Heat Wave Turns Road Into Launch Pad For Unsuspecting Drivers

As summer rages on in North America, extreme heat is proving dangerous for motorists. No, we’re not talking about the risk of overheating in one’s car, but rather of the road itself overheating. That’s exactly what just happened in Missouri, and cameras caught it and the Toyota that went flying as a result.

Cape Girardeau is a small town roughly 120 miles south of St. Louis. Positioned along the Mississippi River, it’s subject to high temperatures and humidity right now. On Sunday, cameras caught the moment when the heat caused a road to buckle. Sadly, a Corolla driver arrived at the damaged road at exactly the wrong time.

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With basically zero time to react, the Toyota hit the damage and went airborne. Based on the video, it appears that it got a solid foot or two of air before coming back to earth. If only it were grounded to the ground like old Camrys. It’s tough to say with certainty, but it doesn’t appear as though the airbags went off when it lands.

Thankfully, it appears other drivers avoided a similar fate. Most were able to safely, albeit slowly, traverse the spike without issue. Additional footage in the video below shows that the road itself brought some of the surrounding terrain with it. The grass along the road is higher, and that might be why other drivers seem to pick up on the damage quickly.

The high in Cape Girardeau was only 91 degrees °F (32 °C), but clearly, it was enough to swell the pavement. Other cities across the USA are dealing with sky-high temperatures. Notably, buckling roads most often happen on concrete, though it’s possible on asphalt as well.

According to WVTM, surface temps need to hit around 120°F (49°C) for materials to expand past their limits. On a 90-degree day, blacktop can get far hotter than that. We’ve seen this same thing in Minnesota in the past. So as summer heats up, don’t just watch your temp gauge. Keep an eye out for roadways that want to send you flying. 

Screenshot ABC News