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Old 04-04-2006, 12:31 AM   #1
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DID you SEE that.....????

Hello all -

Thought it might be fun to find out what is the whackiest thing you have ever SEEN fall off a vehicle, be it trailer, MH, or jalopy, or nuttiest thing you have seen on the road.

Here are my latest couple from the weekend.

#1)

Driving along the interstate into town, in far left of 3 lanes. Center lane had a semi rig with 3 more rigs piggybacked on the back. Surely everyone has seen this type of transport.

Suddenly a diamondplate something comes flying off #2 of the piggybacked rigs. Flips and lands in my lane. Lands flat and starts to slide gracefully ( about 600 ft or so) across the lane heading for the crash median divider.

I nail the brakes and nearly get jacked in the rear by an impatient so-and-so. As the lid slides across the lane I accelerate past it. It slides neatly into the barrier and flips, cartwheels and end-over-ends across the lane 10 feet infront of so-and-so who suddenly REALLY appreciates my avoidance maneuver. Near miss for him.

Lid cartwheels across all 3 lanes and winds up in the wide right median - LOVE the big mirrors!!! Trucker never knew he lost anything....

#2)

Heading into town on a major artery road heading up toward a LARGE mall populated by BestBuy and CircuitCity among other stores. Small 80's toyota with regular bed coming out of the entry drive with a HUGE flat screen TV (that is television for you towing junkies) in the back. Box was HUGE! Secured by nothing other than gravity and the tailgate.

He makes a quick left to get ahead of traffic - gotta get that big screen home for the NCAA right?? Hits that big, deep dip that they seem to get in every mall entry and exit.

Box slide forward and over, LEANS just SO far and hits the bed rail at a REALLY bad angle. The back of the box then tips and ALSO hits said bed rail - gotta wonder how that neato edging on that Sony looks NOW??? Guy slows and causes all sorts of traffic commotion.

Passenger realizes the serious predicament about to befall his short term future big screen watching time and leans out the window to push the box back upright, or at least stop?? it from falling out...!? This was sort of James Bond-ish, if you can visualize this.

Driver makes a 'corrective' wiggle and box goes from hard right to a HARD left on opposite bed rail....

They pulled over and surveyed damage.... while I drove on and laughed at the folly that some will engage in.... YIKES!!!

I could go on, and probably will.... Would be interested in what everyone else has witnessed.

Axel
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Old 04-04-2006, 01:19 AM   #2
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Glad you are okay Axel, the first sounds terribly scary and the second incredibly stoopid!

Two sights I remember were both on vacations.

1. Come sail away. We were in Fish Creek, Door County WI at the intersection out of town when this pickup turns the corner and a canoe slides right off and out of the bed and into the intersection. No one was hurt but probably their dignity was in retrieving it!

2. Don't give me any Bull! We were in Yellowstone N.P. at Mamoth when the elk were in town. The male elk with the huge antlers was chasing off the encroaching one while the females crossed the road into the crowd and buildings. I did not move as I was on the sidewalk but the herd saw to it that I was between the shes and hes. A park woman climbs out of her truck and starts yelling at me not to stand in between "him and the we-men!" In a daze I slowly move back having to pass the "women" to do that. When lo and behold a pick-up with a large dog in the open bed drives through the intersection and stops because the other cars and trucks were stopped. The dog starts barking and he is literally in the elk's face about four feet off and even. When the elk charges the dog in the truck, antlers down and coming up fast the driver just makes a very very near get away. Too close for comfort, for sure I thought it was going to be a rammed truck and a dead dog.
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Old 04-04-2006, 04:55 AM   #3
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About 15 years ago.....

Going north on I81 in PA right before the I78 split....new Yakima bike rack for the back of my Daytona, rack failed, bike departed car, bike run over by big tractor trailer. Yakima paid for it all. Trucker never stopped.....
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Old 04-04-2006, 05:08 AM   #4
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An older lady pulled out into heavy traffic on one of the major arteries where I lived, and was promptly clobbered by a pickup truck. She couldn't figure out why she got hit, as she had counted ten cars, and it was her turn to go...
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Old 04-04-2006, 05:33 AM   #5
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Peanuts Anyone?

I don't know if this fits but it is a trailering story. About 2 years ago I had my flatbed trailer with 4wheeler in tow and passed an onramp in the left lane to allow traffic to merge (4 lane interstate). The right hand lane was packed with cars and I could see for about 1/2 mile ahead cars were rapidly merging right in a hurry for some unknown reason. Because I was driving my F250 with trailer and was not as manuverable as the other rush hour traffic vehicles I had to wait my turn to get back into the right lane. All this was made more difficult by the car tailgating my trailer by a foot or less and flashing the lights and blowing the horn. I had signaled for a quarter mile and had almost gotten a break to get in when the last car in front of me quickly went right into the other lane revealing a large box (3x3 foot I estimate) and the reason everyone was going right to begin with. I was in a pickle and had to make a quick decission - move right with everyone brakeing because of the fast move of the guy in front of me just made OR swing around left and use the small but sufficient left emergency lane. I went left at the last minute and the guy behind me had no time to react because of his proximity to the paint job on my trailer. There was a good ending, the box which impacted his front end was only full of peanuts but which exploded with a pretty puff in a white cloud of peanuts that surely the guy must have thought he went to heaven in a instant. I finally made it into the right lane and the guy passed me without looking over ---- peanuts stuck in his grill and windshield wipers. All this happened in a one mile stretch in under 2 minutes.

You have to give youself plenty of time to react to things on interstates or you can be like that guy and get to meet things up close.
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Old 04-04-2006, 05:46 AM   #6
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not funny

This was relayed to me by a customer who witnessed it as they drove to FL from Canada.

Somewhere in I-75 headed south, they were driving their new MoHo (40' Monaco diesel) at about 65mph when another MoHo towing a car behind passes them at a speed they estimated to be 85+. They proceed around a large curve in the interstate and there is a car parked .....that is PARKED in the right travel lane!!!

Well, the guy in the speeding MoHo rear-ends the stopped car with such force, that the MoHo does a complete ENDO and winds up on its roof (or what's left of it. He showed me a couple of photos and the MoHo was lying flat as a pancake......wheels up in the air......about 4 feet high. The rest of the roof, appliances, wall structures, whatever was totally flat with nothing left.

Several people died in this crash and the entire incident is a testimony to the idiocy of people who: stop in a travel lane when shoulders are present to create an unnecessary hazard and people who drive their vehicles way beyond their limitations, abilities and conditions.

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!!!!!!
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Old 04-04-2006, 05:52 AM   #7
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Recently, I noticed someone who had went past me hauling a bicycle. Nothing un-usual about that except the wheel was free spinning and it appeared to be removing a little spot of paint and leaving a nice little mark near the bumper.
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Old 04-04-2006, 07:09 AM   #8
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Down here in Florida, you see a lot of "rednecks" driving through town with their dogs STANDING on top of their in bed tool boxes. I have never seen one loose it's balance on a curve or turn yet. Up in Ohio I did see a German Shepard jump out of the back of a pickup at about 45 MPH. It did not live.
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Old 04-04-2006, 07:28 AM   #9
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Many moons ago while traveling I-80 outside of Council Bluffs, we were passing a pickup pulling a small enclosed trailer that was in the right lane. We weren't going that much faster than the pickup so all of this seemed to happen in slow motion but as we got up to the hitch, I noticed the trailer had jumped the ball and was only being pulled by the safety chains. This wasn't something that had just happened either. I think he had been driving this way for some time. When we got up to the driver's window I informed him of his predicament and he panicked by slamming on the brakes. Now everyone was in trouble. We accelerated to get past him and we watched in the mirrors that he finally got the thing off to the side of the road after fishtailing more than I ever thought possible. By the time he got it to a stop, the trailer ended up on its right side just off the driving portion of the freeway. Thank goodness no other vehicles were involved. We all got lucky that day. Witnessing this event has caused me to be extra careful every time I hitch up. I see the vision of this like it was yesterday.

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Old 04-04-2006, 07:32 AM   #10
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15 years ago I was just north of Salt Lake City southbound on I-15. We were returning home from Yellowstone with our popup in tow. A flatbed passed us and just as he did a sheet of plywood came off the truck and landed about 50 feet in front of us. It stood on end, eight feet tall and 4 feet wide and waited as I closed the gap at 60 MPH. It reminded me of one of thise "Dirty Harry" movies where the target would popup in front of Clint. Good Guy, Bad Guy, no time to think. It made a heck of a noise as my brand new 91 Toyota Pickup plowed through the target and the mirrors slammed back into the retracted posision. My wife who was resting her eyes was wide awake and shouted, what the sh** was that? When we stopped we found the bigest piece of wood that was left, it was stuck into what was left of the grill and it fit into my pocket. The truck was damaged ($3500) but fully functional.
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Old 04-04-2006, 08:59 AM   #11
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I have two...

Several years ago I was heading south on I-35E going through Lewisville in a Honda Accord. Traffic was heavy (as if it isn't sometimes). I notice one of those Chrysler K-cars passing me on the left, and in doing so noticed that the rubber bumper wrap had pulled loose about halfway and was sort of flapping (more like swinging) in the wind. The driver proceeds beyond the car in front of me, and pulls in front of him. Well, about this time the bumper wrap decides to come the rest of the way off. The car in front of me has no time to react to this, and promptly runs over it, literally flipping it up into the air. So here I am, running 65 miles per hour with what appears to be a bumper flying through the air and heading straight for my windshield. In retrospect I think I felt a little like the guy in Twister who sees the radio tower coming at him through the windshield. Anyway, here it comes - ba-doomp! glancing off my hood and windshield and on over my car. Took a few minutes to recover from that one, and remarkably no damage to the car.

A few days later I noticed what looked like a steel dresser lying in the fast lane on the same stretch of highway, only northbound. Didn't look as though anyone had hit it yet. Glad I wasn't going to be there when someone did!


This next one happened two Christmas Eve nights ago - the wife and I were alone for Christmas and so we decided to spend it in Kinder, La at the casino, and stay at the RV park there. Of course, in our infinite wisdom (not!) we decided to leave at about 9 o'clock at night, figuring traffic would be lighter while heading through Houston on I-10 that late on Christmas Eve. Well, it was pretty light, but not just for that reason. Those of you who remember that night remember the unbelievably weird winter weather. Well, just about the time we got east of Houston, the temperature started to dip below freezing. What we didn't realize was that the worst of it was to the south, as opposed to the north, which kinda flies in the face of conventional thinking (of course, had we been actually thinking conventionally, we wouldn't have been there). So the wife is on the phone with the RV park making sure they're going to be open when we get there when I start to see cars sitting in the median and the shoulder, lights on, facing multiple directions. So I think, "Hmmm." and drop to about 45 mph or so. About that time, I see the next overpass, along with SEVERAL CARS STOPPED ON IT, OTHERS CRASHING INTO THEM, and us with 50 plus feet and 16000 pounds of rig bearing down on them.

Wife is on the phone, oblivious to what is unfolding. I literally felt my heart sink and all I can utter is...

"Oh, honey..."

But then...

As the cars careened off one another, a space just wide enough opened, as if on cue. Still moving about 40-45 and afraid to touch the brakes, I held my breath and aimed the rig at the opening, letting the momentum carry us through. I can't imagine there being more than a foot or two of clearance on either side, but somehow, miraculously we emerged without a scratch.

After a brief pause to exhale, I say "Well that's enough of this!" and head immediately for the next exit. I-10 sort of takes a jog to the south through that area (this happened just east of Baytown), so I was determined to go NORTH. We took the first road heading north, and followed secondary highways s-l-o-w-l-y until reaching dry pavement, and were able to safely reach our destination, albeit much later. Needless to say, we were too wired to sleep when we got there, so we gambled (some more!) until dawn, opened our presents, and then hit the hay!

I can guarantee you that we will not do something so unbelievably STUPID again. We got the kind of free pass this night that comes once in a lifetime, and that fact has not, and will never be lost on us!
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Old 04-04-2006, 09:01 AM   #12
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Back roads in Oklahoma

Once while out on the backroads in oklahoma, an impatient driver in an old restored Charger decided not to wait for me. He sped around me with a roar, and just as he got about 100 feet in front of me, his hood just lifted off so nicely and flat and just flipped right over the top of his car, landing on the road in front of me (upside down, killing the paint job) and then drifted off into the ditch. I never even had time to slow down, but luckily it was in the ditch by the time I drove by.

I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it.
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Old 04-04-2006, 11:14 AM   #13
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The inflatable boat trick...

Haven't experienced ths inevitable disaster yet, but aren't you amazed how often you see a mini-van barreling along at 70 with an inflated boat or raft on the roof, front end standing vertical or doubled over from the wind shear?
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Old 04-04-2006, 11:49 AM   #14
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The toad is history...

my buddy tells me this as I'm getting ready to putt (for a $1 win). Not a falling-off story, but a towing story.

He gets his first RV, a 40' used MoHo. Has a really old Nissan sedan to tow behind it and gets a very good (his description) towing hitch. Heads off to Atlanta from Houston for his very first trip. Soon notices people waving to him. Thinks "Wow, people really like my new MoHo. I'm THE MAN!" Finally, about 100+ miles into the trip, realizes the waves are getting frantic. Says "Honey, maybe we better pull off and check the Nissan." They get back there and find no rubber on the front wheels and the rims have now been ground down to where the disk brakes are grinding down. Drive axels and steering linkages are toast. He figures the spark trail must have been 50 feet or more! They call a tow truck to have the Nissan taken to the local junkyard, and write it off.

Gets a used Jeep. Tells his hitch guy "I want THE BEST HITCH on the market. Money is no object!" Gets the hitch. Heads off to Phoenix on his second trip. This time he's smart. After 30 minutes says "Honey, lets check the jeep." Goes back and finds the front wheels have been ground down to steel belts. Probably minutes away from major blowout.

Gets on the cell phone to his hitch guy and says "What the #$%@# is wrong with this hitch!" They guys says "OK, lets go through the checklist. First, did you unlock the jeep steering wheel?"

"Ummmmm" he says, "unlock the steering wheel?"

At this point, I'm laughing so hard, I miss my putt - twice - and lose the hole. Which is probably what he intended all along!
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Old 04-04-2006, 11:53 AM   #15
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. . . but aren't you amazed how often you see a mini-van . . .
. . . with four 4x8 sheets of drywall on the roof. Coming out of Home Depot. Just going a few miles. The driver and passenger are holding them on with their hands. Or a few pieces of twine.

Do you wonder why there is always a pile of busted sheetrock around the Home Depot?
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Old 04-04-2006, 12:11 PM   #16
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5 PM on town street after leaving work, following a mom alone in minivan. She is driving one handed, reaching back with the other to adjust her infant in car seat set in center position of seat behind her. I figured I'm not going to follow her that closely. She finishes, sits back up, and thinks, "Why not lock the right sliding door?" She immediately leans back over and stretches to activate the manual door lock -- like her baby is not going to get carjacked today!!

Obviously not wearing a seatbelt, this "responsible" mom slips off the driver seat and onto the floor of her van going about 20mph. Luckily she must have stabbed the brake pedal properly from that position because the rear end lurched up as the van came to a panic stop. It stopped in a straight line and there was no oncoming traffic -- just me stopped 4 car lengths behind laughing my a** off! She nonchalantly returned to the drivers seat and drove away ....
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Old 04-04-2006, 12:20 PM   #17
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Dang, this thread made my morning! Thanks guys!

The one thing we've seen over and over here, and I'm starting to think it's a NW thing, is people taking matresses home on the top of small cars. It's a frequent thing to see matresses off the side of the highway. Once when driving into Tri-Cities we saw a small car with a matress on top, and both driver and passenger were reaching out the window and holding onto either end! Of course once they got on the freeway - UP it went! Landed in the lane behind them. Luckily we were on the other side of the freeway laughing about it!

This is why we should teach more science in school, so people don't go "just set it on the roof, I can reach up and hold it down while we get on the freeway and do 60"
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Old 04-04-2006, 12:50 PM   #18
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Dumb and dumber...

this would have been a 'falling-off' story if they'd been able to get very far! Not sure how they got from the Home Depot to the IHOP, however far that was.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/lumber.asp
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Old 04-04-2006, 01:54 PM   #19
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Not sure how they got from the Home Depot to the IHOP, however far that was.
What's funny about it is they were headed from Home Depot in Waldorf, back to Annapolis. That's FORTY MILES! And they pass three other Home Depots on the way!
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Old 04-04-2006, 02:26 PM   #20
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