California Road Hazards Caused by Littering
At the risk of escalating some drivers’ highway phobias, it is fair to say that California roads are booby-trapped with all imaginable kinds of hazards, including the kitchen sink. Radio traffic advisors recently warned commuters to cautiously navigate a section of the San Mateo Bridge where a large plastic wash basin had fallen from someone’s vehicle and was blocking two lanes of traffic. Had someone stopped to pick that sink up, and were so inclined, in a matter of weeks he or she could virtually furnish a home with the smorgasbord of mattresses, sofas, and TV’s littering our highways.
To the Golden State’s residents, American Automobile Association’s 2004 report comes as no surprise: debris falling from vehicles causes more than 25,000 motor vehicle accidents in North America each year, with California leading the country in road-side litter. In fact, in recent years, California has averaged nearly 80 fatalities a year resulting from accidents caused by stray objects in the road.
What you can do: if you are out there on the highways, please drive defensively. Stay aware of your surroundings and be particularly cautious if you notice an overloaded or unsecured vehicle. If you’re carrying a load, only haul what you can handle and secure it well. Lost cargo, even when humorous, like today’s sink or the ostrich that got away on the Golden Gate Bridge a few years ago, can be extremely dangerous to other drivers.
