Cape Breton tow and tire companies profiting from potholes

It's a busy time for people in the towing and tire business in Cape Breton County.

Corey Payne is a driver and manager with Kevin's Towing in Sydney.He saysthey're getting at least 12 to 15 calls a day, while tire shops are seeing at least one person a day with a blown tire.

Paynesaidthis year has been worsethan most for accidents.

"There's days I'm giving ETAs(estimated times of arrivals)of two and three hours, and I'm spendingall day trying to get caught up on calls," he said.

Payne says the two main causesfor the accidents areinattention and potholes.

He saw a monster pothole up close just a few nights ago.

"It had to be three-feet deep.Avehicle hit it, she took out two of her rims, tires and she even tore her muffler and everything off her car. That's how bad she hit it," said Payne.

$5K worth of damages

Another time Payne had to tow a new car after itstruck a pothole.

"Brand new Ford, it was two days old down on Charlotte Street. It was $5,000 worth of damages just on tires and rims because it had 20-inch rims...and Pirelli tires," he said.

Workers at Direct Tire in Sydney have been seeing a lot of people with similar problems.

"A lot of them are winter tires, so this time of year, it's really hard getting them in, so usually they'reforced to put on their all seasons right now and wait until the fall or waita few days to get a tire in from Ontario," said employee Jason Lahey.

Neither man expects their work load to lessenuntil more road work gets done.