Most road defects don’t start as hazards. They begin as tiny imperfections, the kind you barely notice, until one day they have grown into something that can damage a car, disrupt a commute, or put someone on a scooter at real risk. That slow creep is what first made me wonder: why do we only find these problems once they have already become expensive?

Road defects do not appear overnight. They creep in slowly, a crack here, a depression there, until one day they have grown into something disruptive, costly, and occasionally dangerous. By the time most councils discover them, the repair bill has already ballooned [2].

That gap, between when a defect forms and when it is actually found, is what first got me curious.

This article is the story of that curiosity, and the moment it became personal.

The Moment That Made It Real In 2022, I hit a pothole on the highway while driving with my young family. It sent a heavy jolt through the car, but everything seemed fine, and by the time we reached our destination we had forgotten about it.

Months later, during routine maintenance, the mechanic found sidewall damage on the tyre. It was serious enough that it needed urgent replacement.

As we enter 2026, I wanted to take on a personal learning project that might also do some civic good. This was the one that kept resurfacing.

A Broader Safety Issue As electric scooters, bikes, and other lightweight mobility options become more common across Australian cities, even small potholes can have outsized impacts. What might be a mild bump for a car can be a serious safety risk for someone on a scooter or bike.

Road defects affect far more than vehicle maintenance. They shape how safe and accessible our streets feel for everyone.

The Insight That Hooked Me The breakthrough moment was surprisingly simple:

Rubbish trucks, buses, rideshare cars, courier vans, and council vehicles are already traversing the entire network [1].

Rubbish trucks in particular are an incredible opportunity. They drive almost every residential street each week as part of their normal duties, and they do it at low speeds, perfect for high quality sensor capture.

That idea, that the coverage problem is already solved, is what pulled me deeper into the project.

Where This Curiosity Is Taking Me Before diving into sensors, AI models, or technical pipelines, I want to understand the problem properly.
What makes defects hard to detect early?
Why do they escalate so quickly?
What does “good road data” even look like?

Next, I will map that problem space: the funding constraints, cost pressures, and structural challenges that shape how Australian councils maintain their roads today [3].

After that I will start exploring potential solutions.

If you are interested in civic tech, mobility, infrastructure, or just the idea of using AI for public good, I would love to have you along for the journey.