How to navigate potholed roads

Driving South African roads often feels like navigating a minefield with all the potholes, worsened by much-needed rainfall.

Potholes are often difficult to avoid and they can be hard to see, especially at night or in heavy traffic. Swerving out of the way is simply not always possible, but navigating potholes smartly might save your vehicle a lot of damage.

Potholes should be reported to the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ’s) Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) via the Find & Fix mobile application, via email to hotline@jra.org.za or by calling Joburg Connect on 0860 JOBURG. The official service level agreement turn around time for reported potholes is three working days.

A well-known tyre dealership gives the following tips:

• Properly inflated tyres will hold up better against potholes than tyres that are under-inflated.

• Leaving enough room between you and the vehicle ahead on the road can be critical in avoiding potholes.

• If you simply can’t avoid driving through a pothole, be sure to slow down and never brake directly over a pothole as this can actually cause more damage.

• When you have to drive over a pothole, make sure to hold the steering wheel firmly to avoid losing control.

• Watch out for puddles, often potholes in disguise.

Pothole damage can be detected by answering the following questions about tyres:

• Is your vehicle pulling to the left or right, is your alignment off?

• Are the tyres unevenly worn?

• Is there low tyre pressure?

• Are there any bulges, tears or blisters on the sidewalls of tyres?

• Are there indents in the wheel rim?

Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.

For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites Randfontein Herald, Krugersdorp News and Get It Joburg West Magazine

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