Vehicle tire launches piece of concrete at man's truck on I-696 in Oakland County

Piece of decayed road damaged truck

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Leonard Remy was driving on I-696, just before I-75, in Oakland County on Jan. 8 when a piece of concrete that was thrown into the air by a vehicle in front of him hit his truck.

"All of sudden I saw his back wheel kick up a piece of pavement and it came directly into my windshield," Remy said.

The piece of concrete dented the roof of his Chevrolet Silverado and came within inches of hitting his windshield. He wasn't injured.

"I didn't have time to even move. I just saw a big chunk 5 inches across coming at me," he said.

Remy isn't the only one who has dealt with crumbling road on I-696 damaging a vehicle. On Wednesday, a Wixom man was traveling on the interstate near Southfield Road when a piece of concrete smashed through his windshield.

The Michigan Department of Transportation said that potholes are to blame.

"You get a larger vehicle going over it and it just pulls it right over into the air," Diane Cross said.

MDOT has been working to patch the roads on I-696, as well as other freeways in Metro Detroit.