After a rough winter of driving in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, many vehicle owners find themselves with cars that don’t drive straight or handle poorly. Rather than driving down the street with confidence, the driver must carefully use two hands on the wheel to prevent it from running or bouncing off the road. Stopping quickly becomes difficult. This is usually caused by damage to a vehicle’s alignment, tires, wheels or axles.

Causes

Due to the fact that most of Hampton Roads lies at or below sea level, there are an unusually high number of bridges and tunnels in the area as compared to most metropolitan cities. The construction of most of the tunnels in the area features a metal plate and a dip or divot at the entrance or exit of the tunnel, which bounces cars up and down as they pass through. Many of the area bridges feature a bumpy entryway or exit, as well. Several of the bridges and tunnels also feature potholes in the mostly concrete surfaces, which are rarely repaired. The constant bumpiness wreaks havoc on the alignment of the vehicles that traverse them on a regular basis.

Collisions

Anyone who has driven Hampton Roads’ streets and highways when there is a forecast for snow, sleet or a wintry mix knows that there is a high probability for countless accidents to mar rush hour, regardless of how much precipitation actually falls. There is traditionally a high number of collisions involving single vehicle wrecks when the overpasses freeze before the rest of the roadway. Icy bridges and overpasses account for a high number of accidents, causing damage to vehicle fenders, hoods, tires, axles and quarter panels. A heavy hit against the concrete abutments that dot the Hampton Roads landscape causes many vehicle owners to take their cars to a nearby auto body shop, such as a Chesapeake collision repair center.

Alignment

One way to tell if a car’s alignment is off is to drive on a straight, flat roadway and have the driver remove their hands for a few seconds. If the vehicle pulls itself to one side or another, it likely has an alignment problem. If this is the case, it should be taken to a reliable Hampton Roads body shop. In many cases, the wheels and axles are bent and damaged by curb and abutment hits.

Tires

When a vehicle has been involved in repeated assaults to its tires, such as potholes, divots, dips and slams against the curbs due to wintry weather and poor road construction, the tires wear more rapidly. When the tires are not rotated regularly, they wear faster, as well. One way to remedy this problem is to take the vehicle to a reliable auto center to have the wheels, tires and alignment fixed. The vehicle and its driver will be safer and the chances of an accident will decrease until the following winter.