MDWholesale.com issues travel warning on Interstate 95 (I95) between Daytona Beach Florida and Savannah Georgia

Interstate 95 between Daytona Beach Florida and Savannah Georgia is a heavily traveled road with lots of commercial traffic.  Lately, due to the incoming tropical storm Fay, there has been convoy after convoy of cherry picker trucks in the southbound lanes.  If you don’t already know, cherry picker trucks are electricians trucks with a box lift and are setup for repairing downed power lines.  These convoys were obviously headed to the areas of Florida which may get worst hit by the 65mph or higher winds and such.  This is normal for Florida and so is tropical storms, but what I am about to tell and describe to you is not.  Road debris is and can be very dangerous.

Interstate 95, when I drove northbound on it yesterday, was probably the worst and most hazardous road I had ever seen in my 20+ years of driving all across the United States.  There was road debris everywhere.  Most of it was in the form of blown truck tires.  The sizes of this debris ranged from little shreds to the whole tread still in a circle.  It was just unbelievable – they gatorbacks (as southerners usually refer to truck tire parts) were everywhere.  It looked like a war zone.  You literally had to be on the constant lookout for the larger pieces as they could easily ruin your car’s front end or take out your radiator and such.

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Well, as fate would have it, I was driving along, following a box truck, I think it was a Budget rental truck, when it suddenly swerved into the left lane without any indication (no turn signal or anything).  Then, next thing I know a whole circular tire tread is right in front of me.  I had no time to swerve or brake and hit the thing head on.  It took out the lower part of the front air dam, bent the bottom of the radiator and bent back all of the plastic underbody guards (3 thick plastic pieces on a Volvo S80).  Fortunately, Volvos are built like tanks.  There were no cracks in the radiator or leaks (that in and of itself is amazing). 

I had to reach underneath and pull off the loose plastic guards and a loose plastic piece that protected the radiator.  Its unbelievable what damage a piece of road debris or shredded tires, as in this case, can do to your vehicle.  It’s good that I was in a Volvo, because most cars, I know this from 20+ years of automotive experience, would have blown the radiator and more and been stuck on the side of the road – Volvos really are built like tanks.  I have had numerous close calls and similar with Volvos and they have always fared better than any other car I have ever driven or owned and for this reason, I definitely must recommend them as one of the most dependable and solid vehicles out there.

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Now, back to the point of this piece – avoid that section of I95 or at least wait until someone clears up that extensive mess of blown truck tire debris.  I don’t know what made it so that section was so bad, could have been the high heat or just the high number of trucks out there – it could also have been due to truckers and their companies cutting back on tire services and replacements due to the economy and higher fuel prices.  It’s probably a little of both, but regardless of the reason, for the immediate future that road is a serious safety hazard and should be avoided if possible.  Remember, even if you miss the debris, someone driving in front of you or around you may not and may lose control of their vehicle and hit yours.  It just isn’t worth it to take that big of a risk.  Take I75 or some side streets instead.  This is MDWholesale.com looking out for your safety.  Good luck, drive defensively, plan your trips ahead to avoid bad roads, traffic and construction, and overall, be safe.

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