Dangerous Roads newsletter: The potholes that ate Long Island

There are some assignments that come up on the transportation beat like clockwork each year: the Thanksgiving weekend getaway, the prospect of an MTA fare hike and, my least favorite to cover, the beginning of pothole season.

As many times as I’ve written about what happens when Long Island’s frozen roads begin thawing out around this time of year, even I was surprised when a video surfaced on social media of no fewer than 15 cars pulled over on the shoulder of the Sagtikos State Parkway, having driven over a huge road crater that popped their tires, or worse.

"All these people just lost tires from that massive pothole," East Northport resident Gerard McGorry said in the video, which he shot and was viewed more than 680,000 times. 

Even by this jaded transportation reporter’s standards, it was a remarkable sight, and not an isolated one. We separately heard on the same morning from a man who saw another half dozen cars pulled over on the Northern State Parkway near the Route 106 exit. Other motorists had sent in photos of potholes so big that driving over them could surely cause some major damage, or worse.

In August 2024, a woman driving in Kansas City, Missouri, said she lost control of her vehicle after running over a large pothole, crossed over a median and was broadsided by another vehicle. The woman, Brittany Stillwell, and the driver of the other vehicle were critically injured, and Stillwell’s 8-year-old daughter, Tiler Dildine, was killed.

Just last month, there was another story out of Cambridgeshire, England about a fatal car crash on a road with a pothole "the length of two cars," according to one driver who swerved into a ditch to avoid falling into the chasm.

A Google search led me to several more accounts of fatal crashes alleged to have been caused by potholes, and while they may not be commonplace, it’s not a stretch to think that a road hazard that could sideline more than a dozen cars within minutes of each other could also cause a serious wreck.

And, while it’s true that government officials have a responsibility to maintain roads, and therefore, to fix potholes, they first have to know about them. And so drivers, too, have a responsibility to report potholes — especially those that appear particularly dangerous — as soon as possible.

And, yes, I suppose transportation reporters have a responsibility to occasionally write about potholes, too.

For state roads, you can report potholes by calling 800-POTHOLE. For town or county roads, contact your local public works department.

Readers speak up

A few weeks back, I wrote about the dangers posed by the nearly 300 LIRR grade crossings in Nassau and Suffolk, and how rare grade crossing elimination projects are. This reader believes there's an easier way to address the problem:

Most of these encounters are because of driver impatience, distraction, impairment or reliance on GPS giving them erroneous information. Most of the LIRR grade crossings are clearly marked and have signal lights and gates that alert when a train or trains are approaching. There should be no reason for drivers to be involved in these accidents if they pay attention, drive safely and respect the signals, gates and the power of the approaching trains.

Michael Ringbauer, Massapequa Park

How much responsibility do you think the LIRR should have in helping reduce grade crossing crashes? Let us know at roads@newsday.com.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.