Pothole problems, Winnipeg? Here’s what officials say to do

A Winnipeg couple were driving home when their trip took a nasty turn.

Lawyer Daniel Minuk said he and his wife were driving down Jubilee Avenue when they rolled over a pothole that did some serious damage.

“If I had to estimate it was probably about two and a half feet long,” Minuk told 680 CJOB.

“I’m not sure how deep it was. It was probably about a foot or a foot and a half wide, and it was sufficient enough to take out two of our wheels, including bending … the rim of the first passenger side.”

According to Minuk, his car wasn’t the only victim of the Jubilee pothole — several other drivers had sustained similar damage on their vehicles.

0:58 Dealing with potholes

“I think most of us were just happy that we’d gotten through the issue without having further damage to our vehicle,” he said.

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“And then it was more just bemused annoyance that we were all stuck in the same situation, waiting for either loved ones or tow trucks to come pick us up.”

For how to respond to an incident like this, Brian Smiley of Manitoba Public Insurance said there are options for those who find themselves in a similar situation.

“A lot of people don’t know that they can open a claim, and they certainly can open a claim. And again, the claim is looked at by the adjuster. All claims are reviewed on an individual basis,” he said.

“However, if you admitted to driving into a pothole, not taking any defensive action, you just literally drove into it at a high rate of speed — didn’t reduce your speed, didn’t take any action to swerve or move — you could be evaluated after having a fault collision. Now, that will result in you paying your deductible. Also, you being assessed five demerit points.”

Minuk said he hopes the city works with MPI so drivers don’t have to unjustly pay out of pocket or receive demerits.

“I think that’s the biggest issue for most of us drivers who obviously couldn’t do anything differently on that particular evening,” he said. “So that would be my ultimate hope.”

Last week, city officials said they’ve been filling potholes since early March and plan on ramping up operations as temperatures warm up.

The city encourages Winnipeggers to report any potholes to 311.

— with files from Corey Callaghan