MEMPHIS, Tenn. (LocalMemphis.com) – Viral photos of a heart-shaped pothole are posted on social media for Valentine’s Day, but it’s not a laughing matter for many drivers.
The City of Memphis posted new numbers Friday showing peoplereported more than a thousand craters last month.
We’ve been down this road before – pocked with potholes – and itremains a huge problem that comes around this time of year, like an unwantedholiday gift.
Troy Thibodeaux owns Wheel Tek Wheel Repair and says this time ofyear is like the Christmas holiday shopping rush for his shop, with a steadyflow of cars damaged from driving through potholes.
“20 to 30 – that’s an average,” said Thibodeaux.
That’s daily.
“It just never stops. The city’s infrastructure can’t keep upwith the potholes,” said Thibodeaux.
And that’s just the drivers who can see the damage.
“Mercedes are a little light weight, so they tend to bend alot easier than most, but we get a lot of customers that are Mercedescustomers. This is Mercedes.”
Thibodeaux’s shop uses special technology to find the flaws thatoften lead to slow leaks in your tires.
“We do a before and after on every job, so when a customercomes in, we’ll print off this. We’ll run their wheel and show them what’sgoing on with it by the numbers.”
The numbers just released by the City of Memphis show driversreported more than a thousand potholes last month. They repaired most of themwithin three days.
Most, but not all, and this month there will be even more reports.
Thibodeax says he’s even been bent out of shape over a bent rimand has learned lessons.
“We’ve become real good meteorologists. We’ve become realgood surveyors of the road, ya’ know and machinists on top of that.”