Prickly hit

Road rage, reckless drivers and lost brakes are just some of the risks motorists face on the road. For car owners in Falmouth, Massachusetts, another form of vandalism targeted them last 18 April.

Local police recovered nearly 500 nails spread across four Falmouth roads.

Photos shared by the Falmouth Police Department showed dozens of nails with their heads pressed deliberately into tar patches across the roads, the sharp end pointing skyward, ready to impale the tires of cars passing by, Aol.com reported.

Police officers who discovered the spikes at 2 a.m. also found nails on the sidewalks, driveways and beneath the tires of parked cars.

Fortunately, the spikes did not puncture tires or cause accidents, though police did not find the persons behind it.

Meanwhile, drivers on a highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia were not as fortunate on 2 May. Their tires were punctured by sharp shards of metal scattered across all southbound lanes of the M1 Pacific Motorway from Ourimbah to Mount White, News.com.au reports.

Emergency services, tow trucks, and sweepers were dispatched to the scene to help the motorists and remove 750 kilograms of “finely ground steel” that was accidentally spilled by a truck on a 30-kilometer stretch of the motorway. The truck driver apparently did not notice the spill until it was too late.

Some 300 cars with busted tires pulled to the side of the road causing heavy traffic. The affected part of the highway was closed for several hours for the cleanup, repairs, and towing but traffic was still heavy when it reopened at 2 p.m.

Magnetic devices had to be used to remove the embedded metal in the highway, NSW transport coordinator general Howard Collins told News.com.au.

The company that operated the truck carrying the metal shards, NJ Ashton, issued a public apology for the damage and disruption, adding that it was puzzled how the metal spilled when the back of the trailer was firmly locked, according to News.com.au.