KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It's not just the weather that has drivers slowing down — it's the potholes that are accumulating across the Kansas City metro area.
"I drive down View High Drive everyday and it's horrible, the pot holes are awful," Tessa Jansen said.
Navigating the potholes is bad enough for drivers, and the snow covered roads is adding to it.
"It's actually kind of dangerous because, especially on a cold weather when it's icy, you just don't know what you're going to get," Diane Peoples said.
The potholes aren't hard to find. Dozens of potholes are scattered up and down View High Drive.
"The past two weeks it was kind of like, I noticed one lane was worse than the other and now it's honestly both lanes and it's just a mess," Jansen said.
Kansas City Public Works set up cones and covered some of the major potholes with steel plates. Even with the temporary fix, Jansen told 41 Action News she'd like to avoid the area all together.
Farmers Insurance Agent Brian Rauber told 41 Action News that drivers with pothole damage have a few options. They can pay out of pocket, file a claim, or request reimbursement from the city, county, or state that's responsible for the roads.
"I'm very timid about my new tires driving on that, so I don't want to be the first victim," Peoples said.
If a driver does file a claim with their insurance company, Rauber said to keep in mind it's considered an at-fault, negligent accident. That means the driver would be responsible to pay their collision deductible and likely their premium would go up.
More often than not, drivers will just pay out-of-pocket. To prevent doing that, drivers want more done to fix the pothole problem around town.
"It's time, because they've done overlays and overlays and overlays for the last few years, it is time for a total repavement," Peoples said.
In Kansas City, 610 potholes have been reported to 311 since Jan. 1. During the same time period in 2019, the city received 678 reports.
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