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A Billion-Dollar Bump in the Road: The Worsening Crisis of America’s Potholes

By Susan Meyer

Updated June 2, 2026

Reviewed By Beth Swanson

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Are potholes getting worse?
Why are potholes getting worse?
What is being done?
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Car insurance and potholes

The Surprising Cost of America's Crumbling Roads

It’s a universally dreaded sound. A sudden, sickening thud followed by a violent jolt that rattles your teeth and shakes your steering wheel. You’ve just hit a pothole.

What feels like a minor, everyday annoyance is actually a symptom of a massive, multi-billion-dollar infrastructure crisis. According to AAA, the average pothole repair costs $600 to repair, and 1 in 10 drivers sustained vehicle damage significant enough to require repairs. In 2021 alone, there was a reported $26.9 billion in damages due to potholes.^[1]

As roads across the country continue to deteriorate, potholes have evolved from a seasonal nuisance to a year-round financial burden for motorists. Here’s why that is, how to avoid pothole damage, and what your car insurance may cover.

Is the Pothole Problem Really Getting Worse?

Despite high-profile legislative efforts, the state of U.S. roads is on a downward trend, and potholes are indeed getting worse.

A comprehensive analysis by The Pew Charitable Trusts reveals a stark reality. State funding for road and bridge maintenance is failing to keep pace with the rate of decay. Projections indicate that the aggregate Asset Sustainability Index (which measures whether states are spending enough to keep roads in stable condition) for pavements will plummet from meeting 80% of required funding to just 64% over the next decade.^[2]

Currently, roughly 13.1% of major U.S. roadways are rated in poor condition, with states like Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas battling some of the most severely deteriorated miles in the nation.

Why is This Happening?

Potholes are primarily formed from a combination of water, traffic, and temperature swings. Water seeps into cracks in the asphalt, freezes, and expands, pushing the pavement upward. When the ice melts, it leaves a void beneath the surface. The weight of passing vehicles collapses the unsupported asphalt, and a pothole is born.

Several modern factors are accelerating this cycle:

Extreme Weather

Climate change has amplified the "freeze-thaw" cycle in the winter and introduced intense heatwaves in the summer, both of which aggressively crack and weaken pavement.
Heavier Vehicles

The surge in popularity of heavy SUVs, trucks, and massive electric vehicles (EVs) puts more stress on aging asphalt. The average car on the road is now more than 4,300 pounds, which is 1,000 pounds heavier than in 1980.
Maintenance Backlog

For decades, governments have prioritized building new roads over maintaining existing ones, creating a nearly insurmountable backlog of repairs.

So it’s now a perfect storm for potholes. Increasingly erratic weather patterns weaken the roads, heavy cars damage them faster, and we can’t keep up with repairing them.

New Plans to Stop an Old Problem

Governments are not entirely asleep at the wheel. The federal government’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into transportation infrastructure, dedicating billions to states specifically to repair highways in poor condition.^[3]

Cities are also turning to technology to fight back:

Automated Patchers: Some municipalities are deploying "pothole killer" trucks that can fill a crater in under two minutes using automated mechanical arms, keeping human workers out of harm's way.
AI and Smart Sensors: Cities are utilizing AI-equipped cameras on public buses and garbage trucks to map potholes automatically, allowing public works departments to patch them before they become catastrophic.
Advanced Materials: Researchers are experimenting with self-healing concrete, recycled plastic additives, and rubberized asphalt to create road surfaces that resist water infiltration and withstand heavier loads.

However, because the funding deficit is so massive, these efforts often feel like putting a band-aid on a dam break.

The Toll on Your Vehicle

When your tire rolls over a pothole, it doesn’t just bump. It drops violently into a crater and slams hard against a sharp, rigid asphalt edge on the way out.

The kinetic energy from this impact has to go somewhere. Ideally, your tires and suspension absorb it. But if the pothole is deep enough or your speed is high enough, that energy bypasses your car's natural cushioning and starts bending, cracking, or breaking vital components.

1. Tires and Wheels

Tires: The sudden compression can pinch your tire's sidewall against the rim, causing an internal tear. This leads to sidewall bulges, structural failure, or an outright blowout.
Wheels: Aluminum alloy wheels look great, but they are prone to bending or cracking when slamming into deep holes. A bent rim prevents a proper seal, leading to slow air leaks and vibration.

2. Steering and Alignment

This is the most common hidden consequence. A bad hit can alter your wheel alignment angles (toe, camber, and caster). You’ll notice your steering wheel pulling to one side, or your tires wearing down unevenly and prematurely.

3. Suspension

Your suspension is designed to handle bumps, but potholes are the ultimate stress test. Shock absorbers, struts, ball joints, control arms, and tie rods can bend or leak. If your car bounces excessively, sways around corners, or makes knocking sounds over bumps, your suspension has likely checked out.

4. Underbody and Exhaust

If you hit a deep pothole at high speed, your car's body can compress so low that it bottoms out against the pavement. This can scrape or puncture your exhaust pipes, muffler, or catalytic converter. Worse yet, it can crack your engine’s oil pan, leading to a catastrophic fluid leak.

What to Do If You Can’t Avoid a Pothole

Obviously, the best thing to do is drive around it, but if it’s too late for that and you have to hit it, do not slam on the brakes directly over it. Braking locks up the wheel and compresses your front suspension, meaning your car hits the trench with zero give. Instead, slow down before the pothole, and let go of the brake right as you cross it to allow your suspension maximum travel to absorb the blow.

How Car Insurance Approaches Potholes

If a pothole leaves you with a bent rim or a ruined suspension, can you turn to your insurance company for relief? Well, that depends on your policy.

1. Potholes Require Collision Coverage

Pothole damage is handled under collision coverage, which is optional if your car is paid off, but mandatory if you lease or finance your vehicle. It may come as a surprise to some, but potholes are not covered under comprehensive coverage, as insurance companies view hitting a pothole the same way they view hitting a guardrail or another vehicle. It’s classified as a single-vehicle accident.

2. Deductible Might Be Higher Than the Claim

Even if you have collision coverage, filing a claim might not make financial sense. Collision coverage always carries a deductible (typically $500 or $1,000). If a pothole pops your tire and bends your wheel, resulting in a $650 repair bill, and your deductible is $500, the insurance company will only cut you a check for $150. Filing the claim could cause your monthly premiums to increase, costing you more in the long run.

3. Seeking Government Reimbursement

Because potholes are a failure of public infrastructure, you can sometimes hold the government responsible. Many cities, counties, and state Departments of Transportation (DOT) have claims processes where drivers can submit repair bills for reimbursement.

However, there is a catch: to be held liable, you generally have to prove that the city already knew about that specific pothole (via prior citizen reports) and failed to fix it within a reasonable timeframe. If you want to pursue this route, you must act fast, document the exact location with photos, get a police report or mechanic's statement, and file a claim with the relevant municipality immediately.

Wrapping Up

With worsening weather, heavier vehicles, and lagging budgets for public infrastructure fixes, don’t be surprised if potholes continue to be a nuisance on your city’s streets. It’s important to stay vigilant in a world full of holes. Drive the speed limit, keep an eye out, and report any you see.

Sources

Potholes Pack a Punch as Drivers Pay $26.5 Billion in Related Vehicle Repairs. [AAA]
States Are Falling Behind on Roadway Maintenance. [Pew Research]
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. [U.S. Department of Transportation]

Jump to

Are potholes getting worse?
Why are potholes getting worse?
What is being done?
What happens to your vehicle
Car insurance and potholes

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