More Rain Equals More Potholes

Thunder storms are expected this time of the year on he highveld and they tend to happen at least 3 or 4 times a week. I personally enjoy a good storm as it tends to wash away all the dirt and fine dust that is blows around from the gold mine dumps.

The one downside is the roads tend to deteriorate far quicker when there is rain and the puddles hide the pot holes. Driving the local roads daily you know roughly were they are and can avoid them, but when they ae covered in water it makes it a mine field.

Whoever repairs the pot holes must be making a killing as their repairs last maybe a month before the hole reappears. I swear they must be doing such a poor job on purpose guaranteeing them constant work.

The problem is when you drive into other areas as you do not have the local knowledge where they are and some are big enough to blow a tyre or damage an axle. These days I have seen insurance companies asking on their apps where the pot holes are as this must be costing them a fortune in claim repairs.

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A couple of years ago a few insurance companies combined together to form the Pothole Patrol repair team and highlights how infrastructure in maintained in SA when private companies have to take action.

When I was in the UK I noticed a few potholes that would never have been the case 20 years ago and is a sign of where the tax money is being spent. In SA we know the tax money is not going on the roads and is more than likely ending up in a corrupt officials pocket.

I have seen locals placing deck chairs, tree branches inside these potholes as they are that big and one orange cone does not suffice due to the size of these holes. You may laugh when you see these things, but how embarrassing for the road agency not being able to fix the holes as they appear. In our area one or two individuals have laid bricks in some of the holes because they are a danger to everyone. This is bad enough in a car so I could only imagine what it must be like on a motor bike.

We all pay road tax via the discs we display on our car windscreens yet it does not seem like the money is ever making it's way back to the road for maintenance and some roads are so bad now they need a totally new road.

I used to drive the Johannesburg Durban route on a regular basis and refuse to do so these days as I believe the road is too dangerous. The ones doing the road works do not drive or understand traffic and the diversions they set up on the free ways are very suspect. We ad a fee way being resurfaced near where I live and those road works claimed hundreds of innocent lives over a two year period. Again this was another road I would avoid as the road markings were highly confusing and not traffic friendly.

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