Earlier today, I was driving on I-55 and narrowly avoided hitting a dining room table chair. I'm going to assume someone was moving furniture in a pickup truck and the chair fell out.
Have you ever hit an object that was on the road, other than a dead animal?
Heck yeah. Straps, boards with nails sticking out of them, other construction debris, etc.
poo
Treads, lots of times. Rocks too.
Recently I passed a queen-size box spring along the shoulder. A few hundred yards further on was a vehicle pulled over with most of a mattress lodged underneath, and a long trail of stuffing. Why would someone decide to strap a bed to the roof and then drive on a 65mph urban freeway? No matter how well you secure it, that's not going to end well.
We were heading north on I-95 west of Mystic, when all of sudden our back right started to drag. We pulled over to get out and look. It turns out that tire got stuck in a ladder. Actuall, we had to wait until a state police officer pulled over wondering why we were stopped. Intially, he was accusing, until he noticed what happened. It turned out the guy had a jack in his car and got it out for us. I don't know how no one else hit it before us, as we didn't see it fall off. :confused: :hmm:
I remember when I was a kid my father somehow managed to get a plastic wastebasket stuck under the car on the Harbor Tunnel Thruway near Baltimore. Took him awhile to realize there was something there because the pavement was pretty noisy on its own.
Only object I can recall hitting was another car in front of me once.
Edited to add: Come to think of it, the OP said "other than dead animals." I guess that means if you hit a live animal it counts. Back in the mid-1990s when I was living in Durham a baby bird that looked like it was just learning to fly flew directly into the front of my car. I pulled off and found it dangling from the bumper and I had to use a stick to scrape it out. I felt terrible, even though I knew there was absolutely nothing I could have done.
A live deer on the EB PA Turnpike near the Highspire Service Plaza. Our plan was to go to Philadelphia (mom and dad's US citizenship), and Lehigh College (my sister's college to go to). The five of us all went in our old minivan (a 2005 Dodge Caravan, now a 2013 Toyota Corolla), and it was something around 5 in the morning, meaning the deer were out. Well, the section of road was fully lighted, and our headlights were on (maybe high beams). However, the deer suddenly came in our direction, hit the front of the minivan, then we ran over the now dead deer. When we got to the Highspire Service Plaza, I checked out the damage. My door (I was riding front seat) was dented (so I heard a crumpling sound when opening and getting out of my door), and the right headlight was broken. Well, we had no choice and instead tackle this after the trip. It sucked for the next couple hours, as I had to go out the driver door (not a problem, I'm only 4 feet 7 and a half inches). This was on October 10, 2013.
Well now that we're talking about live animals: plenty, though never intentionally.
A few days ago I saw a couple of buzzards in my path, feasting on road pizza. One noticed me in time to move out of the way, but his dining companion was too involved or greedy to be bothered, until I was almost on top of him. He took off one direction, but then turned and headed in the direction I had swerved to avoid him, and I scored a direct hit. He thumped off my grill, flailed about in the air a bit, and dropped dead into the oncoming lane, as the survivor watched the episode unfold. Such irony that a scavenger of roadkill would end up in a heap next to his last meal.
I spent the next few minutes contemplating whether buzzards have a code of ethics.
Several years back I hit what I assume was something that was once part of a car. It was pretty rigid too - rigid enough to blow out one of my back tires. I was on I-12 doing around the speed limit (70 mph) and amazingly made it from the left lane to the right shoulder and stopped without hitting anyone else. Five or six other cars were pulled over nearby for what I believe was the same reason.
That day I finally learned how to change a tire.
Om my previous car I hit a cone that had apparently fell off a DOT or contractor's truck and was laying on its side in the middle of a travel lane. It was late at night and I was on the freeway section of NJ 15 near the Lake Mohawk exit (exits on the short freeway section are unnumbered). I had to sneeze (in fact it was 3 in quick succession) and of course I had to close my eyes (this is completely unavoidable and it's why I hate having to sneeze when I'm driving). Upon opening my eyes, I could see the black base of a cone laying right in my path. Fortunately it was late at night and no one was around because I jerked the steering wheel to the left (attempting to miss the cone) without even considering that another vehicle could be next to me (mind you, I had a split second to make that decision and I was trying to avoid hitting the cone). Unfortunately I saw the object too late and clipped it on the right edge. Had I opened my eyes a second sooner, I would have missed the cone.
I knew that I did damage, but the car seemed to drive fine and since it was dark and I wouldn't be able to see all that well, I saw no reason to pull over. I assessed the damage when I got to my destination since it was in a well-lit parking lot. I had cracked my front bumper (just molded plastic) and the clip for my fog light was broken. The fog light was dangling by its wires. Fortunately, it was a quick disconnect, so I disconnected it to protect the light (that still worked) and take the stress off the wires that were not designed to support a light.
It cost me about $400 to replace the bumper. Fortunately, I know a guy who does body work. So, I made arrangements with him where I bought the bumper ($75 with tax brand new) and the paint and flex agent to paint said bumper (around $240 - I forget the exact amount) and I paid him $100 to paint and install the new bumper and reattach the fog lights (since the unaffected one had to be dismounted in the disassembling of the old bumper).
Aside from a suicidal deer, the most notable occurance has been the plastic bag we straddled on Tamiami Trail one night...the plastic bag that proved to be stuffed full of aluminum cans and, therefore, got stuck beneath our oil pan. Cue horrble screeching and even worse smell, and pulling over to find a stick in the middle of the night on the side of Tamiami Trail to poke it loose with.
We had that car for four more years and right to the end every now and then there'd be an occasional whiff of burnt plastic...
This thread made me remember a near-miss I had about 14 or 15 years ago. I was coming back from a football trip to Charlottesville very late at night (after midnight) and was maybe three miles from home when I saw hazard flashers up ahead and automatically slowed down. Good thing I did: Someone had knocked down a stop sign, complete with the wooden pole and the rectangular street-number signs VDOT routinely posts, and had laid it across the road. It was so precisely positioned I had to assume it was intentional as a malicious prank. I managed to pull off the road. The other guy had no damage to his car either and we were about to remove the sign when I saw headlights coming and we ducked behind my car......poor fellow coming never slowed down and never stood a chance. Ouch. Couldn't tell how much damage he did to his car given how dark it was, but the loud smash when he hot that thing didn't bode well at all.
Once cut a tire on a piece of metal debris. Which led to a lesson in not trusting the factory tire iron to stand up to seized lug nuts, and by extension a long night on the side of the road.
Quote from: Rothman on August 30, 2015, 12:50:54 AM
Heck yeah. Straps, boards with nails sticking out of them, other construction debris, etc.
Someday we'll hit a board with a nail in it so large it'll destroy us all.
A truck tire tread on 95 in Delaware. As we continued driving, I was able to look at the chrome of a truck next to us and could see a black mark on our vehicle. When I finally stopped, the black mark was actually the space where the bumper partially dislodged (which I was able to push back in), and the lens cover for the fog light was completely gone. The paint was spidered a bit on the bumper, but I never bothered to fix that as it's really unnoticeable.
A live pheasant, leisurely walking across a US highway in eastern Nebraska in 2010 while I was going 70mpn. Ph**cking pheasant took out one of my headlights, and did about $1000 in that and other front end damage. Also, a live quail or something walking on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I don't know the year). Judging from the egg yolk I scraped off my front end, it might've been pregnant and about to lay eggs. I've had other bird strikes, but those were in flight and so don't count.
I've also brushed against a deer crossing the road, with no obvious damage to my car or the deer.
A truck tread I ran over at speed on I-70 in Missouri bounced up and knocked one of my fog lights out of its mounting.
In 2011, I ran over some construction debris at speed on I-80 in Iowa. That blew out my driver's side front tire.
A pregnant deer on 422 near Butler, Pennsylvania. Cop behind me pulled over with me, followed by another cop that happened by, and they discussed whether they should attempt to induce labor somehow. This is when I said "Can I go now?" and left the frontier lawmen to their heroics.
Other than than, I've dragged a few cones. I'm much better at hitting other cars.
How about a bailed up roll of chain link fencing? I ran over one of these on the Pennsylvania Turnpike just west of the Valley Forge Interchange (maybe 5 miles west). It appeared suddenly out from under a pickup truck in the left lane. I had cars to my right and no fucking shoulder to my left. It ripped up the bumper and plastic under the car. Wound up taping it all together until I got back and could get the car into the body shop.
While driving along northbound I-95/MA 128 in Burlington back in the mid-to-late 80s; I had a near-miss with an airborne haybale that fell off a truck further up. Fortunately, I was able to safely swerve around it (the haybale that is). I don't know if the truck ever stopped or knew that he lost some of his cargo prior to reaching his destination.
Quote from: PHLBOS on August 31, 2015, 01:18:38 PM
While driving along northbound I-95/MA 128 in Burlington back in the mid-to-late 80s; I had a near-miss with an airborne haybale that fell off a truck further up. Fortunately, I was able to safely swerve around it (the haybale that is). I don't know if the truck ever stopped or knew that he lost some of his cargo prior to reaching his destination.
I had a similar experience on I-93 north in Andover several years ago. Was in the center lane and following a pickup truck that had a bunch of mostly unsecured household stuff in the bed. Gust of wind caught a Little Tikes basketball hoop and sent it airborne. Fortuantely, the right lane was clear, so I was able to swerve and avoid the hoop as it hit the roadway. Several miles later, just past the weigh station in Windham, I noticed the same pickup truck and a minivan off of the paved shoulder in the grass. The pickup truck had obviously been shedding additional stuff between Andover and Windham, as I noted about half the cargo was no longer in the bed. Unfortunately, the minivan's driver hadn't been as fortunate as I was, as there was a huge star pattern in the windshield.
Years ago (about 1975) I was on the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) behind a truck with a load of concrete blocks I noticed one working its way out of the center of the back row of blocks, I got out from behind him and tried to pass him I was beside him when it seemed the entire back row of pallets collapsed and spread all over the highway. He didn't even slow down. I saw a story in the paper the next day. The police didn't know who caused it and there was a lot of damage to cars (luckily no one was hurt bad) I called the local State Police barracks and told them what I knew but it was a plane white truck with no company name on it.
years later I was driving on I-66 approaching I-495 from the west behind a flatbed from a local big box store. It had a bag of gravel on the bed. All of a sudden the bag bounced off the back of the truck hit the road and exploded. I was appraching the cloud of gravel at 65 mph so I closed my eyes and stepped moderately hard on the brake. I was probably doing 50 when I went through it. I heard it hitting all over the front of my car. When I got to my destination I looked it over and called my insurance company. I had a dozen or so chips in the windshield and a lot of paint chips on the front end. I replaced the windshield and lived with the paint chips. I was finding gravel in that car until I sold it a couple years later
Two incidents to share: one with my brother and another with a poor guy.
The poor guy story was that two months ago on our way to Atlantic City, on the Schuykill Expressway east of I-476 I found a van with both missing doors, cracked windshield, and tagged up body (and some dents). He was parked on the shoulder and the driver had his head on the steering wheel, engine off, being depressed about his van.
With my brother, my brother and some best friends were in the Chipotle on Norland Avenue in Chambersburg. I heard that they were getting out when a young or old lady was coming into Chipotle. My brother's best friend (he was 17 or 18 - now he's 19 or 20 - he could drive) was driving a van while the lady was driving a small car (I don't know what it was). The lady was going about 20 mph and they were pulling out, and had a head on collision. The lady's car was literally wrecked - both headlights broken, engine exposed, hood damaged - everything was in poor condition - except for the windshield. For the van, only lost its Honda symbol (it was a Honda minivan). Neither one of them were injured (and the other friends).
Quote from: noelbotevera on August 31, 2015, 03:37:46 PM
Two incidents to share: one with my brother and another with a poor guy.
The poor guy story was that two months ago on our way to Atlantic City, on the Schuykill Expressway east of I-476 I found a van with both missing doors, cracked windshield, and tagged up body (and some dents). He was parked on the shoulder and the driver had his head on the steering wheel, engine off, being depressed about his van.
With my brother, my brother and some best friends were in the Chipotle on Norland Avenue in Chambersburg. I heard that they were getting out when a young or old lady was coming into Chipotle. My brother's best friend (he was 17 or 18 - now he's 19 or 20 - he could drive) was driving a van while the lady was driving a small car (I don't know what it was). The lady was going about 20 mph and they were pulling out, and had a head on collision. The lady's car was literally wrecked - both headlights broken, engine exposed, hood damaged - everything was in poor condition - except for the windshield. For the van, only lost its Honda symbol (it was a Honda minivan). Neither one of them were injured (and the other friends).
What were the items in the road?
Quote from: Pete from Boston on August 31, 2015, 03:40:45 PM
Quote from: noelbotevera on August 31, 2015, 03:37:46 PM
Two incidents to share: one with my brother and another with a poor guy.
The poor guy story was that two months ago on our way to Atlantic City, on the Schuykill Expressway east of I-476 I found a van with both missing doors, cracked windshield, and tagged up body (and some dents). He was parked on the shoulder and the driver had his head on the steering wheel, engine off, being depressed about his van.
With my brother, my brother and some best friends were in the Chipotle on Norland Avenue in Chambersburg. I heard that they were getting out when a young or old lady was coming into Chipotle. My brother's best friend (he was 17 or 18 - now he's 19 or 20 - he could drive) was driving a van while the lady was driving a small car (I don't know what it was). The lady was going about 20 mph and they were pulling out, and had a head on collision. The lady's car was literally wrecked - both headlights broken, engine exposed, hood damaged - everything was in poor condition - except for the windshield. For the van, only lost its Honda symbol (it was a Honda minivan). Neither one of them were injured (and the other friends).
What were the items in the road?
Van, I'd say he must've hit a car then vandals were hiding in the trees.
Other one, I think she scraped the curb.
I've seen a lot of ladders in the roadway but have never hit one.
Other than animals and a few sticks that I've dragged along for awhile, only thing noteworthy for me was part of a bale of hay. I was coming home from the 2010 Nashville meet and was near the eastern end of the Bluegrass Parkway when vehicles in front of me started weaving and dodging. I was in the right lane but didn't see the bale of hay until the pickup truck in front of me sailed over top of it without hitting it. It was too late for me to dodge and I ran over it. It cracked the front plastic air dam/splitter under the hood, but that was all. I didn't bother repairing it until I had to have deer damage repaired a couple of years later. The estimator assumed the damage was due to the deer so it got replaced.
I was just talking to my brother and he reminded me of a Boy Scout trip to Seven Springs sometime in the 1980s on which our father abruptly swerved on the road near Laurel Hill State Park because he saw something in the road. The father following us was not so lucky and my dad said in the rearview the skunk's death looked like a cloud of vapor as its scent glands emptied.
What was probably worse for the other father was that this happened just a few miles from Seven Springs and it was Friday night en route to a weekend trip, so he wasn't going to drive his truck again until Sunday, and since it was a ski trip, the weather was cold enough that there weren't any car washes open (assuming they'd even help....thankfully I have no personal experience with hitting skunks).
I'll admit to being a prick on occasion. :wow:
I was being tailgated by an annoying twit on a 4 lane street with center divider. I noticed ahead a full size pallet in my lane. The tailgater was showing no signs of wanting to pass (what is with these guys?) and since no one was around us, I waited to the last second to hop over to the inside lane, and mister tailgater nailed the pallet. I don't know if it lodged in his undercarriage or he just pulverized it.
Yep, I'm a bastid.
:-P
One time I was in the car when my sister was learning to drive. There was a ladder in the road which we hit at about 45 miles per hour.
Several years ago, my family and I were headed north on I-17 and as we rounded a curve, we witnessed a police car run over a mattress in the left lane of the highway. The owners of the mattress were pulled over on the side of the road, and the officer quickly got out of his car and pulled it off of the road.
I hit a boat once.
Also a cone.
I almost hit a construction barrel on I-90 near Chicago last year when stiff winds blew it off its mount into my path. I had to come to a complete stop and was probably lucky there wasn't someone too close behind me.
I've hit live animals too many times to count exactly how many times it happened. One time, in my old delivery job, I was driving behind a truck with a poorly secured bike and it fell out, which led to some vehicle damage. Also, back when I was still living in Illinois, I was in Rockford by the airport and for some reason, I didn't see a tomato cage in the road. I have no idea why a tomato cage would ever be there.
In terms of animals, I was moving from the DC area out to Wisconsin. As I was driving our U-Haul on I-70 outside of Wheeling, a huge bird of some sort (turkey vulture, maybe?) flew out of the woods and smashed into it right on the grill of the truck. My wife, who was following me in a car and communicating to me through two-way radio, thought it was hilarious. From her perspective, the bird flew in front of the truck and then -- feathers everywhere.
No damage to the truck, but I used my father-in-laws power washer to get the guts off of it before returning it.
The only thing I had fly into my car was a mattress! Unlike pumpkineater's experience, we were following a car and joking about the mattress that was slightly lifting off the roof. Next thing we know, it takes off and hits us in the front windshield! Both they and we pull over. No damage done to us, so we helped get the mattress off the road. We left...leaving them to deal with putting it back on their roof...and hopefully more securely this time!
Years ago I lost a mattress box spring from the top of my car on South Marietta Pkwy in GA. The store we had bought it from tied it onto the roof rack, but obviously didn't do a good job of it. A couple of cars ran over it before we could retrieve it from the road. A Good Samaritan with a thicker rope helped us tie it back on so we could return to the store for an exchange.
I hit a squirrel a couple of weeks ago. It ran into the road in front of me. I braked, but it was too close to stop. Poor, dumb thing.
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
Quote from: kkt on September 01, 2015, 01:05:38 PM
I hit a squirrel a couple of weeks ago. It ran into the road in front of me. I braked, but it was too close to stop. Poor, dumb thing.
I've found honking at squirrels to be surprisingly effective.
Quote from: 2Co5_14 on September 01, 2015, 12:52:33 PM
Years ago I lost a mattress box spring from the top of my car on South Marietta Pkwy in GA. The store we had bought it from tied it onto the roof rack, but obviously didn't do a good job of it. A couple of cars ran over it before we could retrieve it from the road. A Good Samaritan with a thicker rope helped us tie it back on so we could return to the store for an exchange.
I've carried a lot of things on vehicle roofs and overhead racks, and the one thing people who haven't tend to greatly underestimate is the dreaded front-end lift, particularly at high speeds. You simply must devote great care and attention to tying the item off over its front. I've seen items secured tight and fast at the sides that nevertheless pulled loose, broke, bounced, and flew off. This is a regular sight here as it's move-in season for the
brain-dead college students.
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
I am a little evnvious that you worked it into a comment, in context, so smoothly.
No kidding, I splattered a bat (yes, a bat) on my drivers side windshield one night.
I hate bats.
Really, they are gross. But I didn't aim for it, never saw it till impact. Blech.
When I worked for various dealerships, you'd find out that customers would hit all sorts of things...usually stuff that's too small to see in the road, anyhow. A customer once came in for a flat tire and "a metallic clunking noise while moving". Put the car on the lift, removed the wheel, broke down the tire, and out popped a beat-up steak knife. We assumed it was also the source of the noise, so we waived the diagnostic charges.
Another customer ran over a Swiss Army Knife, which also cut the tire. We only knew that was the source of the puncture, because it had then lodged itself in the plastic undertray.
I also serviced a customer who ran over a belt...the first time I'd ever seen a fashion accessory rip through a tread.
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
So who's the youngest person here who knows the source of that line?
I struck a coyote jetting across the freeway here in Phoenix late at night. Poor little guy. I felt awful for days.
Driving from Chicago to Wisconsin in our newish Subaru for an early Christmas, my wife heard a terrible noise develop from the car. There had been *something* in the road and she hit it. And now the car was making terrible noise. So we pulled over, and I waited for the tow truck once the dealer's porter came to get us. Since it was nearly Christmas, we were lucky enough to have the dealer's loaner car for a few days while they looked at the car.
It was a grocery bag caught in the air intake. I was really embarrassed.
Once, about 20 years ago, my front end got hit on I-696 by a flying two-by-four seemingly out of nowhere, knocking out the wire for my right headlight and turn signal.
My personal all-time favorite, though, and my only other major object hit, was suddenly coming upon a couch in my lane on the I-96 express lanes in Detroit, just before the Southfield Freeway. I was the car ahead of me swerve, but didn't know why until it was too late. As it was, I also swerved when I saw the couch, but not before scraping the corner. A bit of a scratch, but something I could live with.
Quote from: davewiecking on September 01, 2015, 08:19:55 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
So who's the youngest person here who knows the source of that line?
Kindergartners reading "Pete the Cat" books.
Quote from: noelbotevera on September 02, 2015, 03:45:09 PM
Quote from: davewiecking on September 01, 2015, 08:19:55 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
So who's the youngest person here who knows the source of that line?
Kindergartners reading "Pete the Cat" books.
nope.
Quote from: noelbotevera on September 02, 2015, 03:45:09 PM
Quote from: davewiecking on September 01, 2015, 08:19:55 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
So who's the youngest person here who knows the source of that line?
Kindergartners reading "Pete the Cat" books.
Here's a hint:
I don't think you know the meaning of the word "hint"...sorry...couldn't twist that into a Princess Bridge quote...
Quote from: davewiecking on September 02, 2015, 04:50:45 PM
I don't think you know the meaning of the word "hint"...sorry...couldn't twist that into a Princess Bridge quote...
"Hint" in this case being a 20 pound sledge hammer. :bigass:
Quote from: Brandon on September 02, 2015, 04:23:08 PM
Quote from: noelbotevera on September 02, 2015, 03:45:09 PM
Quote from: davewiecking on September 01, 2015, 08:19:55 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
So who's the youngest person here who knows the source of that line?
Kindergartners reading "Pete the Cat" books.
Here's a hint:
Wonder how many people who've seen that episode don't realize what Les Nessman's live broadcast from the Pinedale Shopping Plaza was a parody of.
Quote from: roadman on September 02, 2015, 05:46:21 PM
Quote from: Brandon on September 02, 2015, 04:23:08 PM
Quote from: noelbotevera on September 02, 2015, 03:45:09 PM
Quote from: davewiecking on September 01, 2015, 08:19:55 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
So who's the youngest person here who knows the source of that line?
Kindergartners reading "Pete the Cat" books.
Here's a hint:
Wonder how many people who've seen that episode don't realize what Les Nessman's live broadcast from the Pinedale Shopping Plaza was a parody of.
Oh the humanity!
Quote from: Brandon on September 02, 2015, 05:48:17 PM
Quote from: roadman on September 02, 2015, 05:46:21 PM
Wonder how many people who've seen that episode don't realize what Les Nessman's live broadcast from the Pinedale Shopping Plaza was a parody of.
Oh the humanity!
More specifically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YY0xw5r1ro
Disclaimer - Since about the age of seven, I've had a very deep interest (some might call it an obsession) in the Hindenburg disaster - at one point I could recite most of Herb Morrison's broadcast by heart. My reaction to Les's broadcast in the WKRP episode was to laugh out loud for almost ten minutes.
Quote from: Brandon on September 02, 2015, 05:41:45 PM
Quote from: davewiecking on September 02, 2015, 04:50:45 PM
I don't think you know the meaning of the word "hint"...sorry...couldn't twist that into a Princess Bridge quote...
"Hint" in this case being a 20 pound sledge hammer. :bigass:
I could use that sledge to knock the extra "g" from my post...
Quote from: davewiecking on September 03, 2015, 12:34:28 AM
Quote from: Brandon on September 02, 2015, 05:41:45 PM
Quote from: davewiecking on September 02, 2015, 04:50:45 PM
I don't think you know the meaning of the word "hint"...sorry...couldn't twist that into a Princess Bridge quote...
"Hint" in this case being a 20 pound sledge hammer. :bigass:
I could use that sledge to knock the extra "g" from my post...
I thought it was a comedic road-related fairy tale I hadn't seen.
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
Hey, that's one way to get a fresh turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. :-D
No doubt, the capital of road debris and objects falling off cars is my home city Los Angeles. My friend Joe Delurgio, whose job requires him to do a
lot of driving in southern California, calls it "having a yard sale." Listen to KNX-AM 1070, the big all-news station in L.A. for any length of time, and just about every traffic report will have some mention of debris on the freeway. Ladders and mattresses are the two most common "yard sale" items on the freeways, but you name it, it has fallen or spilled somewhere on an L.A.-area freeway: wheelbarrows, surfboards, tables, chairs (in a calendar month, enough furniture falls on the freeways to furnish an entire subdivision), money (you should see the wild scramble for "found" cash when an armored car overturns :-D), garbage, fruits and vegetables, a spilled load of Dodger hats, and to complete the list, at least one kitchen sink. And when I lived in Los Angeles myself, I would joke that Christmas doesn't officially begin in Los Angeles until somebody drops the first Christmas tree onto the freeway. Recently, I took Joe's "yard sale" concept to a different level with Christmas trees on the freeway: I call it "a holiday sale at Macy's," or if the tree falls on the freeway just after Thanksgiving, "a Black Friday sale."
Quote from: hm insulators on September 10, 2015, 06:11:03 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 01, 2015, 01:42:33 PM
I hit a turkey once as it took flight from one side of the road to the other.
Actually, it sort of hopped rather than flew, which is why it only ended up as high as the lower edge of my windshield.
I only slowed slightly because as God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
Hey, that's one way to get a fresh turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. :-D
No doubt, the capital of road debris and objects falling off cars is my home city Los Angeles. My friend Joe Delurgio, whose job requires him to do a lot of driving in southern California, calls it "having a yard sale." Listen to KNX-AM 1070, the big all-news station in L.A. for any length of time, and just about every traffic report will have some mention of debris on the freeway. Ladders and mattresses are the two most common "yard sale" items on the freeways, but you name it, it has fallen or spilled somewhere on an L.A.-area freeway: wheelbarrows, surfboards, tables, chairs (in a calendar month, enough furniture falls on the freeways to furnish an entire subdivision), money (you should see the wild scramble for "found" cash when an armored car overturns :-D), garbage, fruits and vegetables, a spilled load of Dodger hats, and to complete the list, at least one kitchen sink. And when I lived in Los Angeles myself, I would joke that Christmas doesn't officially begin in Los Angeles until somebody drops the first Christmas tree onto the freeway. Recently, I took Joe's "yard sale" concept to a different level with Christmas trees on the freeway: I call it "a holiday sale at Macy's," or if the tree falls on the freeway just after Thanksgiving, "a Black Friday sale."
"Hey Joe, check out this free crap I found."
"Where's it from?"
"The 5 in LA."
"Wow that stuff is where you pick up free stuff! You're so lucky, you found a six pack of Coca Cola!"
"Ayyyyyy!" (
The Martian novel strikes!)
(IANMTU)
I think I've even posted this before here. South bound on 132nd street just east of Springfield NE, I saw a very large spider (!!) in the road from far enough away (!!) I was able to line up with it and run over it with the drivers side front tire.
[shudder]
I hit a live rat..and it survived.
I also had the misfortune of hitting a mattress at about 50mph. I really hate it when people driving pickup trucks don't properly secure their cargo before hitting the road.
Quote from: 1995hoo on September 01, 2015, 01:46:45 PM
Quote from: kkt on September 01, 2015, 01:05:38 PM
I hit a squirrel a couple of weeks ago. It ran into the road in front of me. I braked, but it was too close to stop. Poor, dumb thing.
I've found honking at squirrels to be surprisingly effective.
I'll admit I haven't tried honking at a squirrel. But most times when they realize a car is coming, they're already 3/4 the way across, and they turn around and run back in front of an oncoming car. I don't know how they survived evolution with that kind of "intelligence".
My son hit a squirrel once - with his bike. Again, the stupid thing turned and ran into danger. Didn't do my son any good either, as he went over.
Quote from: Jardine on October 13, 2015, 08:22:00 PM
(IANMTU)
I think I've even posted this before here. South bound on 132nd street just east of Springfield NE, I saw a very large spider (!!) in the road from far enough away (!!) I was able to line up with it and run over it with the drivers side front tire.
[shudder]
why?
About four or five months ago, I was on I-57, just south of Champaign/Urbana. I was behind a utility truck, like this one (http://www.ecarshawaii.com/images/hosted/2002-chevy-silverado-utility/2002-chevy-silverado-1500-utility-truck-03.jpg). All of a sudden, the wind caught hold of a two by four, and it sailed out the back of the truck, spinning through the air like a football, reaching maybe twenty or twenty-five feet into the air. Luckily, we were both in the main travel lane, and the board was traveling at a bit of an angle, eventually coming to rest on the left shoulder. So, it missed hitting me.
I was surprised that the truck just kept on going. I don't know if the driver noticed his dramatic pirouetting two by four or not, but he certainly made no move to pull over or anything like that. To be honest, I was quite angry at the whole event, and I may or may not have pulled alongside to express that anger as a function of my finger.
(While I didn't hit anything here, mercifully, I thought my story was appropriate to the thread all the same.)
About 10 years ago, I bought 4 new tires for my car the day before a roadtrip. Not 10 minutes into it, I had both tires on my passenger side blow out. I found a tire balancing weight lodged in the rear tire. Never before was I so glad the tire shop got me to get road hazard...
The other day, I had just gotten onto I-10 westbound off Arizona 51 and the traffic slowed down just afterward. It was a "yard sale" in the form of a portable mattress (futon?) in the middle lanes.
I was driving on I-90 west of Sioux Falls when I saw an 8 foot aluminum ladder that had fallen onto the highway and was shredded and in tons of pieces. I moved around a few pieces. A few miles west, I saw a ~2004 Chevy Impala with its hazards on. I wondered why it was broken down, not being too old, so I looked closer. Under the car was a massive puddle of liquid (too much to be oil, ps fluid, coolant). I think he hit a piece of the ladder (at 80+ mph) punctured his gas tank and noticed that his fuel gauge was dropping. So he pulled over and the rest of it drained out onto the road... talk about bad luck.
Didn't actually hit the object but came close and it still scared the bejeebus out of me:
Driving to a favorite watering hole one evening in 2010, I encountered a full-sized refrigerator smack dab in the middle of the #3 lane of eastbound CA 178 in Bakersfield. It was dark, I was going about 60-65 mph. The fridge was in the middle of a curve so I didn't see it right away and there were cars in the adjoining lane so I had to brake hard and dip onto the shoulder to avoid hitting it. I made it safely passed but I could hear tires screeching behind me.
Just remembered one from my 80s youth: I hit a humongous Great Dane with my parents' 1978 Ford Thunderbird (which my high school friends and I had dubbed the Golden Battleship). I was only going about 20 mph. The dog kinda shook its head, licked its chops for a second then went on its merry way.
After the groundhog blizzard, I was with a friend and a truck with all the snow on top of its cab and trailer hit one of the overpasses. All the snow and ice exploded and came flying at us. It was cool but scary as hell.
I almost hit a transmission that was dumped in the middle of I-88 one time during rush hour. Found the guys car about 500 feet down the lane with an oil slick trailing back to the trans.
On a 2011 roadtrip, I was zipping along a twisty section of US-127 south of I-71, somewhere north or south of Glencoe, Kentucky. I went probably a little too fast around a blind curve and ran over a two-foot log that must have fallen off the back of someone's truck. It was too big to pass over -- it hit the undercarriage and stuck there, making a horrible noise as the car shuddered to a halt. I about soiled myself; I thought the transmission had just dropped. I got out to take a look (while still on the roadway on a blind curve; brilliant move). I tried moving back and forth a bit, but that log was stuck tight. I finally gave it some gas and dragged forward a few hundred feet to a point where I could pull partly off the road and the ground was depressed a bit, so the log finally dropped out.
I have only myself to blame -- H.B. Elkins advised that I avoid this stretch of 127 and I ignored him.
'Tis the season, and right now the Christmas trees should be raining onto the L.A. freeway system. "Holiday sale at Macy's."
Not too long ago, circa about five and half weeks ago, I head home going past Missoula International Airport, but before I passed it completely, I smack some debris and I was afraid that it had punctured one of my tires. The right front hit it first. I couldn't see what the object was because it was at night and the road was wet. Later I found out it was a chunk of wood, but thankfully with no nails.
Quote from: Zzonkmiles on October 16, 2015, 09:45:35 PM
I hit a live rat..and it survived.
I also had the misfortune of hitting a mattress at about 50mph. I really hate it when people driving pickup trucks don't properly secure their cargo before hitting the road.
Me too, but I see far more mattresses tied incorrectly to the roofs of sedans, minivans, etc. than to pickups. How hard is it to tie over the front of the mattress?