At least 10 drivers were stranded with blown or flattened tires during Monday morning rush hour on one of Los Angeles’s busiest freeways.
The California Highway Patrol first logged the trouble at 5:30 a.m. On the southbound 405 Freeway near Mulholland Drive in Encino, where a debris field of metal rods or similar objects littered the roadway. Multiple vehicles hit the scattered material and quickly became disabled, forcing drivers onto the right shoulder as traffic began backing up through the corridor.
Aerial footage from AIR7 captured the scene: roughly 10 cars lined the shoulder, several visibly hobbled by flat tires. The damage was concentrated enough to snarl the morning commute even though only one lane was formally shut down by authorities.
Officials with the California Highway Patrol said the metal debris appeared to be the likely culprit behind the sudden wave of tire failures. The objects were described as rods or similar material, though the exact source was not immediately identified in the traffic log.
The volume of rush-hour traffic amplified the disruption significantly. Even a single lane closure on the 405 — a corridor notorious for congestion even under normal conditions — was enough to create substantial backups that rippled through the Encino area as commuters attempted to push through the bottleneck.
The incident unfolded in the predawn hours when the freeway typically begins its climb toward peak volume. By the time most morning commuters reached the area, the shoulder had become an impromptu parking lot of damaged vehicles awaiting tow trucks or roadside assistance.
The California Highway Patrol’s traffic log documented the initial reports near Mulholland Drive, with the situation developing rapidly as more drivers struck the debris field. The shoulder became crowded with disabled vehicles, each with similar damage patterns pointing to a common cause in the roadway.
Despite the number of affected vehicles, no injuries were reported in the initial traffic log. The incident remained classified as a traffic hazard and obstruction rather than a collision-based emergency, with responders focused on clearing the disabled cars and removing the debris.
The 405 Freeway through the San Fernando Valley ranks among the most heavily traveled routes in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, carrying hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily between the Westside and regions to the north. Monday morning’s incident added to the corridor’s reputation for unpredictable delays.
Cleanup efforts continued through the morning rush as officials worked to restore normal flow. The California Highway Patrol did not immediately indicate whether the source of the metal debris had been traced to a specific vehicle or load that may have spilled onto the roadway.
The southbound 405 through Encino is expected to face continued heavy volume through the remainder of the work week.