Sterling Heights woman receives $280 for repairs in the Pocketbook Pothole Contest
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Paulla Wissel of Sterling Heights is the second winner of the Pothole Pocketbook Contest and will receive $280 for pothole-related repairs to her vehicle, the Michigan Transportation Team (MTT) announced today. Wissel submitted her repair bill after hitting a pothole on Van Dyke.
“It was dark and wet while driving to work, and I hit a pothole south of 13 Mile on Van Dyke,” Wissel said in her entry. “It immediately blew the back passenger side tire. I had to have the vehicle towed… The wheel had to be replaced due to [non-repairable] dents in the rim. My tire was able to be reused, but the wheel had two large dents.”
This run-in with a pothole is unfortunately a great example of what is happening to many other 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 about damage to vehicles caused by potholes have become too commonplace, because of the crumbling state of Michigan’s infrastructure,” Nystrom said. “We’re glad to help reduce the cost of Michigan’s bad roads for Paulla and other motorists through this contest, but the real problem – a lack of adequate road funding – will not go 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, April 1.
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.
