Plenty of road debris equals plenty of Debris Games
Chris Baker's Debris Game highlights a big problem on Houston freeways, and as this Chronicle story details, Montgomery County is battling the problem, too:
Deputy Bruce Gilchrist, who oversees the Precinct 3 motorist assistance program, said clearing debris off area highways is a large part of his duties, which also include aiding stranded motorists.
Everything from cardboard boxes, shredded tractor-trailer tires and steel pieces of bridge guardrail are some of the more common types of debris littering the highways, Gilchrist said.
"Debris most often causes people to have flat tires or mess up the body of their car, but they can also swerve and have an accident," he said.
Gilchrist has also seen TV sets, couches and ladders strewn across stretches of highway. Most road debris falls from the beds of pickup trucks, trailers and the backs of flatbed tractor-trailers.
"The stuff I've picked up off the roadway could fill a warehouse," Gilchrist said.
Authorities said booming populations are creating more traffic, especially along Interstate 45, which creates more road debris than ever before.
Safety-wise, debris is a serious problem, as the Resource Box alongside the story makes clear:
CRASH STATISTICS
In 2001, the latest year statistics were available from the Texas Department of Public Safety, there were:� Statewide: 748 accidents resulting in two deaths caused by road debris.
� In Montgomery County: 14 accidents and one death caused by road debris.
Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/16/05 12:05 PM | Houston Transit | Print | Comments (4)
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