Family finishes long weekend on side of the road after pothole damages car

When travelling back to Sydney between Gollan and Goolma, Greg Smallwood hit a large pothole which ripped the suspension out from the rear of his Ford Territory, leaving him and his family stranded.

Despite the bad reception, Mr Smallwood was able to get through to NRMA, who an hour and a half later arrived to tow the vehicle.

"Unfortunately he had only one or two seats and for a family of four we couldn't all fit, so we made the decision to stay by the roadside and wait for a family relative to come from work in Dubbo to pick us up," he said.

The family were stranded for more than three hours and were thankful the rain hadn't arrived yet.

"We pulled out a picnic rug on the side of the road, and the kids who received Lego as a late Christmas present pulled that out to build," he said.

The NRMA towed the vehicle to a repairer in Wellington who was already overwhelmed with repairs.

"We haven't been able to ascertain from them when they will be able to even look at the vehicle to see what parts need replacing," he said.

Needing to get back to Sydney for work, Mr Smallwood quickly booked flights home and then spent money on taxi fares from Sydney airport.

"It was quite an expensive day," he said.

Mr Smallwood said staying with family and being annual pass holders for the zoo, the family was happy to spend their money in town at the Devils Hollow Brewery and other restaurants.

"We weren't expecting a large, at this stage, ongoing bill to get us home again," he said.

"My wife will also have to use a rental car to get to and from work on a daily basis until we can get her car back from Wellington."

That alone won't be an easy process, as Mr Smallwood will have to arrange transport to the Orana region, which is a 12 hour round trip.

A trip he will have to do within a day.

Mr Smallwood sent an email to Dubbo Regional Council regarding his concern and asking that something be done to fix the road before something worse happens.

"I know local governments are responsible and do take responsibility for their roads and in this particular location they had erected a rough surface and reduce speed signs," he said.

"That tells me they are aware there is an issue in that place and it tells me they've visited the site and the steps they've taken to look after it are to erect some signage and it needs more than signage at the moment."

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Mr Smallwood said he hoped no one drove to Goolma at night with how easily the road disabled their vehicle.

"I'd been told and I know the roads are in a poor condition everywhere because of the amount of rainfall we've had, but in that one particular spot it was, I hate to say unacceptable, but it's hard to think a crew has been out there and spent time to put up signs where it needs more," he said.

"A Ford Territory is an Australian built car, it's a solid size SUV, I can't imagine a small Hatchback or Sedan, what would happen if they hit the same hole I failed to dodge.

"I hope council get onto it, we know they've looked at it, but it needs to be fixed before someone else get hurts."

Council has closed Saxa Road from the turnoff on Mitchell Highway to the Golden Highway and have put up more signage and traffic stops along Gollan Road where Mr Smallwood had his incident.

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