How to Eliminate or Minimize the Damage
Sooner or later everybody hits one of these things. In the majority of cases even a deep pothole can be a non event. The natural reaction when someone sees one of these monsters is to hit the brakes, which is okay up to a point. The damage occurs because the driver doesn’t release the brake before hitting the pothole. When the wheel enters the hole with the brakes applied it stops rolling because it is now suspended in air. Now the stationary wheel slams into the sharp edge on the other side of the hole bending the wheel, damaging the tire, or both. The proper technique is to brake to maximum before the hole reducing speed as much as possible and then release the brake at the last instant so the wheel can roll through it. It may sound bad when it hits, but most of the time there is no damage. You will react correctly the next time you are confronted with Pennsylvania’s state treasure if you think through this technique and practice on some small holes.