Over the past two years we have seen extensive cold weather and whilst many are wary of the extra costs of winter tyres they are definitely aware of the costs caused by potholes like the one displayed below.

Hitting a pothole can cause serious damage to a tyre and even cause problems such as cuts and bulges in the sidewall of a tyre leaving it illegal – putting people in danger. Large potholes have reportedly caused problems such as wheel misalignment (causing higher tyre wear and fuel costs), hairline fractures, and cracks in alloy wheels, with damage to suspension possible.

We came across the above photo taken of the pothole accompanied with another photo showing the damage it caused to the tyre (on the left). The description reads:

Rosie hit a pothole on Zig Zag Road in Boxhill. Looked like a puddle on approach, but was very big and deep. Broke Rosie’s front nearside wheel and burst tyre.

One of the many ways to combat potholes is to make sure your tyres are inflated correctly and have the correct tyre pressure. This way they are less likely to suffer from further damage. If you do suffer damage at the expense of a pothole and believe the council should have repaired it, then check out this website all about potoholes in the UK and read how to make a claim against the council.

You can check for these types of issues yourself by getting closer and checking the sidewalls for bumps and bubbles whilst inspecting the rest of the tyre for any cuts etc. An example of this would be the similar to what we see in the photo below:

Many garages and tyre dealers offer free tyre safety inspections for drivers and their cars so if you are worrying then please get them checked. Better safe than sorry.

The images used above are real photographs of real stories and can be found here: pothole photo, rim damage, and the bubble.