Potholes. Each winter they hibernate. In Canada and other northern countries, snow and rain seep into porous roads. It expands as it freezes and puckers the asphalt. Automobiles drive over porous asphalt, gradually breaking apart the surface. When it melts, the gaps created by the ice collapse.
In spring, they pock our streets, denting rims and flattening tires. Potholes are nature’s way of telling unsuspecting drivers “You have too much money.”
After a particularly harsh winter in many parts of the country, this spring may be one of the worst pothole seasons we’ve seen. It’s more important than ever for us to become experts in their strange and puzzling ways.
Take the Road Sage Pothole Quiz and test your knowledge:
1How did Potholes get their name?
a. It’s derived from the ancient Greek word “Polhos” which means “clay.” Athenian potters in need of clay would dig it out of the roads leaving “Polhos.”
b. It comes from the Jacobean expression “Pot Wholle” which refers to a deep bowl-shaped part of the human anatomy.
c. It’s a combination of “Pot,” the Old English word meaning “a deep vessel” and “hol” the Old English word meaning “hollow place.”
d. It comes from Victorian slang “Poxhole” to refer to a person whose face is riddled with venereal disease.
2In 2015, a vigilante in Manchester, U.K. drew huge male appendages around potholes to call attention to the problem and pressure local government to fix them. What did he tell the media?
a. “I’m inspired by the alternative style displayed by artists such as Grayson Perry and of course by graffiti artists like Hazer and street artists, especially Banksy.”
b. “I wanted to attract attention to the pothole and make it memorable. Nothing seemed to do this better than a giant comedy phallus. It’s also speedy (to create), I don’t want to be in the road for a long time. It seems to have become my signature.”
c. “I want my work to be destroyed; I like it when it gets dug up and replaced with fresh tarmac.”
d. All of the above.
d. Said one city council spokesperson of the artist’s work, “The actions of this individual are not only stupid but incredibly insulting to local residents.”
3This January and February, Toronto drivers filed 2,317 pothole complaints. How much of an increase is that from the same period in 2025?
a. 292 per cent
b. 156 per cent
c. 78 per cent
d. 401 per cent
4True or False: Edmonton has received half the pothole complaints as it did in 2025.
5True for False: Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow wants to use artificial intelligence to create “an ongoing, data-driven pothole blitz strategy.”
6True or False: Montreal officials have received five times the number of pothole complaints this past January, compared to 2025.
7The “CimlineP5” is a new cutting-edge pothole-filling truck that uses “DuraPatcher” technology. What is DuraPatcher?
a. The truck has a large nozzle filled with a tar-like asphalt emulsion. When heated, the emulsion can be sprayed into a pothole to seal it.
b. Custom-sized pods made from recycled tires and pressed into potholes and sealed by the DuraPatcher’s iron-like surface.
c. DuraPatcher employs infrared heat to seamlessly blend new asphalt with existing pavement, eliminating the need for extensive excavation and producing a smooth, durable finish.
8True or False: Some ingenious Calgarians are using suburban potholes as “natural coolers” to keep their beers cold.
9True or False: Last year, a Hamilton city councillor declared, “I wouldn’t say that Hamilton is the pothole capital of Canada, but I think we probably are the pothole-filling capital of Canada.”
b. It was an Edmonton city councillor
10True or False: A “street hole” must be at least 35 millimetres deep to be officially considered a pothole.
b. A hole must be 40 millimetres deep
11On Feb. 24, a medical miracle occurred when a vehicle carrying a 50-year-old woman in India drove over a severe pothole. What was that miracle?
a. The driver had fallen into “microsleep” and the pothole jolted him awake allowing him to avoid a crash.
b. The pothole caused a sudden violent jerk that snapped the woman – who had been officially declared brain dead – into consciousness.
c. The woman’s kidney stones dislodged and passed shortly after.
b. Her husband told the Times of India, “I immediately informed my family to suspend all the funeral preparations.”
12The Daily Telegraph reported that the French will not hand over the Bayeux Tapestry to London’s British Museum because of potholes. In January, the French heritage group “Sites and Monuments” filed an injunction to halt the transfer of the ancient embroidery which depicts the Battle of Hastings. The transfer had already been approved by the French president. What reason did they give?
a. English soil (and therefore potholes) still carries a grudge over the 1066 Norman conquest over the English forces led by King Harold II and will try to erase the Bayeux Tapestry to whitewash history.
b. England is plagued by potholes and these could cause “vibrations and shocks” that could damage the “extremely fragile” piece of historic art.
c. The Conseil d’État, France’s highest court, already turned down “Sites and Monument’s” injunction to halt the transfer “because the English.”
13In 2013, an Irishman named Liam Keane went “pothole swimming” on one of the coldest days of the year in a Cork County pothole. Why did he do it?
a. “For a bit of crack.”
b. All of the above.
How well did you do?
Answer all of the questions to see your result
