Road Debris and Items in the Roadway Can be Deadly

If you’re driving and trying to stay safe, you’re probably looking at and out for other cars, signs, lane lines, and hopefully, pedestrians. But right there, in plan view, is something else that’s pretty dangerous that you may not expect or anticipate: road debris.

Yes, there are all kinds of things that end up on the road that shouldn’t be there—and when debris is in the road, it can be a significant danger—even if you’re lucky to see it on time.

Three Major Road Debris Problems

There really are three problems or dangers caused by debris on the road.

The first is, of course, the debris itself, and the risk of just hitting it.

The other danger is the driver’s reaction, should he or she see the debris in time to avoid it. The natural inclination when coming on a piece of debris, is to swerve to avoid it.

But because of the lack of time that driver has to correct his or her car, and the speed cars are often going when they encounter road debris, that often leads to overcorrection. That means that although the driver may not have hit the debris in the road, he very likely is now swerving off the road, or into oncoming or adjacent lanes of traffic.

The third danger is when another car hits a piece of debris in the road. For items that are small enough—say, metal pipes, or slabs of wood—these items, when run over by a car, can go flying out of the back of a vehicle after they are run over, at incredible speeds. Now, the flying projectile is a danger to any car around the car that initially hit that item.

A Real and Dangerous Problem

This isn’t some theoretical problem either. The American Automobile Association estimates that there are about 200,000 accidents that are related to or had something to do with items on the road that shouldn’t be there.

A lot of the larger debris falls off of trucks and other large vehicles that haul items. Many of those trucks travel, and haul items, during daylight hours. That means that you are more likely to encounter road debris between 10 am and 4 pm.

And roads where cars go at higher speeds, make it more likely there will be debris on the road, because items that are on beds of trucks or secured to roofs of vehicles are encountering higher force winds at higher speeds, making them more likely to end up on the road.

And of course, the higher speeds that cars are traveling on roads, the harder it is to see, and safely avoid, items on the road.

Tire Pieces

Another common danger are pieces of cars–particularly tires (usually, from larger commercial trucks that have blown a tire).

These tire pieces even have a name–called “road gators,” for the tread on the tire pieces. These rubber pieces are dark, may blend into the road, and can blow out your tires, if you happen to hit them.

Injured by debris on the roadway? Contact the Las Vegas personal injury lawyers at Cameron Law today at 702-745-4545 to see who may be liable for your accident.

Sources:

news.aaa-calif.com/news/new-aaa-foundation-study:-200-000-crashes-caused-by-road-debris

usatoday.com/videos/news/have-you-seen/2023/03/27/car-flips-after-being-hit-loose-tire-los-angeles-freeway/11548807002/

youtube.com/watch?v=F4Po0TiAzFI