CINCINNATI — Watch out: Drivers in some parts of the country may be sharing the road with reckless flyers.
According to WXIX and WLWT, Cincinnati police took to social media after an unusual road hazard caused a single-car crash Monday evening – a cicada.
#Crash single car into a pole at 2600 Riverside Drive. Caused by a cicada that flew in through an open window striking the driver in the face. #nothinggoodhappenswithcicadas #cicadas2021 pic.twitter.com/0WWUM8y5Ye
— Cincinnati Police Department (@CincyPD) June 7, 2021
“This evening, a young man traveling on Riverside Drive drove through a large swarm of cicadas,” the department wrote in a Facebook post. “One flew into the driver’s compartment through an open window and struck him in the face, temporarily stunning ... him. He then crashed into a utility pole.”
Although the man was not seriously injured, “his car is likely totaled,” police said.
The warning comes as billions of 17-year cicadas from Brood X are surfacing along parts of the East Coast, mid-Atlantic and Midwest, USA Today reported.
“In case you missed it, Cincinnati and our surrounding region has been invaded by Brood X of the Cicada Army,” Cincinnati police wrote in the Facebook post. “Historically each time they emerge, there have been several car crashes attributed to their presence. This year is no different.”
So what advice did officers have for drivers? “Remember to keep your windows rolled up until our little red-eyed friends are gone,” the post read.
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