BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It’s not something only seen in Western movies –tumbleweeds are a common visitor when Kern County is hit with strong winds.
In Oildale, East Highland Drive was taken over by dozens of them on Thursday.
“Today I had to pick up all my neighbors’, you know, on my street, I picked up all the tumbleweeds for them,” said Jason Hall, an Oildale resident. “Because a lot of people are older around here. It’s frustrating, especially when you have to pick it all up yourself, and then put it back over here, and it happens again. You get poked all over, scratched, it’s not fun at all.”
As for tumbleweeds on the road, the answer of what to do may come as a surprise.
“The safest thing to do is to actually hit the tumbleweed,” said Officer Tomas Martinez with the California Highway Patrol. “It may cause some damage to your vehicle, but at the end of the day, you will not lose control of your vehicle. Sometimes it’s safer to hit it as opposed to swerving uncontrollably, even end up hitting another vehicle, possibly an object.”