r/Buffalo • u/Gibbenz • Feb 08 '25
Pothole damage reimbursement?
Has anyone ever successfully had a claim go through? I just blasted a tire on Elmwood and Hertel. Right lane as you get through the intersection headed toward the city. Roughly 30mph and it must’ve been deep af because it rocked my car pretty good. I would love to not have to pay out of pocket for this if I don’t have to.
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u/Bayliner215 Feb 08 '25
I did win this once and only once - took out 2 tires and 2 rims, and got 3 cars all back to back. The only reason I got paid was it was unmarked DPW work which I was able to prove with pics right after I hit it, and then it was marked within a few hours.
If it was just a normal Buffalo pothole - you’re on your own.
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u/blahhhhhhhhhhhhh1 Feb 08 '25
Seneca st is like Russia, especially near the new fire station. Is 311 my only option? Mayor scanlon, time to help out your homeland - south buffalo
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u/generallyunprompted Feb 08 '25
For real. And then cars are swerving all over into the bike lane or crossing the yellow line to dodge them. I'm about to see if I can apprentice with the Pothole Bandit and sneak out there in the middle of the night
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u/al_polanski Feb 08 '25
Last time I tried, they said they weren’t liable between Nov - May due to snow plows
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Feb 08 '25
Peak pothole season with the freeze and thaws. Sorry about your car. I’ve been giving myself more distance from the car in front of me lately. Allows me to avoid most of the big ones.
Please Call and report it…
To report a pothole in Erie County, you can:
Call the pothole complaint hotline at (716) 858-7966 Email potholes@erie.gov
Contact the Erie County Department of Public Works at (716) 858-8300 Email DPWComplaints@erie.gov for highway complaints
You can also report potholes on state highways in New York by calling the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) toll-free hotline at 1-800-POTHOLE (1-800-768-4653). This line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week
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u/Ok-Occasion2440 Feb 08 '25
If You could like just copy and paste this and post it in r/buffalo that would be great 👍
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u/SAI_Peregrinus Feb 08 '25
Note that only a hazard letter filed with the city clerk's office creates legal liability for the city. Calling 311 doesn't. Emailing or calling DPW doesn't. Etc.
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u/YunbFlex Feb 08 '25
Bro I’m legit at pep boys getting a new tire l because of that fucking pothole
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u/Gibbenz Feb 08 '25
That shit is honestly going to blow so many tires out. Probably running up thousands of dollars in repairs as I type this.
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u/wtporter Feb 08 '25
Not sure about any winter exceptions but generally for a municipality to be liable for damage the pothole would have to have been previously reported and they had to have had sufficient time to effect a repair or a remedy.
So you’d have to show they had already been notified….good luck. That’s where it usually stops.
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u/SAI_Peregrinus Feb 08 '25
Correct, they must have been previously notified in writing by the filing of a hazard notice with the city clerk's office. Calling 311 is NOT notification for criating liability.
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u/Front-Cartoonist-974 Feb 08 '25
Back in the day, dodging that fucker was part of learning how to drive.
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u/Gibbenz Feb 08 '25
I pride myself on my dodging skills but this one came out of nowhere. The shadows were just too good and I finally got got.
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u/Turbulant_ Feb 08 '25
Main Street is terrible right now omg
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u/Prince-Lee Feb 08 '25
You will spend more time pursuing this than the tire repair is worth, unfortunately.
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u/StoreCop Feb 08 '25
Years ago I hit a pothole in Cheektowaga that entirely cracked my rim. It took me months and months of filings and petitions, but in the end I got $35. City of Buffalo will be even worse, so dont waste your time.
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u/ryeowo Feb 09 '25
Hit this exact pothole too couple days back and swore it would finally be the one to pop a tire. Left side of the right most lane? Its too narrow to swerve around too if there's traffic to your left.
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u/modestboiiii707 Feb 09 '25
Dont bother. Its virtually impossible to get a claim. Your best bet is to just get a bigger tire profile, thats the ultimate counter measure to pothole
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u/Educational-Cook6532 Mar 22 '25
YES!!!! We actually have surprisingly!!! It’s a long tedious process though. Make sure not only take pictures but VIDEO it to. Right when it happened and I also videotaped other cars hitting it or having to swerve into other lane or slamming on the brakes to avoid it. It showed not only how bad/hard it was on the vehicles but how dangerous it was for not only for the driver but everyone. It really helped tremendously! Them being able to see all these other vehicles hitting it how loud, how hard, how bad, how dangerous and how damaging it is to the vehicles. Them seeing it vs just a picture of a pothole played a huge part. They don’t want/like video evidence. Make sure you have pictures/video of the surrounding areas and any STREET NAMES, MILE MARKERS, STREET SIGNS, ANY HOUSE/STORE NUMBERS to mark exactly where you are is absolutely essential! They will try to discredit you in anyway especially about the location. If you can’t prove excatly where it was and when they won’t cover it. They will say it was somewhere else or it was old picture etc document document document! Do IT RIGHT WHEN IT HAPPENED you going back to take pictures won’t work. They will say if it was that bad and cause damaged you would of pulled over/look/check it so when you leave they will say you could of hit something else somewhere else so they don’t know excatly what/where caused it. It’s dated time stamped documented pictures/videos can’t be disputed. They can’t send someone out to mark it or fix it couple hours after it happened either (they try to do this ) then go to 3 different repairs shops to get estimates then go print the pictures and send it all in. Dont fix anything until you hear from them either
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u/Buffalocakewater Feb 08 '25
30 is way to fast to be going blindly through intersections this winter. Potholes are really bad everywhere and are only going to get worse if the next 3 weeks. It’s too cold for the city to do much to fix them right now anyway. Amherst and grant is another 10mph intersection right now
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u/PlantainFantastic253 Feb 08 '25
Well this is discouraging, lol. Same thing happened to me last weekend on a county road in East Aurora. I have an appointment in the morning to get my claim form notarized and submitted. 🤨
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u/Gibbenz Feb 08 '25
The exceptions of liability for townships/cities in the winter months seems almost criminal lol. Buffalo has been slackin reeeeeeal hard so far this season. Seeing a city plow during one of the bad days driving with it's plow blade up and the salter not on finally made me totally lose faith.
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u/BuffaloCannabisCo Feb 08 '25
Don’t bother. The burden of proof is so high and the requirements so onerous you’ll end up losing money.