DALEVILLE, Ind. — Forty of the scores of motorists whose cars have been damaged on a 15-mile, pothole-ridden section of Interstate 69 have brought tort claims against the state.

The potholes are making an already dangerous route — due to construction zones —even more hazardous.

From Oct. 1 through Feb. 28, there were 186 crashes, resulting in 25 injuries and one death, on I-69 between mile markers 219 (Pendleton) and 234 (Daleville), according to Indiana Criminal Justice Institute records.

Chris Polo, who commutes from Fishers to his job as a chef at Muncie Community Schools, says he feels like a race car driver once he gets north of Pendleton.

"I put down my coffee and start swerving," he said. "I know where the potholes are. It's crazy."

►YOUR ROADS: Two major city street projects in the works, plus an update on West Jackson Street

Heading home on a late Friday afternoon on Dec. 14, it was dark and Polo couldn't see the potholes. His car started shaking after he hit one, denting both wheels on the right side. He has submitted a tort claim for $378.26.

Two weeks ago, a metal object on the highway flew up and struck Polo's car between the headlights. "If it had been a foot higher, it would have gone through the windshield at my face," he said. "My car keeps getting beat up from this road."

The object in the road might have been a hubcap. Sandra Neel, a CPA from Fishers, compares the notorious stretch of I-69 to an obstacle course, where you have to dodge not only potholes but hubcaps, tire tread and other debris. Due to rough pavement, a board bounced off the back of a truck her husband was driving behind. It almost struck his car.

'No longer in service'

None of the 20 claimants reached by The Star Press has received a payment so far. The state has 90 days to approve a claim, which is deemed denied if not OK'd within that time.

It's been more than 90 days for Lester Bush — transportation manager at Fort Wayne Community Schools — who remains in limbo, perhaps a bad sign for other claimants awaiting a decision.

On the afternoon of Nov. 22, he was southbound in his 2017 Lincoln Continental, in a construction zone, en route to Thanksgiving dinner with family in Indianapolis.

On his right side was a semi trailer-truck. On his left side was a concrete barrier. A pothole suddenly appeared on a curve in the road, so he couldn't avoid it. His left front tire went flat and he had to pull over. He felt he was too close to traffic to safely change the tire, so he waited an hour for roadside assistance.

The next day, a Ford dealer said the tire couldn't be repaired because the sidewall was pinched, and his all-wheel-drive car would need four new tires, not just one new tire: mismatched tires can cause drivetrain damage. The bill came in at $1,005.58.

Bush received a letter from the state saying it was not responsible. The letter said the responsible parties were two contractors hired by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) to fill the potholes.

"I tried to reach the contractor but the state gave me no phone number, and the address they gave me I could not find in the phone book," Bush said. "I called an investigator for the state, who gave me a number to call. I called the number and it was no longer in service."

► I-69 Potholes flatten commuter's tires twice in one day

Blaming the contractors is not the only reason the state can deny a claim.

A spokesperson for the Indiana attorney general's office told The Star Press claims can be denied if not timely filed, if INDOT did not have notice of the pothole or of it being in a known problem area, or if INDOT did receive notice of the pothole but it was so recent that there was not a reasonable amount of time to make repairs. A reasonable amount of time depends on the weather, the number of complaints, holidays and so forth.

Several claimants said it has been all over the news this past winter about that section of I-69 being a known problem area. Others said it has been a known problem area for at least two years.

Jarett Chaiken, Indianapolis, who has submitted a $353 claim for tire damage on Feb. 4, says the state had to have been aware it was a known problem area, because the state had posted pothole warning signs.

Nathan Garrett, parts manager at the Ed Martin auto dealership in Anderson, lost the use of his car for nearly a week after hitting a "very large pothole" in a construction zone on Feb. 7.

'Very hard to believe'

The day before that, Michael Short, a service technician at Ed Martin, found himself changing a tire on the side of I-69 — "and I will say it was very dangerous doing that" — after hitting a pothole.

Last year, on his way home from having spent more than $900 on new rims and tires, Short struck an I-69 pothole and bent one of the brand new rims. He filed a tort claim, but it was denied.

"They said that they did not know about the pothole on I-69, which I find very hard to believe," Short said.

Regarding the 186 crashes on that stretch of I-69, state police Sgt. John Bowling said, "A lot of factors go into traffic crashes — speed, weather, traffic, road condition, et cetera … Those potholes kept our troopers and road repair crews very busy during the first two weeks of February. Speed was also a crash-causing factor in the construction zone, with folks driving too fast for the existing traffic and road conditions."

Unsafe at any speed?

But I-69 seemed to be unsafe at any speed, even when state-police-led rolling slowdowns kept traffic moving at only 40 mph.

Todd Perkins, from Fort Wayne, drove in one of the slowdowns behind a state police car, on Feb. 7. He still sustained a flat tire and joined two other disabled motorists on the shoulder of the highway. At a Tire Barn in Anderson, he was told he was the store's 10th flat-tire customer that day.

But February wasn't the only problem month.

The Tire Barn's Steve Young told The Star Press recently that at least 50 to 60 motorists have visited his store due to flat tires on I-69 in the past couple of months. At least 30 of those customers had their cars towed to the store, he estimated.

On Dec. 16, Melissa Geyer, Antwerp, Ohio, had her car towed to an Anderson Walmart for repairs. The driver of the wrecker told her he had just towed another vehicle from the same spot on I-69, and that several weeks earlier he had hauled nine vehicles, all with flat tires, from the same location.

"What was supposed to be a simple trip to my uncle's for our Christmas gathering cost me $1,200 in repairs," Geyer told The Star Press. "What we thought was a simple flat tire was repaired. My husband and I knew before we were out of the Walmart parking lot that there was more damage. The car was making a grinding noise in the front end, and the alignment was way off."

Altogether, the 40 claimants are seeking damages for repairs to brake calipers and rotors; rims and wheels; tires; improper wheel alignment; and suspension way bars, struts, bushings and springs.

'Construction zone injuries'

INDOT says it received 193 reports from the public about I-69 between Pendleton and Daleville during October through February. But not all of those were requests to fix potholes, spokesperson Mallory Duncan said. Included in that number were "requests about a damaged guardrail or a fence that's down. We've also had work requests opened when there are backups on I-69 in the area."

In addition to those complaints, there is the construction zone.

Charlotte Jared, a minor from Indianapolis, suffered a right front skull fracture and other injuries when the car her father was driving was rear-ended by a semi truck-trailer on Aug. 19.

According to a tort claim filed on Feb. 1 by attorney W. Kent Winingham, the girl's father, Michael, was southbound on I-69 in Madison County when a car that was behind him passed him — by driving through and around the left lane of the highway where construction barrels were located. The car then cut back into traffic, causing vehicles to stop quickly. As the result of stopping abruptly, Jared's vehicle was rear-ended and totaled. Jared and his wife also were injured.

"Preliminary investigation has revealed that the severity and sudden nature of the lane changes form multiple lanes to one or two lanes, along with the potentially improper placement of construction barrels and barriers, caused congestion and hazardous conditions that caused or contributed to this crash," the claim asserts.

Some of the 40 claimants described I-69 as a "crater-filled" war zone, with disabled cars frequently jacked up on the shoulder while tires are changed. One claimant says after a blown tire was replaced with a spare tire, the spare hit a pothole and was damaged, too.

Typically, auto-insurance collision coverage will pay for damage to a wheel or undercarriage — minus a deductible — but will not pay for tire damage.

'No pity'

A teacher in Franklin, Jeremy Lorton, who lives in Anderson, experienced flat tires on a section of I-69 where there was no shoulder on which to pull over. It happened on one of the worst days for potholes: Feb. 7.

"Prior to that day, the commute was always rough," he told The Star Press, "but I have not seen conditions that poor before … The pothole cost me two new tires plus a tow — almost $300 — and a personal day. Fortunately, my insurance covers towing but I was still $250 out of pocket."

Ronald Sells, a retired Valvoline sales representative from Muncie, filed a claim for $410 after sustaining a flat tire on his new Cadillac around 6 p.m. on Dec. 30. As his car "limped" off the highway at the Daleville exit, he passed two others with flat tires.

It was dark and rainy. Sells and his wife, a retired St. Lawrence Catholic School teacher, had been celebrating his father's 91st birthday at a Ruby Tuesday in Indianapolis. They waited an hour for a tow truck, then rode with the truck, carrying the Cadillac on a flatbed trailer, to their home.

The couple's auto-insurance policy has a $500 deductible, so Sells didn't file a claim.

And he took it all in stride. "There are so many people worse off than I am," he said. "I didn't get angry. It would ruin the mood I was in — blessed to have a dad. Maybe the state will have pity on me. So far they have not shown pity."

A rehabilitation and widening of the notorious 15-mile stretch of highway is currently underway.

► $79-million contract awarded last year to widen, rehab I-69

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com



