WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — A Pasco County man fronted a hefty bill for new tires after they were punctured by more than a dozen nails on State Road 54 Monday.
"I ended up spending $773,” he said, showing the receipt he got from the repair shop.
His old tires were only a year old but had to be replaced after running over roofing nails. He wasn’t sure what he ran over, until after he pulled off to the side.
"You hear the noise, the clicking of the tire and then my steering wheel started pulling to the right,” he said.
He found a total of 13 nails in just one tire. Rodriguez saw other people pulled over at the same time to examine their car too.
"Maybe those nails fell off on a truck and they didn’t notice it,” he said. “If one of those tires were to explode it could cause an accident or something like that, but it didn’t happen and I’m glad for that."
The repair shop discovered eight more nails that punctured his three other tires. After he warned other drivers on Facebook, some people want to know if you can get reimbursed for something like this.
The first thing you should do is pull over to a safe location, take pictures of the damage and what you ran over. Next, call the policeif it's a danger to the public.
Call the agency with jurisdiction over the road and report the debris immediately so crews can clean it up, and help save others from damage. In this case, it's the Florida Department of Transportation.
If the debris is left by police, a highway crew or a pothole, you may be reimbursed. FDOT officials say it's a case by case situation.
Otherwise, you can contact your insurance company and file a claim, depending on your coverage it shouldn't impact your insurance rate.
"You have to be safe all the time, you have to secure your tools and you have to secure your merchandise,” said Rodriguez.
