SELIGMAN, AZ — ABC15 has learned a crash on Interstate 40 last month seriously injured a mother and sent her child to a hospital. Fire officials say they believe it was caused by a pothole on the freeway near Seligman.
The car had a tire blowout, leading the driver to hit a median and roll. That's just one of multiple dangerous situations that have happened to drivers in recent weeks between Kingman and Seligman.
"(She) made it safely off the side of the road, was waiting for us to get out there to change her tire and another car hit that pothole. The wheel flew off of that other person's car and hit that lady's car on the side of the road," says Wendy Quinlan.
Quinlan manages Historic Route 66 Automotive and Towing, which is open 24 hours a day in Seligman. Quinlan says they've been receiving 50 to 80 calls a day but, with limited resources, they can only get to about a quarter of those needing help.
"A lot of the time, my driver will at least go out and get them into town in a hotel room, safe for the night until we can figure out something to do for them the next day," says Quinlan.
She tells us tow companies in surrounding towns are also overwhelmed, trying to keep up with the demand. Seligman Fire says hotels are so busy and they've even had to take people in for the night at their firehouse as they wait to get their tires fixed.
"Every day, I've got a lot full of cars on doughnuts and those are the ones that could actually make it off the interstate," says Quinlan.
ABC15 has continuously reached out to the Arizona Department of Transportation. We're told the wet weather this winter and early spring has created ideal conditions for potholes. ADOT says crews address them as quickly as possible, making short-term patches followed by longer-term repairs, which involves removing a section of the pavement around the pothole. A project to cover a larger section of the interstate isn't expected until 2025.
"I'd like to see some more signs out there and some reduced speed limits. I think that would create a lot less carnage than we're dealing with right now," says Quinlan.
**Seligman Fire has issued a correction to ABC15 regarding the crash. They tell us they initially misspoke when saying a mother was killed and clarified that she was left paralyzed. This is a crash they believe was caused by a pothole near Seligman. Their hope is to bring attention to the dangerous conditions on the interstate so that changes are made.