Most motorists have noticed reflectors used to mark lanes and road edges on highways, especially interstates. Most motorists do not know that that below the visible part of the reflector is a 5 pound metal base used to keep the reflector attached to the highway. As the road or the reflector wears with time, these reflectors can become loose. The problem is greatest, apparently, where roads are often plowed of snow. Snowplow blades can rip the reflectors out of the road, if they have been weakened by age or by repeated impacts or if there has been road damage, or if reflectors were improperly installed.
CBS television station WBBM in Chicago reported that there have been 60 claims filed for damage to cars from these reflectors in the State of Illinois. http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/local_story_033214933.html
The worst case situation is when one vehicle hits a loose reflector or a part of a reflector that has fallen apart, and segments of metal or plastic fly up off the roadway and collide with another car travelling down the road. These parts can be heavy enough to break through a car windshield. More commonly, these reflectors damage tires and gas tanks.
WBBM Investigators found hundreds of these road reflectors missing from area roads. Some were lying on roads where they pose a risk to drivers and cars.
Since 2000, there have been 70 cases reported to Illinois DOT of cars being damaged by road reflectors. Several county highway departments are also receiving two or three property damage claims per year, but none for presonal injuries.
In October 2003 a college professor was driving on I-292 near Hinsdale, IL when a chunk of metal came shattered her windshield and hit her in the face. She survived but underwent numerous operations and speech therapy and suffers permanentl injury. She has filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Toll Highway Authority and the manufacturer of the road reflectors.
Rachel Buckman, 41, was driving on a highway in her home state of Kentucky when her sport-utility rolled over and she was killed. A damaged reflector is being blamed by the victim’s lawyers for puncturing her tire and causing the accident.
Only about half of the states in the United States use the type of metal-based reflector in question. Missouri is considering removing them and replacing them with reflective tape. That is because last year, a road reflector smashed through a windshield and severely injured a 7-year-old boy.
There is really no way to protect oneself. Motorists who see loose metal parts on a highway should report it to roadway authority or the local police department.
A spokesman for Illinois DOT told WBBM that the safety provided by the reflectors outweighs what they consider to be a low possibility of an incident.
While the CBS piece presented the situation in an accusatory way, suggesting that the use of these reflectors is scandalous, the Illinois DOT assesment of the risk is undoubtedly true. Most serious accidents occur at night when these reflectors serve a useful accident prevention function, and over 40,000 people die in road accidents yearly. Even if the reflectors lower the risk of fatalities by only 1/100th of 1 percent, the statistics would indicate need more rather than less use of the reflectors. Whether there is a practical substitute for these relectors or some way of handling their negatives was not explored.
