Vaughan driver's pothole tire blowouts cause her financial grief, stress

Cindy Thompson says her efforts to get help not successful: 'It's been a nightmare'

Yorkregion.com
March 6, 2018
By Tim Kelly

A Vaughan woman whose car was seriously damaged by a pothole on a regional road two weeks ago is stuck in financial limbo after she says nobody will take responsibility for the issue.

Cindy Thompson said she hit a pothole on Hwy. 7 so hard it wrecked the front and rear right tires of her 2001 Chrysler Neon, making it undriveable and injuring her right knee in the process. Now she can't get the government body who is tasked with dealing with the problem, York Region Rapid Transit Corporation, to offer her relief.

Since Thompson's mishap occurred in a construction zone where Viva Next was being expanded on Hwy. 7, York Region Rapid Transit Corporation, not York Region itself, is responsible for dealing with her issue.

Russell Baker, spokersperson for York Region Rapid Transit Corporation, said when it receives a complaint regarding damage to personal property, the complainant is required to fill out a detailed complaint form. Thompson said she did so.

Baker said the form is then passed on to the contractor's construction liaison, because the incident happened in a construction zone, where an internal review process takes place regarding the claim.

Thompson has been told that the pothole has been filled in.

"In this particular case, crews repaired the reported pothole within 24 hours, well under the required 96-hour limit," Baker said. "When the contractor receives the complaint, they review their daily maintenance logs and assign crew members to perform a site check, as they are required to adhere to the minimum maintenance standards for municipal highways."

None of that work now helps Thompson, whose car on the night of Feb. 20 was towed to a Vaughan collision centre after she barely made it to a local gas station. It has sat there for more than 10 days, wracking up storage costs that Thompson said total more than $1,000.

"It's a nightmare," she said.

Thompson didn't have collision insurance because the car is 17 years old and she and her husband didn't figure it was worth the cost, so insurance doesn't cover her car's damage either.

She said she can't afford the bill to get the car out of the centre and was told if she doesn't pay up it will be repossessed.

She added she has seen her doctor, had x-rays done and discovered she has bruising around her kneecap.

"It's not helped by my having to take the bus. I need my car back," she said.

What she can't understand is why she isn't being offered a settlement for the damage to her vehicle since the pothole was only filled in once she filed a complaint about the issue with her car. She would appreciate some kind of payment, but hasn't been offered anything.

"Now you've filled in the problem, but the problem was there before you filled it in," she said.