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Drivers Report Damage from Dangerous Road
Posted: Nov 13, 2012 1:23 PM by Janine Reyes
Updated: Nov 13, 2012 6:43 PM
CORPUS CHRISTI - Several drivers need hundreds of dollars in repair done to their cars, after joint material came loose on SPID near Ayers last night.
Unfortunately, those repairs will have to be done out of pocket for some who need their cars now.
"Brake drums $80, rims probably another $100 to $200; I don't know if anything is broken in the inside either in the back, brake pads, hub could be broken," said Bryan Paree, whose truck has a flat and is immobile today. His rim is bent around the brake, making it impossible to just change the tire.
Add to that the tow truck service and Paree expects to spend a minimum of $400 in car repairs after driving down the damaged road last night.
"I looked up and I just felt a jump in the back and the truck started spinning and I grabbed it and I heard the tire blow," said Paree.
He's not the only one. An entire shopping center lot off of Greenwood filled up with tow trucks and cars when one by one, drivers ran through the same hazard in the road. We counted at least 10.
Texas Department of Transportation Spokesman Rickey Dailey tells us flexible joint material in the road came loose, causing a 3 foot by 1 foot hole in the road, that was 8 inches deep.
Paree was not the first or the last to hit it. He saw stranded drivers everywhere.
"One behind me, about 5 in front of me. I saw two people on the left side," Paree said.
Janice Larson was one of them, she says she was probably the third or fourth driver to hit the hole in the road. "Then it went to 8, 10, 12. There's probably 15-20 cars involved," said Larson.
TxDOT was quick to repair the road. It only took an hour, but the impacted drivers may be waiting awhile if they plan to pay for repairs through TxDOT.
Representatives say impacted drivers must file a claim in writing and mail it to Austin. There's no guarantee they'll cover the damage and it will take up to 10 days to just find out.
Paree, who is already out one day of work today because of back pain, says he just can't afford to do that.
"I'm not going to be able to wait for them to fix the truck. I have to go to work," he said.
He plans to pay up front, keep his receipts and file with TxDOT.
For now, he's just happy he's okay.
"I was shaken up a bit," Paree said.
Drivers have to mail their claim in writing to:
TxDOT's Tort and Liability Section
P.O. Box 149148
Austin, TX 78714-9148
Be sure to include date, time and location with that claim.
Engineers are looking into the cause. They say it is a heavily traveled road, which may have led to the problem.
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