ABC15 recently heard from a Prescott Valley man who was one of a handful of drivers who reached out to Operation Safe Roads about poor Arizona road conditions and the expensive damage it has cost them.
"This is the worst I've seen, and I would say potholes are not common in Arizona," said William Skaggs. "It's not something that we expect on the roads."
The state denied his claim and others to pay them back for the cost of fixing the vehicle damage.
"And the total repair was about $1,350," Skaggs said.
He had video evidence of the moment of impact with a string of potholes on the I-17 near Sunset Point back in March of this year. But the Arizona Department of Risk Management said they were not responsible because there were signs in the area warning drivers of poor road conditions.
"Basically, the person that's denying the claim is a person that works for the state and obviously, it's in their best interest to deny the claim," Skaggs said.
ABC15 wanted to see what it would take to get a claim actually approved, so Megan Thompson sat down with an Arizona attorney.
"I would say the default on most all of these claims - whether it be a road condition... whether it be other things - is to deny them," explained Attorney Kevin Garrison with the Garrison Law Firm in Peoria.
He said the first thing any driver should do is file a Notice of Claim. This is important because it must be done within 180 days.
"You have to describe what it was that they did that was negligent or wrong," Garrison said. "You have to describe what your injuries are... what your damage is... and you have to put what's called a sum certain in there. So, you have to say, 'I'll settle my claim for $10,000 or $100,000,' or whatever it is."
Garrison stresses that drivers must be meticulous with the details and have as much evidence as possible.
"There's all sorts of other things that you can do to try and bolster that," Garrison described. "You could try to get maintenance records of that area, so a Freedom of Information request to the state or the city or the county. Google Earth, Google Maps... try to see if you can get a picture from a time before."
He said drivers have to prove that the state was negligent.
Now, if a pothole has not been previously reported, the state can claim it is a road hazard and they are not liable.
Like in Skaggs' case, the state claims there were signs warning drivers of the bad conditions.
"You have risk management... ADOA is the one who is making decisions on whether or not to approve or deny a claim... when it is in their best interest to deny it. How is there... how is there justice in that?" asked ABC15's Megan Thompson.
"All I can really tell you is based upon my experience, but I don't think my experience is much different from many, many, many lawyers I know. It seems to me, and my experience has been - universally - these claims are generally denied," Garrison responded.
So, what if the claim is denied? What is next?
Garrison said you can file a lawsuit. Of course, it is up to the driver to decide whether or not it is worth it to go this route.
"Most of the lawyers that do what I do, we charge on what's called a contingency fee," Garrison said. "So, what that means is, there's no money out of pocket to you to hire somebody like myself to look into it and pursue it."
He said, without question, the state does have an obligation to maintain the roads and potholes do not just appear out of nowhere. So, many people may have a case, even if that first claim was denied.
"You guys are doing a good job of news stories and the newspaper is too... this is not a surprise that we have this crazy, crazy wet weather... record rainfalls... record snowfalls... and now all of a sudden, potholes develop," Garrison said. "So, I think all of those things go toward, yes - this isn't something that just spontaneously happened. You should be aware of it."
ABC15 requested an interview with ADOA. They declined.
Have a road issue or a question for Operation Safe Roads? Call 833-AZ-ROADS or email roads@abc15.com.