Highway potholes puncture tyres after Victoria's latest bout of rain

Victorian pothole anger erupts as motorists forced off Princes Highway with blown tyres In short: More drivers have copped costly damage from potholes that have opened up along Victorian highways during today's rain. One driver used her pink umbrella to warn oncoming motorists of a large sharp-edged pothole that blew her tyre in Gippsland. What's next? Poor road maintenance has become an election issue in Victoria ahead of November's poll. A woman has stood in the rain along a busy Victorian highway to warn more than 50 drivers of a large pothole that took out her tyre, and damaged at least five other cars in Gippsland this morning. Large sharp-edged potholes have opened up along Victorian roads and highways after heavy rain across the state since Thursday night. At Rosedale, Karen Ester was on her way to Leongatha on the Princes Highway, when she heard a loud bang after hitting a pothole filled with water. "I couldn't avoid it without trying to cause a crash into somebody else," she said. Ms Ester said potholes had been a problem on regional roads for too long. "It's like they're only doing a lot of patch-up jobs, and as soon as you get a big downpour of rain, it's washed out anyway," she said. "We are expected to have our cars roadworthy, but the roads aren't roadworthy." Rebecca Billing's family were driving back from a holiday at Golden Beach in the state's east when they hit two potholes in their brand new car. The family from Geelong had to get their car towed to a nearby town. Ms Billing said the state of the roads had discouraged her from wanting to travel in the state. "When you're driving at these sort of speeds, plus you've got to deal with the weather, plus kangaroos … it's really sort of turned us off wanting to travel in Victoria because it's just dangerous. "It's not worth it." Andy Gaudion's family were left waiting in the rain when their car hit a pothole and blew two tyres. "It was a giant bang … it scared all of us," the 12-year-old said. "We pulled over, got out, we were all annoyed, stunned. "We've hit potholes before but not this bad; this one has been the worst one we've hit." Pothole anger likely at polling booths There has been growing community anger over the state of Victorian roads with the issue likely to be front of mind for voters when they head to the polls in November. Last month, motorcyclist Peter "Tiki" Mason, 71, died after hitting a pothole on the Western Highway near Trawalla. In August, dozens of cars were forced off the road after hitting large potholes that opened up along the Princes Freeway at Bunyip in Victoria's east. The Victorian Coalition has promised to invest $5 billion to rebuild the state's roads, if elected in November, by establishing Better Roads Victoria as a standalone division within the Department of Transport and Planning. Victorian Premier Ben Carroll has attempted to quell the anger over potholes by promising to double the number of potholes the government fixes on the state's roads this year from 250,000 to 500,000 at a cost of $352 million. But former VicRoads staff told the ABC the privatisation of the state's road-building had led to the decline as had a reliance on flexible pavement comprising crushed rock compacted and then sealed. A recent auditor-general's report found almost half of Victoria's state-managed roads were in very poor condition. The Victorian government has been contacted for comment.