ORLANDO, Fla. – A driver said she wants the City of Orlando to make repairs after her car was heavily damaged by a manhole cover on a residential street.
Shirley Wang said she was driving her Mini Cooper along the 1200 block of Illinois Street last September when garbage cans forced her to drive in the middle of the street.
"I felt something," she said. "I felt this grating on the bottom of my car."
She said she would find out that grating was her transmission and other parts underneath her car being torn away by a manhole that was raised above the rest of the roadway.
She said her insurance company told her to take pictures of what happened.
She also took video, and while she was shooting the video another driver came up and said the same thing happened to her.
"I totaled my car on this bump," the woman told Wang. "File a claim with the claims department for the City of Orlando ... I've done it, and they've done nothing, and I never got any money -- and my car got totaled."
Wang said she filed a claim immediately with the Risk Management Division. That was eight months ago.
"I never heard any follow up from them," she said.
News 6 investigated and found out Wang is not alone.
According to records from the Risk Management Division, three other claims have been filed reporting damage by that same manhole cover over the past two years.
Records show the City of Orlando has only paid one claim in 2015.
City officials said they haven't received the proper documentation from the other claims, including Wang's. She said she was never told what documentation to give them.
What's more, the city said they fixed the manhole problem after it was brought to their attention; however, Wang insists it looks the same today as it did eight months ago.
News 6 asked the City of Orlando what steps drivers who find themselves in a similar situation should do if they want to file a claim.
Spokeswoman Cassandra Lafser said drivers need to contact the Risk Management Division and submit paperwork documenting "any out of pocket expenses related to fixing the damage caused by the manhole cover."
She said Wang's claim is still open for investigation, and the division is waiting for her to submit the documentation.
City officials have still not said how they fixed the manhole situation on Illinois Street.
