Giant pothole damages at least 30 cars and huge queue forms as drivers are forced to change busted tyres or wait for a tow truck

Published: 06:59, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 07:03, 10 August 2026 A giant pothole on a major road caused chaos after at least 30 cars were damaged and several drivers forced to pull over to fix their tyres.  The pothole opened up on the Princes Highway near Bunyip, about 81km south-east of Melbourne, during Monday morning's peak-hour commute into the city. Many motorists were seen parked in the emergency stopping lane, either trying to change their tyres in the rain or waiting for roadside assistance.   May Mitchell told the Herald Sun her GPS didn't warn her of the hazard in time.  'By the time Waze told us there was a pothole, we had already hit it,' she said. 'I got in line behind about 20 other cars pulled over with damaged rims. 'It got quite dangerous with traffic still flying past whilst I and others were changing tyres. Another four (cars) pulled in whilst I was changing the tyre.' Ms Mitchell said she called Triple Zero, requesting greater police presence at the scene.  A giant pothole on a major road caused chaos after at least 30 cars were damaged and several drivers forced to pull over to fix their tyres  Although she regularly travels the route from Moe for work, she said the pothole 'came out of nowhere'.  Matthew told 3AW the situation was getting out of hand. 'There were also kilometres of pothole damage right through that area,' he said.  'That area is a disaster and they need something... It's just atrocious.' Nearby mechanics and tyre shops were inundated with car repair requests, including one in Drouin which 'didn't have capacity' to take on any more customers by mid-morning.  Drouin mechanic Fam Singh said demand reached such levels that a worker at his garage was asked to help at the scene.  'There's a lot of people coming in with tyre issues,' he said. 'The guy who is over there now had to move the customer from the main road to another road ... he is getting the tyre for them there.' The pothole opened up on the Princes Highway near Bunyip, about 81km south-east of Melbourne , during Monday morning's peak-hour commute into the city   Admiral Towing operator David Gridley, whose business is based in Moe, said similar pothole issues had caused disruptions in the area before.  'There's just multiple very large potholes that when they're full of water, they're just impossible to see,' he told the ABC. 'The holes are that deep that they're just destroying the tyres. 'It's happened once before where we've had a series of potholes that have caused a major issue for weeks, and it's just happening again.'  Mr Gridley said he blamed the government for not repairing the roads properly. 'We're getting patch jobs and the patches are just removing themselves in the weather,' he said.  West Gippsland's Narracan state Liberal MP Wayne Farnham hit out at Labor, saying he was sick of inaction.   'They're not fixing them and my community's suffering because of it,' he said. Many commuters who struck the jagged obstacle in wet and dangerous conditions could be seen parked in the emergency stopping lane, either trying to change their tyres in the rain or waiting for roadside assistance 'This is really, really unfair — you should be able to hop in your car and expect to get to work ... without having the constant battle of flat tyres. 'The government has a lot to answer for, they have neglected our roads for far too long.' Victorian Premier Ben Carroll, who put the poor road conditions down to both rain and trucks, said he had hired a civil engineer to tackle the issue.   'You've seen all the rain here today and the B-doubles that are going around our streets,' he said. 'We need to make sure we fix them [properly] and that is why I'm putting a civil engineer in the roads portfolio.  'He is up to this task and he's so enthusiastic.'  'We've got nearly a billion dollars going to this program. The will is there.'