LEXINGTON, Ky. — They’re something most drivers know well. Sometimes avoided, often unexpected and always feared: potholes.
Winter weather has opened up countless gnarly potholes on Kentucky roads, and efforts to avoid them have led to challenges for towing companies.
Non-Stop Towing and Recovery‘s Romeo McIntosh seems to deal with pesky potholes day-to-day.
“If we lose control of the truck, well, guess what happens? These trucks do major damage.” McIntosh explains just one way potholes that can be a hassle.
With over 20 years of experience, McIntosh, who started his towing efforts in the city, is the owner and operator of a now 6-year-old family-run towing business. Throughout the week, people can find McIntosh and his family helping with various automotive needs around central Kentucky.
He says potholes and roadway damage can be serious problems for service drivers and their cars.
“Believe it or not, that is wear and tear on our vehicles. So when you hit a pothole and it jars, it jars everything,” McIntosh said.
It's difficult to handle larger trucks and avoid potholes, and repairs are expensive. McIntosh is among those experiencing these conditions firsthand, and said they can even lead to safety issues while working.
“With all the potholes and stuff like that in the road, as we are on the side of the road and our lights are flashing, people don’t slow down,” McIntosh said. “They don’t pull over. If they hit a pothole or curb or something like that, they bounce into us because they are not paying attention.”
He says potholes, cracks in the road and other factors are a few underlying risks to the profession and possibly others. McIntosh believes changes and redevelopment overall would help.
“I’d rather somebody be safe and stay on the road [than swerve to avoid potholes],” he explained.
Soon, thanks to a grant from the Biden administration, dozens of Kentucky’s roads and cities will receive funding to help with roadway repairs and improvements.
If you see a pothole in Lexington that needs to be fixed, you can reach out to lex call at 311 or you can report them online at Lexington ky.gov.