Pothole Damage

Thursday, May 11th 2006, 10:19 am

By: News On 6

First it smacked her car and then it smacked her wallet. A Hulbert woman was passing through Tulsa this weekend when she says she ran into a major pothole on I-44 on the west part of town.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg says it is going to cost her a couple hundred dollars before all is said and done, but she thinks it could have cost her life.

Vonda York knew the pothole was trouble as soon as she saw it. "I was thinking, oh Lord, be with me please." But she says at highway speed, it was too late to react. "It was just right there, I couldn't miss it. I tried to avoid it and then we hit it, and this is the damage that was done."

The impact tore the rim loose, even from a tough alloy wheel. Her son Brandon was with her in the car when they hit. Vonda: "You could just." Brandon York: "Like hitting a rock or something." Vonda: "Like a big brick or something, just bam, it was there."

York says they made it home okay, but later that same day, she left again on an errand and felt the steering wheel vibrating. "So I pulled over and I saw the damage that was done to my wheel and this gentleman stopped and helped me to change my tire. And he says â€˜girl you are really lucky.â€™ And he said you're really lucky you didn't blow this tire and go into a roll and kill you and your son."

York found another wheel at a salvage yard for $75 bucks and then whatever the labor will be to put it on and check her alignment. It's annoying for someone on a tight budget. But more importantly, she says, people need to be aware how bad the potholes can be. "Y'know, the roads are bad, and there's needs to be something done before people in Tulsa are killed."

The News on 6 talked to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation; they say they know about this one.

Basically, they say once they hear about it, they have one workday to respond. They say they'll be out to fix it on Friday.