Hitting objects on a highway

[golden eagle]

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?

[Rothman]

Heck yeah.  Straps, boards with nails sticking out of them, other construction debris, etc.

[NE2]

poo

[Purgatory On Wheels]

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.

[TravelingBethelite]

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.   

[1995hoo]

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.

[noelbotevera]

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.

[Purgatory On Wheels]

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.

[Ace10]

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.

[signalman]

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).

[Aerobird]

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...

[1995hoo]

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.

[cbeach40]

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.

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.

[jeffandnicole]

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.

[oscar]

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.

[Pete from Boston]

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.

[Brandon]

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.

[PHLBOS]

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.

[roadman]

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.

[bsmart]

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

[noelbotevera]

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).

[Pete from Boston]

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?

[noelbotevera]

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.

[hbelkins]

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.

[1995hoo]

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).