Injured couple blames pothole for bad motorcycle crash

<p>A couple who survived a terrifying motorcycle crash says that the crash was the result of a bad pothole in the roadway.</p>

News 12 Staff

May 10, 2018, 2:45 AM

Updated 2,315 days ago

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A couple who survived a terrifying motorcycle crash says that the crash was the result of a bad pothole in the roadway.
Kevin Fries and his girlfriend Leeza Ziemski were riding motorcycles on Route 37 in Toms River Saturday. Ziemski says that she was ahead of her boyfriend when she suddenly hit a pothole and crashed into the pavement. Fries says that he had just seconds to react.
“She flew up. I saw her body go up in the air,” Fries says.
“When I opened my eyes eventually I saw his tire in my face,” says Ziemski.
The crash was all recorded on a GoPro camera that one of them was wearing at the time.
The couple is still recovering from their injuries. They credit their survival to quick-thinking and luck. But they say that the whole incident could have been avoided if the pothole and others like it were repaired.
A spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Transportation says that the pothole that caused the crash has since been patched up. The state is also fast-tracking a maintenance project to resurface Route 37 in both directions this summer.
“Why did it take something like this for you to fill in the holes?” Fries asks.
The couple says that they are considering taking legal action against the state.
“I think when it gets to the point, if people are now falling down because of it, that’s in issue,” Ziemski says.
Fries and Ziemski say that despite what happened, they won’t stop riding motorcycles.