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VERIFY: Is Macon-Bibb responsible for paying for pothole damage to your car?

If you get a flat tire from driving over a pothole, do you pay for it? Or does the city?

MACON, Ga. — If you drive through Macon-Bibb, odds are you'll probably hit a bump or two in the road. 

Dozens of pesky pot holes have popped up and while crews work to fix them, sometimes it's too late for drivers.

WMAZ noticed people chatting online about cracked rims and deflated tires, asking if the city is responsible for damage to their cars from potholes.

Our sources for this story? Macon-Bibb Public Works Director Marvin Land and County Spokesman Chris Floore.

We asked them to verify who's responsible for paying for the damage.

For Mary Beth Handte, driving through Macon can be a hassle. 

"There's also a lot of debris that collects in the potholes, like loose nails and rocks, and they get embedded in my tires," said Handte. "I'm having to pretty much replace a tire every couple of months."

She says she's put a lot of money into fixing her car after repeatedly having to drive over potholes and wants to know if the city should be paying for the damage.

Public works director Marvin Land says his crews patch potholes Monday through Friday.

"There are a lot of potholes in Macon-Bibb, just like everywhere," said Land.

Land estimates that his crews fill about 200 to 250 pot holes per week, and it only takes about 10 minutes to fill each hole. 

So public works repairs them, but who's responsible for paying for the damage they cause?

Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore says according to the county attorneys, it's not them. 

The county pays to repair the potholes, but is not responsible for paying for damage to tires.

"We try to respond within 24 hours, usually within a day we will have it repaired," said Land. 

If you spot a pothole, you can report it to the county via the "see click fix" app on the Macon-Bibb government website. 

Just drop a pin on the map and add a description of the problem.

"We're working towards fixing what's reported and what we find," said Land. 

So we verified in Macon-Bibb County, they are NOT responsible for paying for damage to your car from potholes.

If you have something you'd like 13WMAZ to look into, send us an email at news@13wmaz.com or send it to us in an inbox message on our Facebook page.

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