ATLANTA — Potholes, sinkholes and crumbling infrastructure have been issues for most Atlanta drivers, but once your car is damaged by either of these, and you’re underquoted by the city for the damage, it compounds the issue.

Jahmaul Williams says a city of Atlanta sinkhole left his vehicle with dents and damages.

“I just can’t accept that little amount of money, it’s not going to put a dent in the damages it’s done,” Williams told Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln.

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It has taken two whole years to get action on his case during this time and he said he hasn’t been able to drive his car at all because of the damage a bad road caused.

“It was a big boom,” he said. “I heard my car make a sound.”

Williams says he was driving down Joseph E Boone Boulevard NW in Northwest Atlanta when his car hit a depression on the road.

“This sinkhole has been patched over multiple times,” he said.

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The black scratches in this picture show where the bottom of his car scrapped the concrete below, completely destroying his car’s air suspension system.

“It’s been very stressful,” Williams said.

He says he has been in a back-and-forth with the city over a settlement for two years.

“This happened July 7, 2020,” Williams said, “and by December, that’s when I got frustrated because I still had not heard anything from the city.”

This week, he says the city finally gave him a settlement amount.

“A $6,300 settlement, that was nowhere near the damages that my vehicle sustained,” Williams said.

When he tried to contest that amount, he says the city rejected it, saying he didn’t submit additional claims within the six-week window.

The two-year delay on their end was related to pandemic staffing shortages and paperwork mishaps.

“They said we’re not going to pay you anymore, take it or leave it,” he said.

This quote from a metro-area Mercedes Benz dealer estimates the damages at more than $13,000.

Williams says he hasn’t been able to drive his car for years now, a situation that is compounded by mounting rental car fees.

“We’re talking $2,600 a month, that I’m paying in rental fees, as well as maintaining this car note on this car,” he said.

Channel 2 reached out to the City of Atlanta on why it has taken two years to reach a settlement.

A city spokesperson said the authorities are looking into this matter.

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This isn’t the first time Channel 2 has showed you the damage that city streets have cost drivers.

“It’s costing thousands of dollars, to get repairs,” William Lewis said.

Lewis says destructive potholes damaged his work vehicle back in April.

“The roads in Atlanta, axles are breaking, the trailers are now snapping, tires are popping,” Lewis said.

Since elected to office, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has been vocal about improving city streets by having the Department of Transportation workers fill at least 30 potholes a day.

A past Channel 2 investigation revealed the City of Atlanta paid out less than a quarter of pothole-related claims between May 2018 and May 2019.

Car accident attorneys say that depending on the municipality, cities can be held liable for repairs.

“I feel like I deserve more money than that, especially given that the city has taken this long to respond,” Williams said.

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