First winner of the Pothole Pocketbook Contest receives $500 for pothole-related repairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lauren Zdeba, Truscott Rossman
Monday, March 18, 2013 [email protected]
734-646-1325
LANSING, Mich. – Nicole VanPutten of Kalamazoo is the first winner of the Pothole Pocketbook Contest and will receive $500 for pothole-related repairs to her vehicle, the Michigan Transportation Team (MTT) announced today. VanPutten submitted her $700 repair bill after her husband hit an unavoidable pothole on his way to work.
“My husband drives from Kalamazoo to East Lansing every day because he works at Michigan State University,” VanPutten said in her entry. “He [had] been avoiding the same hole, but it [had] been getting larger and larger. Finally, it was just too big and he hit it. It caused $700 in damage to our VW. The entire wheel had to be replaced … and they had to keep our car for four days.”
The Van Puttens are a great example of what is happening to Michigan drivers across the state, according to Mike Nystrom, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association and co-chair of the MTT.
“Stories like Nicole’s have become all too familiar in Michigan,” said Nystrom. “We’re glad to help reduce the cost of Michigan’s bad roads for four motorists through this contest, but the real problem – Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure – isn’t going away without legislative action.”
The average Michigan motorist pays $357 annually in unnecessary vehicle repairs due to poor roads, according to an April 2012 report by the national transportation research group TRIP. Bad roads cost Michigan drivers a total of $2.5 billion per year in extra vehicle repairs.
The Pothole Pocketbook Contest is open to all Michigan-licensed drivers aged 18 or older who have experienced vehicle repairs caused by bad roads in 2013. One winner will be randomly selected each week through April 5 to win up to $500 to cover the cost of pothole-related repairs. The next winner will be announced on Monday, March 25.
For more information on the Pothole Pocketbook Contest, visit justfixtheroads.com/contest.
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The Michigan Transportation Team (MTT) is a broad-based, bipartisan partnership of business, labor, local government, associations and citizens with the common goal of improving Michigan’s transportation infrastructure. MTT is committed to promoting the development and maintenance of a safe, convenient and efficient transportation network that serves the public, private and economic development needs of Michigan. For more information on transportation funding, visit JustFixTheRoads.com.
