THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

In New York State, pothole season runs from May 1 to Nov 15. During that time if you suffer damage from a pothole on a state maintained road you may claim damages. Outside of that period you are out of luck.

Until midnight Wednesday, if your car is dinged or even totaled because of a defect on a New York State road, you cannot legally claim reimbursement for damages from the state. After midnight Wednesday, call your lawyer. Section 58 of the State Highway Law explicitly exempts the state from liability for damages arising from defects in state highways at any time except between May 1 and Nov. 15.

The fossilized law defies modern technology and judicial logic. “I was very surprised,” said Ms. Vacarro, who was told by the state Transportation Department that she could not file a claim. “They have the law flip-flopped. They should cover potholes in the winter. In the summertime, I can see them and avoid them.”

She filed a claim with her insurance company, but still paid about $1,000 in out-of-pocket car repairs.

Mr. Abinanti spent $700 on two new tires, a cost within the deductible on his insurance policy. He said he would not have filed a claim against the state anyway (“I’m an assemblyman; it wouldn’t be good publicity”), but added: “I don’t understand why the state exempts itself. It’s discriminatory. It’s a very unfair law.”

Robert F. Danzi, president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, said he was unaware of similar winter waivers of liability in other states.

The state budget just approved last month included an extra $40 million to help municipalities repair potholes after the particularly brutal winter.

But the state’s legal immunity for pothole claims during the peak winter pothole season helps to explain the chasmic disparity in damage claims disbursed by the state and by New York City. In 2013, the city paid out $5.5 million in pothole-related claims. That same year, for defects that caused damages only in the balmier months from May 1 to Nov. 15, the state reimbursed motorists $13,386.36.

Courts have since ruled that the state is still liable for out-and-out misfeasance or negligence, but the winter waiver has been on the books at least as far back as 1935, when Albany, faced with a tenfold increase in auto registrations over two decades, approved a major investment in new roads and relieved the state of liability for damages caused by snow and ice on its highways.

What a clever law. You can only sue for damages that occur from potholes during the season when potholes don't occur. Diabolical!