Road debris is a common problem on America’s roadways. It is important to learn how to avoid debris on the road. Most accidents caused by debris are sudden and unanticipated and can result in serious injury or death.
Road debris is anything that doesn’t belong on the road, including trash, stuff that may have fallen from other trucks, branches, rubble from rockslides and other natural objects that fall or blow onto the road. After big storms debris can often be found littering the roads.
This hazard contributed to more than 200,000 accidents that injured more than 39,000 people and killed 500 over a three-year period, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The majority of these accidents occurred on interstate and state highways.
Two-thirds of all road-debris accidents are the result of objects falling off moving vehicles.
According to the foundation, 37% of all fatal road-debris accidents involved a driver suddenly swerving to try and avoid debris. Here are some of the types of personal injury crashes that can occur when debris is on a roadway:
- Single or multiple vehicle sideswipe collisions from swerving when attempting to avoid debris.
- High-impact, rear-end collisions when a vehicle suddenly brakes to avoid debris.
- Rollovers caused by hitting debris.
- Head-on crashes from swerving to avoid debris.
The most dangerous form of road debris is that which falls off another vehicle, forcing other motorists to take quick evasive action, which can cause them to swerve or forcefully apply their brakes. However, when a driver has to suddenly react to avoid an object, they also run the risk of hitting a guard rail or another vehicle.
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Practice safe driving
It’s important to understand the dangers of road debris and how to reduce the chances of causing an accident when encountering it.
- Stay alert at all times.
- Keep a comfortable distance between your car and the vehicle in front of you by following the three-second rule (stay three seconds behind the vehicle in front of you). This will provide enough time to take evasive action, if needed.
- If you are behind a vehicle hauling goods of any type, add another second or two to the count. Even better: Change lanes.
- If you spy a truck with an unsecured load, avoid driving behind it. Change lanes and pass when it’s safe to do so. This way, if something falls off, you won’t have to take sudden evasive action.
- If you see debris in the distance in their lane, you can simply change lanes calmly if there is plenty of space in an adjacent lane. If there is a car behind you, it’s courteous to flash the brake lights twice to let them know you’re dodging on purpose and give them a few extra seconds to follow suit.
- If there is only one lane, no shoulder or you are boxed in, do not change lanes. In these cases, use you best judgment and try to minimize damage to the vehicle. This may include slowing down significantly and possibly trying to adjust your lane position so that your tires don’t run over the debris. This gives you the best chance to maintain control of your vehicle, although there may be some damage to the front of the vehicle and/or the undercarriage.
Liability and insurance
It’s difficult to establish liability in road-debris accidents.
It’s a bit easier if it arises from debris suddenly flying from a truck and striking another vehicle. If the load is unsecured, the driver of that vehicle could be held at fault. If the other driver doesn’t stick around, you may be able to file a claim under your uninsured motorist coverage.
However, in cases where your driver hits debris that was laying on the roadway, your insurer may determine that your driver failed to avoid the debris because they were either distracted or speeding, and deny coverage as a result.
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