Road debris causing more traffic accidents

Road debris has become a heightened traffic risk. A new AAA safety study says debris-related crashes have gone up by 40 percent since 2001.

Debris-related crashes are accidents when a vehicle hits an object that falls off another vehicle, hitting a non-moving object on the road, or a vehicle crashing from trying to avoid it.

“Over the 30-something years I’ve been towing, I mean, I’ve seen it just about all. I’ve seen people swerve to miss stuff, roll their cars. Hit other cars, you know, losing control of their vehicle,” said South Fork Towing manager Lee Barnes.

Between 2011 and 2014, the country has had 200,000 debris-related crashes, which accounted for 39,000 injuries and more than 500 deaths.

“Sometimes the small items will actually get you. You’d be surprised because there might be like a little small piece of wood or it might be part of a tire that has metal inside that’s jagged, and it could be potentially pop their tire,” said Cpl. Neil Stevens with the Idaho State Police.

If you’re driving and come across something on the road, there are a couple of things you can do.

“They can call and report it to us. If it’s safe for them to do so, then they can pull over and actually pull it off the road before somebody else actually gets hurt. But only if do so if it’s safe for them, because we don’t want them to get hit and they wouldn’t want their car to get hit either,” said Stevens.

But if there’s an accident, the clean-up is taken care of for us.

“Us as towers are responsible for cleaning up all the debris caused by the accident and stuff like that. And most all of our companies have very strict policy on that as far as cleaning up the debris,” said Barnes.

Maintain your vehicle and inspect it for loose parts. Don’t overload your vehicle, drive smart, and secure your cargo.

“A lot of times people don’t know what actually has fallen out of their pickup. If it’s not secure — we live in a very windy state — the wind can come and pick it up and take it off,” said Stevens.

“If you’re carrying stuff in the back of your vehicle, strap them in. Make sure they’re strapped in their good. They make nets that you can put over top of stuff,” said Barnes.

The AAA study also found that one-third of debris-related accidents happen between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. This is when many people are hauling or moving heavy items.