A driver who recently discovered a metal shard lodged in her tire is raising concerns about a possible return of the road hazard that damaged vehicles across the Alle-Kiski Valley earlier this year.
Brittany Kristophel noticed her back passenger-side tire losing air while driving to work on Route 28. At first, she thought the problem might be related to changing weather conditions.
But after repeatedly filling the tire with air, only to watch it rapidly deflate, she took her vehicle to a mechanic.
“He said it was a metal shard, a fine metal shard,” Kristophel said. “And it was difficult for him to even find and for him to remove it.”
Kristophel said the discovery reminded her of Channel 11’s earlier reporting on dozens of complaints from drivers who experienced flat tires and vehicle damage after traveling on Route 28 and nearby roads in the Alle-Kiski Valley.
At the time, metal shards were blamed for the damage, but authorities were unable to determine where the debris originated.
Now, Kristophel believes the problem could be happening again.
She said she has seen numerous reports of damaged tires in a Facebook group for drivers who use Route 28, sometimes with multiple people reporting problems in a single day.
“It’s frustrating,” Kristophel said. “It’s definitely frustrating. We all have lives; we work. With the economy right now, everything is so expensive.”
She worries that vehicle damage could mean missing work or losing access to transportation.
“Am I going to lose a day of work? Am I going to have to call off tonight because I don’t have a car?” she said.
During the earlier investigation, the Harrison Township police chief told Channel 11 that authorities reviewed hours of surveillance footage, interviewed local industrial manufacturing facilities and worked with PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
Despite those efforts, investigators were unable to pinpoint the source of the metal shards.
Kristophel was able to have her tire patched and did not have to replace all of her tires.
PennDOT told Channel 11 it has not received any recent reports of metal shards on Route 28.
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