pays If A Pothole Damages Your Car?

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) - Drivers in Sacramento County say they've been driving on bumpy roads over potholes since the recent rain. But who is responsible if your car suffers damage in the process?

"There's holes everywhere, potholes everywhere, it's dangerous," said Anna DeMille, who lives in Carmichael. "There are so many potholes, you barely could even look at the road driving!"

DeMille describes a rainy afternoon drive on Fair Oaks near Kenneth Avenue. Her car sustained major damage after driving over a pothole.

"It hit so hard, it bent the rim of the tire and the cover flew off and shattered," she said. "The pothole came up so fast. It was seconds!"

She got an estimate for more $500 in repairs and she says the county could have prevented it from happening.

Sacramento County Transportation Spokesperson Daniel Regan says drivers should submit a claim with Risk Management. And he says if a person can prove that damage was caused by a pothole, the county will reimburse you. In order to prove your case, the county advises drivers to take pictures of the pothole, have an exact location of where it is and file your claim right away.

But DeMille says that didn't work for her. She says her first claim was denied after she failed to write the date in multiple places. And after filing the second claim, she got a letter from a county attorney.

"Telling me that this is no fault of a county employee and they are not going to take responsibility of this damage," she explained. ""I felt like they didn't even care!"

After replacing the hubcap and tire and getting an inspection, she's not happy that the county didn't step up and pay for what she considers the county's mistake.

"I just want the county to be aware of what's going on out here," she said.

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