Victorian woman’s $3600 headache after driving on ‘terrible’ highway

Exclusive: Tabitha has been repeatedly stung by the same pothole-riddled highway that ranks among Victoria’s most dangerous roads.

The Wodonga woman regularly travels across the Murray Valley Highway in the state’s north-east to visit family and often swerves to avoid craters, cracks and potholes in the road.

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Sometimes, there is not enough time to swerve.

Tabitha’s tyres and rims have been destroyed on multiple occasions as she drove on the 650-kilometre state-managed highway between Tallangatta and Corryong.

The potholes have resulted in costly damage to her car after four separate incidents, totalling over $3600 in repair and insurance excess.

“I travel on it once a month or so, but I am not travelling on it again after this issue until it is fixed,” she told nine.com.au.

“We have family out that way. The road is terrible, there are significant potholes along most of the road.”

Tabitha needed to repair her buckled rims after skidding into a pothole following the first incident.

The second time, she needed to replace the rims entirely at a cost of $2000.

It happened a third and fourth time, also shredding her tyres.

Insurance covered some of the damage, however she has shelled out over $3600 in repair costs.

Often, Tabitha is hitting the potholes while driving at night.

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“There are some I am aware of that I know to dodge which are larger than one of my tyres,” she added.

“And on a 100km/h roadway so I can only imagine what would happen if you didn’t know about it and hit it.”

Under Victorian law, there is a mandatory property damage threshold of $1681 for damage caused by hazards like potholes.

Anything under this amount and motorists need to cover their own repairs.

“Only covering over $1600 damages is ridiculous, my vehicle shouldn’t sustain any damage from a public road,” she said.

“I have paid more in damages than rego. What’s my rego being used for and why should I pay it?”

A spokesperson for Towong Shire Council in Tallangatta told nine.com.au the council is “very much aware” of the issues impacting the Murray Valley Highway.

“[Council] has been actively advocating for action to repair and improve this road and some others in the Shire – we advocate because these roads are the responsibility of Transport Victoria to maintain and repair and council cannot undertake repairs on these roads,” the spokesperson said.

“We have also provided regular advice to our communities on where to report hazards on these roads and why it is important to do this. ”

Victoria’s worst roads revealed

The Murray Valley Highway ranked among the most dangerous roads in the state’s north-east in the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) My Country Road Survey.

It was named four times in the list; Cobram to Yarrawonga, Corryong to Tallangatta, Wodonga to Tallangatta and Echuca to Shepparton.

“Regional roads can present unique hazards, including potholes, narrow shoulders, changing speed zones and insufficient opportunities to overtake safely,” RACV head of policy James Williams said.

A whopping 79 per cent of rural residents told nine.com.au’s exclusive Your Local, Your Say survey this month that potholes are a chronic issue.

Another 40 per cent of readers said poorly-maintained roads are their number one “frustration” with their suburb.