Potholes sound harmless enough. That is, if you’ve never driven over one in the past. If you’ve taken your car to a body shop because you’ve driven over a pothole, then you know how damaging they can be. This is why if you want to save a lot of money, it’s a good idea to know how you can avoid damages caused by these potholes.

What are Potholes?

Potholes are those seemingly invisible holes on the road. You don’t really see them. You feel them. One minute you’re driving leisurely down the road while singing along to Bob Marley, and the next thing you know, you’re screaming profanities as you’re thrown around like a rag doll inside your car because you’ve hit something. Well, that something is called a pothole. While you’re thinking that the only damage is the burn on your leg because of the spilled coffee caused by the pothole, a good body shop will tell you that there could be damages to your car’s body.

For starters, your rims could be damaged. The underside of your car could be damaged as well. Depending on how bad the pothole is and how low to the ground your car is, there could also be damages to the body of your car.

Now, there’s a chance that your car could escape damages, but why risk it? There are a lot of potholes along the road, and unless you want to take your car to the body shop or auto repair every month, you have to know how to avoid damages caused by potholes.

How to Lessen the Risks of Damages

Here are some tips that you can follow in order to save yourself from an expensive trip to a body shop:

• Get some distance.

Don’t tailgate a car. By keeping your distance, there’s a good chance that you’ll see the pothole as the poor fellow in front of you falls victim to it first.

• Whatever you do, don’t swerve.

Swerving to avoid the potholes is one of the worst things that you can do. By swerving, you run the risk of losing control of the car. In addition, there’s also the risk of you getting into a collision with another vehicle. These things can lead to a very expensive body shop appointment and potentially, a trip to the hospital. In addition, swerving and still hitting the pothole can do more damage because your car will be in a diagonal position.

The best thing to do is to slow down before hitting the pothole and then taking your foot off the brake just before you hit the pothole. Hitting the pothole while braking can lead to more damage because of the lurching forward motion of your car.

• Always make sure that your car tires are properly inflated.

Under-inflated tires are more susceptible to damages.

• Make a mental note of all the potholes that you pass.

This is especially true for the potholes in the roads that you pass by regularly. In addition, you can also check out the local reports for reported potholes.

What to Do if You’ve Run Through a Pothole

It’s a good idea to have it checked by a body shop and/or auto repair center. This is to make sure that there are no auto body damages to the car.

Follow