Nails On 120 Kmph Expressway Puncture Cars, Spark Robbery Rumours: We Explain What's Going On [Video]

We have come across several videos of scams and robbery attempts from different parts of the country. We have seen people share experiences where their car tyres were punctured after they drove through a bunch of nails planted by miscreants on the road. Recently, one such incident was reported from the Samruddhi Expressway, where tyres of at least 4 cars got punctured after they drove over a bed of nails on the road. It was initially rumoured to be a robbery attempt, but authorities have come forward with an explanation for the same.

There are several videos available online related to this issue. The incident happened at night. The legal speed limit on the Samruddhi Mahamarg or the expressway is 120 kmph. This means most cars that are driven on this expressway are maintaining a high speed.

When they were driving on the expressway, the cars drove over a bed of nails on the road. The tyres of the cars that were maintaining a high speed were damaged, and they were stranded in the middle of nowhere.

This happened near Aurangabad exit 16-17. As per the reports, multiple vehicles suffered punctures on this stretch. The drivers and occupants who faced this issue initially thought that this was a robbery attempt by goons or thieves in the region. This created panic among the motorists, and authorities were also called for help.

When multiple vehicles faced the same issue, the authorities came up with a clarification in the matter and confirmed that this was not a robbery attempt and there was nothing to worry about. On that stretch, the nails were found stuck on the ground because of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation’s ongoing epoxy grouting repair work.

The authorities had placed safety barricades before the area where the work started, but road users breached these and drove over the stretch, which led to the issue.

Works on such expressways and highways are mostly carried out at night as there is less traffic during this time of the day. The motorists who faced this issue were actually lucky as they didn’t get involved in any crash. In the video, we can clearly see that the nails or metal rods were poking out from the road, and that was causing the problem. An incoming vehicle at high speed could have easily lost control after hitting a big patch of nails like this. It could have ended badly, but thankfully nothing like that happened.

We feel the fault here has to be shared by both the motorists and the authorities. The authorities did keep a diversion board on the road, but someone decided to ignore and breach it, and this is what caused the issue. Coming to the authorities, they should have ensured that vehicles were not entering this section while the work was going on.

Why were nails there?

Nails or soil nails are usually inserted into the ground during road construction to reinforce the soil and prevent landslides and erosion, stabilizing slopes and excavations. The nails are steel bars, either grouted into pre-drilled holes or driven by other methods. This creates a stable framework, increasing the overall shear capacity of the soil to support the structure.