Giant Inflatable Pumpkin Blocks Okeechobee Blvd in WPB

A giant inflatable pumpkin caused a traffic disruption Tuesday afternoon on Okeechobee Boulevard in downtown West Palm Beach when it broke free from its moorings and tumbled into the roadway.

The wind-propelled decoration forced a driver to swerve to avoid a collision. Pam McCarron, who was en route to a work meeting near Clematis Street, described the scare. "Is it gonna hit me? Is it gonna hit my car? Is it gonna like go over my car?" McCarron said, noting the pumpkin blocked her view of oncoming traffic.

West Palm Beach Police Lt. Luke Bock reviewed traffic camera footage of the incident Thursday morning. "Obviously the police officer side of me was like, we don’t really need those things bouncing down the roadway," Bock stated. He acknowledged the video's entertainment value but stressed the potential dangers.

Lt. Bock advised residents to secure inflatable decorations according to manufacturer instructions to prevent them from becoming hazards. "Secure them down to your yard, so that something like this doesn’t happen and we don’t see somebody swerve and potentially get in a crash or obstruct our highways, or hit somebody that’s walking down the roadway," he said.

Homeowner Jennifer Edwards, who previously used inflatables for neighborhood trick-or-treating events, has discontinued their use due to safety concerns, citing the difficulty in staking them down securely.