GILBERT, AZ — Rocks, nails, you name it, Arizona drivers have seen a lot of debris on some major Valley freeways.
"I see something like fly past and I thought it was a bird," said Julia Pearce. "For some reason, I ducked, and then I heard it crash and then I looked and there's just a wrench hanging out of my car."
Pearce says the wrench hit her car while she was driving down SR 60 eastbound towards Val Vista.
The hit sent shards of glass onto her passenger seat. "I'm just glad it wasn't on my side," she added.
Pearce says she never saw where the wrench came from but believes the metal tool likely fell out of someone's truck.
In Arizona, it's a crime to leave tools and other things unsecured.
A.R.S 28-1098.A states "A person shall not drive or move a vehicle on a highway unless the vehicle is constructed or loaded in a manner to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping from the vehicle.”
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, unsecured loads cause about 51,000 accidents every year in the U.S.
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, violators could face class two misdemeanor charges, and fines reaching $1,000 depending on injuries.
