JACKSON, Mich. — In Jackson County's Blackman Township, pothole sightings aren't a rarity. Just ask residents of 20 years Terry and Dawn Barnett.
"(Clinton Way) is full of potholes. This has been this way for probably a year or longer," Terry said. "Some of them are pretty big."
These big potholes can cause big problems. Terry said he was only going 20 miles per hour when he and Dawn hit a pothole near the corner of Clinton Way and Hendee Road the night of Jan. 3.
"It was raining hard. You couldn't see the pothole," Dawn said. "It just went pop!"
Terry said the tire was basically new. It cost the Barnetts $161.34 to replace it, money they said they just don't have.
"We've been dealing with the Jackson County Road Commission to be reimbursed, and they won't do it," Dawn said.
The Barnetts received a letter April 5 from the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority. It said that because there is no evidence of negligence on the part of Jackson County, the Barnetts' claim was "respectfully" denied.
"I really don't know what else to do, you know, because they've already denied me," Terry said.
The couple is distraught, not because they are out almost $200, but because—considering the potholes throughout the county—this could happen again.
"Getting up to the hospital is nothing but bumps, holes," Dawn said.
No one from the Jackson County Department of Transportation was available for interview Tuesday. FOX 47 News also reached out to the insurance company that sent the letter denying the Barnetts' claim but never heard back.
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