ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - So your car runs over a pot hole and you're looking at hundreds of dollars in repair bills. Who should pay for that?
The Missouri Department of Transportation says sometimes it pays the bill, if the pot hole was on a state route and MoDOT knew about the pothole, but failed to fix it in a "reasonable amount of time." State routes that are also numbered highways, i.e. Gravois Rd. (Route 30), Manchester Rd. (Route-100) or Lindbergh Blvd. (Routes 61 and 67).
MoDOT Engineer Linda Wilson Horn was asked what's a reasonable amount of time.
"That's one of those fuzzy claims situations, you know, similar to dealing with your insurance on your car or home," Horn said, "Typically, our goal is to get a pot hole repaired within the same day we know about it, or certainly within 24 hours."
Proving that MODOT knew about a pot hole before your car hit it may be difficult.
Horn says if someone has called in to report a pothole there is a time stamp associated with that pot hole.
But the claimant would have to obtain those MoDOT records to prove their case.
Claimants must also show proof of repair work.
Last year in the St. Louis area, 273 motorists made pot hole claims against MoDOT. Horn says only nine got paid. The total cost for those nine was about $7,000.
Right now, Horn says MODOT crews are out in force patching pot holes.
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