Fall Safety: Leaves

Fall is in the air, and for many, this means that leaves will be falling soon. This is a good time to talk about leaf safety. Yes, you read that correctly we’re looking at leaf safety issues. All those fallen leaves can be quite hazardous, from the ergonomics of raking them to air quality and sound level issues from leaf blowers, but all of the following tips are related to driving and piles of leaves on the ground.

There are lots of communities that have curbside leaf collections where people rake their leaves into piles on or near the roadway. These piles of leaves pose a few different hazards but are all easily avoidable by not driving through them.

If someone has just finished raking these leaves in a pile and you come along and drive through them, undoing all of their hard work, you might just get punched in the nose. Not many people like raking leaves and nobody likes raking leaves a second time because of a careless driver.

Another reason to keep your car away from piles of leaves is that when they’re really dry, they easily catch on fire. Hot engine parts can ignite a pile of leaves if you park in the pile, this happens every fall. Here are some headlines from these fires:

• “Piles of leaves cause car fires, fire officials share a warning.”
• “WATCH: Pile Of Leaves Causes Parked Car Fire In Lakewood.”
• “People lose their cars to fire after parking on leaf piles.”
• “Pile Of Leaves Catch Fire, Destroy SUV On Long Island.”

No one wants to lose their ride because they parked their car on a pile of dry leaves.? We're talking to you, A.J. Soprano!

Dry leaves are a fire hazard and wet leaves are a whole other thing to avoid. As leaves accumulate on the road and get wet they can become as slick as ice. If you hit a patch of slippery wet leaves you could lose control of your vehicle, especially if you hit the brakes hard or are in the process of turning. Treat wet leaves like patches of ice, drive slowly, keep your wheels straight, and be aware that leaves can block lane lines and the road edge. You could find yourself hitting a big pothole, driving off the roadway, or drifting into another lane because of leaves.

The final and most serious reason that you should never drive through a big pile of leaves is because you never know what is hiding in the pile. Those leaves could be hiding a big rock, any number of critters that shelter in leaf litter, or even a child. In Oregon in 2013 a teenager drove through a pile of leaves in an SUV. The vehicle hit something that the driver thought was a rock, but it turned out to be 6- and 11-year-old sisters who were hiding in the pile. Both girls died from their injuries. There are two points here: drivers should not drive through piles of leaves, and parents need to teach their kids not to hide in piles of leaves, especially if the pile is on or near the road.

Who knew that leaves could be so dangerous or deadly?

You do now.