This article is from page 8 of the 2011-02-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
ONE IN every five cars in Clare has been significantly damaged over the past month as a result of the potholes created by the big freeze before Christmas.
According to a survey carried out by the Automobile Association, 20.4 per cent of Clare drivers had to bring their car to the garage for repairs last month as a result of the damage caused by potholes. In 2009, less than 5 per cent of Clare drivers had to repair their cars as a result of pothole damage throughout the entire year.
Ennis mechanic Pat Foudy told The Clare People yesterday that the number of people reporting damage to their tyres and wheels spiked dramatically in January and that hitting a large pothole is potentially very dangerous for motorists.
“We have seen a massive amount of people coming into us with damage to the wheels and tyres of their cars. I had someone into me just five minutes ago who hit a pothole so deep that it ripped a four inch hole into the metal rim of the tyre and totally destroyed the tyre itself,” he said.
“The potholes are so bad this year that it’s impossible for motorists to avoid them. It’s a case of luck and people are having to spend a lot of money to repair their cars because of this.
“A lot of the people coming into me are angry and very frustrated that this is happening.
“It is a needless waste of money for them and it’s very very dangerous. People are coming in saying that their tyres have just gone from underneath them and anything can happen in that situation.”
According to the AA survey, Clare is the fifth worst county in Ireland when it comes to damage caused by potholes to date in 2011. Other counties which fared badly in the survey, which was the largest one of its kind every undertaken in Ireland, were Longford, Roscommon and Sligo.
The results showed that almost as many Clare motorists had to get their car repaired as a result of pothole damage in January as did in all of 2010.
Indeed, it is also believed that more then 50 per cent of Clare drivers have damaged their car in a minor way, such as damaged tracking, a result of the potholes.