Bump-to-Bump Traffic : Proliferating potholes are another reminder that life in L. A. can be a rocky road

The Joltmeter won’t find its way into the annals of important American inventions. It simply didn’t last long enough. It was first pressed into service awhile back on the streets of New York City as a means of finding the worst potholes. It lasted about three blocks before it was irreparably jarred into mechanical road kill by holes that might have challenged the lunar land rover.

Well, these days it must seem as though the Big Apple has nothing on L.A., particularly after such a drenching rainy season. As Times reporter Richard Simon wrote recently, the situation has even forced some motorists to take the city of Los Angeles to court for monetary damages.

Part of the problem is that Los Angeles holds the dubious distinction of having the nation’s largest street system. More important, perhaps, is the fact that the city generally has money to repair and repave roads every 70 years or so when such work usually lasts no more than 40 years.

And jurisdictional disputes abound. Consider, for example, that it isn’t the city that is responsible for potholes at railroad crossings, but the company that owns the tracks. The railroad companies feel that city workers might do more harm than good at such crossings but lack the manpower to keep up with the deterioration.

One very successful idea that ought to be resurrected came last summer in the form of Operation Pothole, in which the Department of Public Works devoted extra crews to its street maintenance division for a week. That resulted in the repair of an estimated 950 potholes a day. To the extent that budgetary resources permit, the same sort of program should be put into effect on a more regular basis.

The daily commute in Los Angeles already depends too much on the condition of natural faults in the area. Let’s not immortalize any of the man-made variety.