Another Winter Driving Hazard: Road Reflectors
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The freeze-thaw-freeze process creates the potholes everybody loves. But the cycle also contributes to another road problem that can be extra dangerous, CBS 2's Mike Parker reports.
It was Christmas, and contractor Don Weber, his wife and two daughters were driving through Wauconda on state Route 12. Suddenly, one of the metal road reflectors that help drivers see the lanes and curves in the dark bounced off a truck in front of them and came flying directly at their Dodge Nitro.
"When I saw it fly up in the air, it bounced off a vehicle in front of me and then it landed in front of my car and blew my right rear tire out," Weber said.
It tore a hole through the rim. He wonders what more serious damage it might have caused.
It's believed that the reflectors are loosened when water seeps below them and freezes. Snowplows can rip them off the pavement and turn them into deadly missiles.
In 2003, a college professor from Elgin was seriously hurt when a reflector on the tollway tore through her windshield and her face.
How common is the problem? CBS 2 found one lying alongside the same stretch of Route 12 where Weber's car was hit.
Weber has filed a claim with the state's transportation agency for the damage to his car, which comes to $900. He doesn't know if he'll collect.
