Malcolm Taylor, from Koonoomoo, said he hit the worst pothole he has ever encountered last week, on the Murray Valley Highway about three kilometres west of Strathmerton .
“I’ve lived in the region for nearly 50 years and have watched our roads go from the best in the country, to now surely the worst,” Mr Taylor said.
Rebbeka was driving north from Avenel on the Hume Hwy on July 2 when she hit a pothole so severe it blew a tyre and dented a rim, she said she was just one of about 20 other vehicles pulled over that night.
Minutes later, still on her spare, she hit another. Repairs will cost her more than $1900.
Yarrawonga resident Jennifer Hogg said pothole strikes on the Goulburn Valley and Murray Valley highways, and in Yarrawonga, have left her with three shredded tyres and a damaged rim, costing her almost $2500.
“I am only one of hundreds of people who have been impacted by the state of our roads. It is a miracle that people have not been injured,” she said.
The worst hit, on the Goulburn Valley Hwy on July 1, sent Ms Hogg’s car swerving toward a barrier.
Jennifer Sherriff asks, “If we’re legally required to keep our vehicles roadworthy, why aren’t our roads required to be vehicle worthy?”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Sherrill Johnstone, almost word for word, and by dozens of others online.
Motorcyclist Chris Murley warned the damage isn’t just financial: “A pothole like this could kill you.”
Danielle Wade, a mother of teenagers, said water-filled potholes that look like harmless puddles are “very stressful” to factor into her kids’ driving.
Others have simply given up.
Like Christie Lea, who turned back to Melbourne rather than risk the Hume in the dark.
Elizabeth Corrie's advice? “Save your tyres, take the train.”
Diane Hubbard summed up the mood after a Bendigo-to-Kerang trip.
“I felt like I was driving in Super Mario Brothers cart race, dodging holes and loose pieces of bitumen,” she said.
For a growing number of northern Victorians, their daily drive has become less about getting from A to B, and more about getting there in one piece.
