Highway Safety: Steering Clear of Road Debris

Shredded tires and rusty car parts can often turn otherwise beautiful roadways into unsightly landscapes, but this road-borne litter is more than just harmful to the eyes, it’s a serious threat to safe driving. According to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, road debris littering the nation’s highways causes at least 25,000 wrecks and 90 deaths a year in the United States and Canada.
“It's more than just a nuisance,” says Peter Kissinger of the AAA Foundation, which looked at accident data from 31 states for the study." Almost every one of these deaths is preventable.”

The Federal Highway Administration reports that road debris, along with stalled cars, cause as much as 40 percent of the traffic congestion in the United States. Accidents resulting from the debris average out to about 68 per day.

Of the 36 states that pick up debris on a daily or weekly basis, 87 percent reported tire treads among the five most common items. In fact, a recent poll posted on the Yahoo! Autos Web site found that tires caused the most frequent problems, with 33 percent of respondents having often swerved to avoid them. Animals or wildlife posted the second highest tally with 25 percent.

The AAA Foundation argues that better driver training and education, stricter law enforcement and more stringent regulations on securing loads to vehicles would help eliminate some of the dangers of road debris.

The auto industry is also taking notice. A new marketing campaign by Mitsubishi Motors touts the accident-avoidance benefits of the company’s new Galant mid-sized sedan and Endeavor mid-sized SUV. A Mitsubishi television commercial features two family sedans dodging objects thrown from the back of a truck, dramatically simulating what many drivers face every day while steering to avoid road debris.

Mitsubishi asserts that characteristics like handling and cornering ability, common considerations of people shopping for sports cars, should be equally important to those considering a new ride for their family.

“Sports car enthusiasts have long demanded vehicles that can carve through corners and swiftly navigate twisty roads,” says Ian Beavis, senior vice president of marketing, product planning and public relations. “Those same characteristics, when applied to family cars, can help drivers safely avoid a tire tread or small animal. It’s easier to steer clear of road debris in a car like Galant or Endeavor that performs better in accident avoidance testing.”

Mitsubishi has even set up a Web site, www.SeeWhatHappens.com, to show how their family-oriented products stack up to the competition in critical handling maneuvers. The company is hosting a 10-city ride and drive tour that will allow consumers to test drive products from different manufacturers and feel for themselves how the different vehicles compare in accident avoidance situations.