Atlanta streets have a new defender—a Magnet Man. The city's own Alex Benigno has turned his bike into a metal magnet, saving drivers from the pesky and sometimes costly inconvenience of flat tires, FOX 5 Atlanta reports. Benigno began his unique mission after frequently encountering nails and screws on his commute, leading to a series of frustrating flat tires.
His invention, a standup bicycle equipped with a custom trailer decked out with 60 powerful magnets, has allowed him to collect more than 410 pounds of hazardous debris from Atlanta's streets in just two months, according to his counts—he's spent those eight weeks pedaling over 522 miles through the city, pulling nails and screws from the path of unsuspecting motorists and cyclists alike. "When I started doing this I had no idea how much stuff was out there," Benigno told 11Alive, noting the tangible results of his efforts, less and less debris with each sweep, it's working.
The local community has recognized Benigno's work; he's become a sought-after presence in Atlanta, with social media users sending him requests to clear specific areas. "One person could see what I was doing and pulled over to thank me," Benigno recounted to 11Alive, and his growing online profile is sparking calls for more residents to take part in similar efforts.
Meanwhile, the scraps that Benigno collects are finding a new lease on life through the work of metal artist Laura Lewis, who sees potential masterpieces in the materials, "I'm really excited to see what gets birthed from the junk," she said in a statement obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta—Lewis gives new purpose to the discarded metal transforming it into art, expressing excitement over being part of the cycle of making something good out of basically garbage.
Atlanta's Magnet Man is more than a title for Benigno, it's a call to action, one that he answers with each magnetic pull and every mile covered; it's an odyssey of maintenance and creativity—surgical in extraction and artistic in transformation—leaving behind cleaner streets and a safer journey for all.
