When we drive over a pothole, many of us will do that quick sharp intake of breath through our back teeth. But imagine doing it every single day.
In a bid to ensure that no longer happens, a driver who is sick of the state of potholes on roads near his home has sent a £300 ($424) repair bill to his local council.
Al Mitchell, from Estover, Plymouth, says his street has been riddled with gnarly gaps and holes for years.
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He believes the state of the highway has caused significant damage to the ball joint of the suspension arms on his Nissan Qashqai.
Al bought his car in June 2020 when it had just had a full MOT and service and was in perfect working order. But when he took it for its annual MOT last week he discovered it needed more than £300 of work doing.
And he doesn't think he should be the one footing the bill.
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Al said: "I was absolutely steaming. We sent them [the council] the MOT bill in the last complaint but we haven't had anything back from them yet.
"I highlighted on the bill the repairs I'd been told were likely caused by the potholes.
"It all just falls on deaf ears. All this stuff about safety, but then they don't give a stuff about the roads. It should be a priority really, because I know the road [vehicle] tax we have to pay doesn't all go towards that, but we all pay huge amounts for a number of things to maintain our cars and yet the roads are rubbish.
"Over four years we've been on to them about it, and they've partially filled some in once, and then now they're even worse. It needs the whole stretch redoing, especially with the amount of traffic that comes down here now. It's just constant."
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Al says he was informed by garage staff that some of the damage to the vehicle, particularly the damage to the ball joints of the suspension arms, is likely to have been caused by potholes.
Plymouth City Council said it recognised that the surface of Penrith Gardens was damaged but said it was not bad enough to warrant repairs.
The council said it has an 'agreed safety inspection process' for potholes and 'anything that requires intervention is at least 40mm deep and at least 300mm wide'.
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A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: "Our Highways Safety Team regularly inspect the city's road network and carry out repairs as soon as pot holes at intervention level are identified.
"We have recently inspected Penrith Gardens and although there is surface damage to the road there have been no pot holes identified that would require immediate repair.
"We have an agreed safety inspection process for pot holes and anything that requires intervention is at least 40mm and at least 300mm wide.
"In the past, the road was resurfaced using a technique called 'overlaying', which is placing a new surface directly on to an old surface, without replacing the core.
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"However, we are looking at alternative longer-term solutions for this type of deterioration."
Featured Image Credit: Plymouth Live/BPM Media