IDOT to permit transport of hay on interstates

[Special K]

my point was that parking in a travel lane is so significantly more egregious a violation of social norms, that to nitpick whether or not a hypothetical car which is on the shoulder should be using lights or not ... well, that just misses the point entirely.

it's like saying that someone shot up a theater, so should we use hearing protection when we go to the range?

Actually, the base argument was Deanej's (apparent) assertion that the car should have its lights turned off even if it was in the travel lane.  We've since solved that misunderstanding and have moved on.  Please let it go.

[hm insulators]

Going back to the subject of stuff falling into traffic lanes (shall we?) , try spending time in the Los Angeles area and listen to the freeway traffic reports (at least one radio station, KNX-AM 1070 has traffic reports "on the fives" 24/7) and you'd be amazed at the number of reports of items dropped or spilled onto the freeways there. Ladders and mattresses are the two most common things found on the freeways, but you name it, and somebody has dropped one on the freeway at some point or other. (I even remember once somebody dropped a kitchen sink on the freeway, which would complete the list.) You could furnish an entire subdivision with all the tables, chairs, desks, lamps, beds and sofas that have ended up on L.A. freeways down through the years. When I lived there, I used to joke that Christmas doesn't officially begin in Los Angeles until somebody drops the first Christmas tree onto the freeway. (Once, a big rig hauling Christmas trees dumped the entire load of them when he tried to take a transition ramp too fast. I guess he wanted to get the holiday season in L.A. off in grand style that year. ) The amount of food stuffs (tomatoes, oranges, milk, chicken, lettuce) spilled onto the freeways every year could feed a small nation, say Equatorial Guinea.

And you can imagine the pandemonium among motorists when an armored truck full of cash overturns and spills its load.

[agentsteel53]

I've called 911 for the aforementioned parked car, a refrigerator, and a "large piece of industrial equipment" (my exact words!) lying in a freeway travel lane.

a friend and I once moved a washing machine out of the travel lane of a two-laner where it was just easiest to park on the shoulder and move the item ourselves.

[hm insulators]

a friend and I once moved a washing machine out of the travel lane of a two-laner where it was just easiest to park on the shoulder and move the item ourselves.

Gee, you should've taken it home. If you're married, it would've been a nice surprise for your wife. ("Look dear, I got you a new washing machine!" ) Or sold it at your next garage sale. (If asked to explain the dings and dents, just say it's the spin cycle--it fell off the truck and went spinning down the road. )

[formulanone]

And you can imagine the pandemonium among motorists when an armored truck full of cash overturns and spills its load.

Actually, it was surprisingly civil, from some of the reports; it crashed above one of the poorest neighborhoods in Miami.

I heard most of it was coinage, so I don't think anyone was charged with theft.

[roadman]

My most interesting "almost hit object in the road" story happened on I-93 NB near River Road in Andover (MA) and involves a Little Tikes plastic basketball hoop.  It was lying on top of a bunch of other stuff (all unsecured) in the back of a pickup truck that was about four car lengths ahead of me when a gust of wind caught it and sent it up over the tailgate.  Swerved into the right lane and passed the hoop just as it hit the pavement.  I then pulled over, called MassDOT's highway operations center to report it (they used to have a special cell number - #321-  you could call to report "non-immediate' emergencies like road debris), and went on my way.  The driver of the pickup truck was either unaware he lost part of his load, or was unwilling to go back and try to retrieve it, because he kept on going.

Several miles north, after passing the Windham (NH) weigh station, I notice a couple of vehicles pulled off the shoulder onto the grass, and people outside talking.  One was the pickup truck, with even fewer items in the back than when they lost the basketball hoop.  The second vehicle was a minivan with a partially smashed-in windshield, presumably damaged from something else in the bed that had decided to become airborne.