NORFOLK, Va. — Who could forget 2013 and the pothole frenzy on I-264 in Norfolk?
The bumpy ride rocked Hampton Roads drivers that winter following an ice storm. Roads thawed out quickly, forcing out asphalt patches on the highway.
The situation became so bad that it's now known as the "pothole apocalypse," costing drivers thousands in auto repairs.
A recent AAA study found that after hitting a pothole, the average vehicle repair cost is $600, with the overall damages totaling $26.5 billion a year in the U.S.
Meanwhile, transportation officials scrambled in a pothole blitz to make temporary repairs, deploying crews to fill and patch as needed.
Let's hope that doesn't happen again. But if it does, what if there was a way to track down every one of those pesky craters before drivers encounter them?
The evolution of artificial intelligence has a lot of people, even lawmakers, worried about the future. But new AI technology currently being used in cities like Memphis, San Jose, and Oregon may be something to celebrate.
They’re attaching special devices to city cars and using state-of-the-art imaging technology to identify and track potholes on the road.
So far, it’s helped Memphis find and fix 63,000 potholes: 75% more than before.
But what about here in Hampton Roads? Can we expect to see pothole scanners anytime soon?
The Virginia Department of Transportation handles the workload on this one -- at least for most highway repairs -- and, as of now, there isn’t a publicly announced plan to bring in the technology. VDOT does have an entire sector devoted to autonomous technology, and according to the Department, leaders will continue to pursue strategies that improve situational awareness and control infrastructure.
The innovation isn’t just for potholes, either. Some of the cities mentioned above are also using the technology to spot code violations, like overgrown grass.