A video purporting to show a "sinkhole in the making" is making the rounds on social media.
CCTV footage shared to TikTok by Kirk P Miller shows what initially appears to be a small pothole on a stretch of road close to a convenience store.
A silver car is shown driving over the damaged part of the road at considerable speed. As it goes over, the hole appears to double in size. A white, soft-top car that was just behind the silver car slows down but still worsens the damage to the stretch of road as it goes over it.
Another white car appears on the edge of the screen but, rather than go over the hole and inflict more damage, this vehicle stops and instead opts to drive around it.
Unfortunately, the black car behind it did not get the memo and instead tried to drive over it at speed. That ends in disaster when the front left-hand wheel of the car ends up getting stuck in the hole. As a result, the car is unable to move, with traffic building up steadily behind it.
You can watch the entire thing play out here.
The footage will make for concerning viewing, not just among motorists but Americans as a whole. A U.S. Geological Survey previously estimated that as much as 20 percent of the country is susceptible to sinkholes.
Plenty of sinkhole-related scare stories have surfaced online in recent months, including one centered on a man in a swimming pool who ended up being sucked into a sinkhole as well as reports of an ever-widening sinkhole in Georgia.
There's even been an instance of a car being swallowed up by a sinkhole.
But before anyone gets too panicked, it's worth pointing out that this particular incident took place in Nottinghamshire in the U.K. rather than the U.S.
In a follow-up video, Miller, who shared the original clip, gave viewers a closer look at the damage done to the black car. Watch it here.
Damaged road surfaces represent a major problem for motorists in the U.K.
In January, data compiled by breakdown recovery company RAC showed the number of callouts for breakdowns where potholes were to blame had risen 23 percent over the final three months of 2022, compared with the three months prior.
This particular incident was a whole other level of bad though, with Miller revealing the extent of the damage in another video showing just how much of the road surface ended up caving. Watch it here.
@kirkpmiller Update on the sinkhole
♬ OMG - White Gangster
Thankfully the clip also confirmed that repair work is underway.
Newsweek has contacted Miller for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
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