We have all encountered a horrible pothole in our lives. It’s just a fact of driving – one minute it’s smooth going, and then BOOM, you are driving over what feels like a crater the size of whatever killed the dinosaurs. Potholes are not only inconvenient, though – they’re also dangerous, if they’re big enough and deep enough. Keep reading to find out more about how potholes are formed, what they can do to your vehicle, how to avoid them, and how to fix the situation!

First of all, the way potholes are formed is through water seeping into cracks in the pavement, freezing in the winter (i.e. why potholes are worse in the winter and spring) and expanding due to the power of chemistry or physics or whatever science it is that says that water expands when it freezes, and then that expansion weakening the pavement and causing holes to form under the repeated stress of thousand-pound vehicles driving over the weak spots daily.

But how do you avoid a pothole? Simple, don’t drive over one!

Just kidding. I mean, if that was your strategy then I’d be all for it, but of course, there are sometimes we have to use our judgment and sometimes where we can’t just drive past the potholes. In order to avoid a bad scrape, avoid puddles on the road. Unless you can see with your eyes from a moving vehicle that the water is just resting in a thin layer on the surface of the road (most likely when it’s just begun to rain), try to drive around the puddle. Water is very effective at hiding the true breadth and depth of a pothole and you could be in for a very nasty surprise.

If hitting the pothole is unavoidable, well, we’re all praying for you. Other than our thoughts and prayers, the thing that can actually help you in this dangerous situation is slowing down (not a sudden slam-on-the-brakes stop, a rapid yet somewhat gradual stop) and going over the pothole slower than you would have otherwise. If you really feel that it was a deep and disastrous encounter, then you might be well served by pulling over immediately afterward and making sure that your tires are all good and your vehicle is not broken or cracked anywhere. If after this encounter your steering wheel wants to go one direction or another and you have to actively counteract that as you drive, then your alignment probably got messed up. We can fix that!

The final step is to be proactive – if you come across a terrible pothole, call your local Department of Transportation or Department of Public Works and report the pothole. Never assume someone else has already done it. The more calls, the more likely it is that the problem will be fixed. Don’t succumb to the bystander effect!