How much junk(drywall screws,nails, etc) do you see laying in and along the road ? I will go out of my way at times if its safe and pick up offending items.Do you think it should be mandatory for the DOT ,to at least sweep the roadways with a magnet every so often?-Kevin
Sure, it should be mandatory for the DOT to do this.
However, in an era of shrinking government budgets, shrinking government services, and an atmosphere in which some political forces are trying to convince the public that the government is their enemy, I doubt that you will see much, if any, improvement in services.
Sounds like something that might happen in Switzerland or Denmark. Here in the USA, it is every man for himself!
Please be careful–not too long ago a girl was killed in New York trying to pick up a suitcase full of clothes that had fallen off of a roof rack.
I have more trouble in my garage. If I don’t pick it up, the truck will do it for me. Then I have to get it out and git er fixed.
How does someone disagree with a question? I hate that people can rate a question.
Where I live I don’t see street sweepers very often, but occasionally, if I am out late at night, I will see one, even on the interstate. They are probably more prevalent than you think.
I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about this. Things like this are why it is important to be prepared for such events, and either know how to change a flat, or have an auto club membership.
Since I have road hazard protection on my tires, I don’t have to pay for tire repairs, and tire replacement, if necessary, is prorated. Whether or not your local government does a good job sweeping the streets, I recommend road hazard protection. It always seems to pay for itself, at least in my experience.
Not a huge problem in Minnesota. Local streets are swept twice a year mainly to remove sand and leaves before going into the storm sewers. Litter is picked up on highways by volunteer groups, and large items and harards and animals are taken care of by DOT on a daily basis. Snow plows tend to clear anything else.
I do pick up nails etc. when I see them but I don’t go walking down the road looking.
And who owuld enforce this mandate? And how would they enforce it?
Our legislative statutes books are already loaded with countless unenforcable mandates. Why spend good money and good legislative time adding another?
I just wish that the recycling company near my work would police their area. Our facility is spread out, and this recycler is between my office and an area I work in often. I had a sidewall penetration, and several people I know that work full-time in that area have also had flats - more than one. That’s why most of the folks at my end walk to Flat Tire Land.
And I work with a Tea Party lover that just moved here from PA and thinks our roads are repaired far too well. MD should save money and let the roads go to pot (holes) so that his taxes can be lowered. I prefer having tires, rims, and suspension that are in good repair.
Well thanks for the comments,I"ve seen people step over dangerous things rather then simply move them.Too much Tea Party sometimes,I dont mind paying reasonable taxes,for a reasonable amount of services,a road magnet is cheap.(Let some state employees drag them around when they are riding around-I notice the Highway dept usually has huge pretty high end vehicles for single employees to ride around in a nice electromagnet would sure gather up a lot of tire puncturers(more bang for the buck)Rt 29 through Charlottesville,VA has alot of sharp objects laying next to curbs for example .I have noticed.Things have changed in the past 2 score of years(If pressed,will give an example.do really hate ruining a $100 tire because of a piece of debris laying on the road surface-Kevin
Kevin, In the interest of government efficiency, I think all recipients of government assistance (Social Security, Medicare, etc) who are able to walk should be required to harness up with a large magnet and drag it 1 mile per week along local roadways…
OK, no, not really 
but speaking of mandates, the states COULD require every registered vehicle to drag a magnet behind/under it …
…which would result in broken/lost magnets littering the roads and roadsides, in addition to the billions of stray drywall screws, nails, and utility knife blades…
Nails and screws are the least of the worries around here. The bigger problem in this area are hunks of iron from broken farm equipment, shredded semi tires, loose livestock, and various things falling off the back of flat bed farm trucks.
Just last fall I almost caught a 100 pound dog head on when this mutt decided to leap from the bed of the truck he was riding on and which was moving at about 40 MPH. The dog tumbled a few times and just narrowly missed the nose of my Lincoln before heading off full speed down the highway after his master, who apparently was not aware the dog had bailed out.
True enough,every " every Rose has its thorn" wouldnt be near as helpful as say PCV valves-Kevin
How does someone disagree with a question? I hate that people can rate a question.
I agreed with him to neutralize it 
This is yet another example of why social media teenager crap and mature car discussions don’t mix.
VDC nailed the answer in the first response, in my opinion. Want more government services? Stop complaining about paying taxes (especially those most able to pay them). That’s what they’re for.
Taxes are already way beyond reasonable and services are way below reasonable for the taxes we pay. Most of our taxes go toward creating more and more regulatory bodies who promulgate more and more regulations. Which, in turn, require more and more money to meet and/or limit our freedom of choice more and more.
As regards a mandate requiring that the DOT sweep all roads with a magnet on a periodic basis, that one would cost enough to drain what’s left of our paychecks.
“As regards a mandate requiring that the DOT sweep all roads with a magnet on a periodic basis, that one would cost enough to drain what’s left of our paychecks.”
Only after the ambulance chasers start suing the state to recover the immense damages caused when government-mandated magnets falls off a car and eventually find their way into other vehicles later.
Nobody said anything about a mandate.You guys need to grow up a little bit.not every post is going to be about a tame cockroach-I thought hoped that this was going to be a think tank, nobodys trying to give the Gov’t more power-Kevin
kmccune, you used the word “mandatory” in your original post when you asked if the State should make sweeping the streets mandatory. That is essentially asking if a mandate is needed.
Well JT,I didnt really intend it that way,the only intent I had was something to pick up the Ferrous objects,which in my experience constitute 90% of the punctures.As tight as the state budget is right now,the county where I live has access to a new huge streetsweeper,vacuum machine which the state uses to clean bridges and the streets around Hot Springs when having parades and shindigs,but they do not clean the roads in general,its up to us to pickup the trim screws and nails in our tires-Kevin ( PS they do hire a private contractor to pick the “Gatorbacks” up off of Interstate)
Kevin, if you can invent a semi-solid tire that doesn’t need to be inflated, you can turn this problem into an opportunity and make yourself rich in the process…the free enterprise system at its best!