I try very hard to avoid driving over manhole covers. I figure that it is not good for my tires to run over hot metal covers, as well as the fact that they have grooves in them. What do you think about this?
I think you are worrying about a non-existent problem . I would rather you watch the road than trying to spot manhole covers .
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A friend drove over a manhole with no lid and totaled his car. The city disavowed any liability and his insurance kept him on standby for months fighting the city before they paid off. Of course eating the $1,000 deductible and the inconvenience was troubling. I find myself paying attention to manholes these days. But hot metal covers level with the roadway shouldn’t be a problem. And besides, why would the cover be hotter than the pavement?
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Your tires can handle the heat. Don’t worry about it.
It’s more dangerous to attempt to avoid them than just driving over them as if they weren’t there imo. Your car and tire manufacturers are aware of the existence of manhole covers and have designed their products so driving over the covers is safe and results in no damage. The only exception is when the road crew is repaving. Sometimes they leave the cover sticking up too high (before they finish the job) or – something very common in these parts – they leave a deep hole shaped as a ring around the covers. Those should be avoided if possible until the road crew properly finishes the job.
The son ran over a manhole where the city didn’t make sure the cover was properly installed
The tire fell into the hole, and cover flipped up damaging the bottom of the rear quarter panel.
He tried filing for damages with the city. but was told unless he could prove that the city employees didn’t install cover correctly, he was SOL.
Tester
So many things to worry about! Try global warming, nuclear war, crazy guys with automatic weapons, distracted people with cell phones, slipping in the shower, rat poison in your coffee, hit by lightning. Not to mention angry spouse.
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I was walking on a sidewalk on a university campus. There was a blind student about 25 feet ahead of me. A car on the street parallel to the sidewalk and going the same direction came screeching to a stop, the motorist jumped out of the car and grabbed the blind student. The motorist somehow saw an uncovered manhole in the sidewalk and managed to grab hold of the blind student before he fell into the manhole.
That incident really made me aware of blind people. Many years later at the beginning of the school year I had pulled out of my parking lot into a busy street. A blind student was in the middle of the street. I positioned my car to block traffic and got the student into my car. He was just learning the campus and had gotten 90 degrees off and into the street instead of getting onto the correct sidewalk.
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I usually avoid them just because for whatever reason on our streets they are not even with the pavement. I do not have to go out of my lane to do so. Definitely avoid the ones without covers!
My only complaint about manhole covers is. 90% of the time they are right in the wheel tracks, not the center of the lane or between lanes. You almost always just have to hit them whether they are even with the road surface or not.