Watch out for flying matresses

[eddd]

We had a call last night for a motorcycle accident. A pickup was hauling some furnishing, including a matress which was on the top and unsecured/poorly secured. The matress flew off and stuck a trailing motorcyclist who received signficant injuries.

 

Vigilence is the key to our safety, that and insisting law enforcement stop such obviously dangerous practices.

[W. Mazelin]

Flying matresses indeed! It was one of those that took my wife Carrie (nicewife) off of her beloved R-1150-R on our second anniversary! She wasn't hurt, (ATGATT) but she was sore for a time. A pickup truck coming around the bend on a 2 lane hwy - opposite direction from us. We both just watched in horror/disbelief as it was happening. The same thought went thru both our minds, it'll get one, the other, or both of us. Impact speed was about 50 MPH. The CHP did cite the driver for unsecured load at the scene. At least the driver actually had a CDL + insurance; I don't think I've ever been as angry as that. I tell you I could have gutted that som'-bitch like a fish. Now we are on constant lookout for any vehicle with a load of crap on it or in it, and we blow past them ASAP to get out of fragmentation range. I hope that guy recovers fully.

[11101110]

Just saw another pickup leaving the homo depot, as I was leaving work, drop his load of wood in the intersection right in front of me. Second time in as many months.

[Todd_Z1]

I never let ANY vehicle carrying a load stay in front of me. I always pass them at the first safe opportunity. I have seen semi trucks drop spare tires from underneath trailers, bicycles fall off of the rear bicycle racks, concrete construction bricks fall out of the back of trucks, numerous pieces of wood and plywood, the list goes on.

 

Cheers!

 

We had a call last night for a motorcycle accident. A pickup was hauling some furnishing, including a matress which was on the top and unsecured/poorly secured. The matress flew off and stuck a trailing motorcyclist who received signficant injuries.

 

Vigilence is the key to our safety, that and insisting law enforcement stop such obviously dangerous practices.

[Stir]

Flying matresses indeed! ....

 

Similar thing happened to SeanC. Except it was a 4 x 8 plywood board. All he could do was duck. He hit it square and it exploded in a bazillion pieces. Had he hit it edge on, a different story perhaps. The insurance company only wanted to know if it touched the ground before hitting him. It it had happened to HIT the ground first, it would have been HIS fault for not having avoided it. Absolutely absurd.

 

The moral of this story? If you hit a flying mattress, it did not, I repeat, it did not hit the groud first!

[4wheeldog]

Friend of mine drove her civic through a overhead road sign that a crew dropped while they were installing it. Car was totalled. Took over a year for the State of California to pay up. Almost worse than a insurance company.

[Agent86]

Had a hot loaf of French bread slide off the roof of the car in front of me. I pulled to the side of the road and wished for butter.

[Carnadero]

The insurance company only wanted to know if it touched the ground before hitting him. It it had happened to HIT the ground first, it would have been HIS fault for not having avoided it.

I hope after hearing that, that he went out and changed his insurance provider. I would have, immediately.

[W. Mazelin]

The insurance company only wanted to know if it touched the ground before hitting him. It it had happened to HIT the ground first, it would have been HIS fault for not having avoided it.

I hope after hearing that, that he went out and changed his insurance provider. I would have, immediately.

 

Our provider is State Farm, it made no difference that the mattress hit the pavement prior to impacting Carrie + her Roadster.

[Carnadero]

Our provider is State Farm, it made no difference that the mattress hit the pavement prior to impacting Carrie + her Roadster.

 

[milbrua]

I've seen many people stopped a half-mile down the road from the local lumber yard to pick up their new sheet of plywood off the road. Amazing to me how many folks have no concept of the laws of aerodynamics.

[eddd]

I've seen many people stopped a half-mile down the road from the local lumber yard to pick up their new sheet of plywood off the road. Amazing to me how many folks have no concept of the laws of aerodynamics.

 

You are right, they should have had a friend stick his arm out the other side to grab hold of the plywood sheets on the roof.

[W. Mazelin]

I've seen many people stopped a half-mile down the road from the local lumber yard to pick up their new sheet of plywood off the road. Amazing to me how many folks have no concept of the laws of aerodynamics.

 

You are right, they should have had a friend stick his arm out the other side to grab hold of the plywood sheets on the roof.

 

Or sit on top of it to hold it down! (That right there is a slice of rocket science! No offense to any real rocket scientists, of course.)

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I've seen many people stopped a half-mile down the road from the local lumber yard to pick up their new sheet of plywood off the road. Amazing to me how many folks have no concept of the laws of aerodynamics.

 

You are right, they should have had a friend stick his arm out the other side to grab hold of the plywood sheets on the roof.

 

Or sit on top of it to hold it down! (That right there is a slice of rocket science! No offense to any real rocket scientists, of course.)

 

I've seen the rocket scientists at work. In fact I watched a kid ride a mattess off the top of a loaded pickup and down behind it where he slid about 70 feet in the lanes. He pulled it off to the side of the road while his friends drove away unknowingly.

[W. Mazelin]

I've seen many people stopped a half-mile down the road from the local lumber yard to pick up their new sheet of plywood off the road. Amazing to me how many folks have no concept of the laws of aerodynamics.

 

You are right, they should have had a friend stick his arm out the other side to grab hold of the plywood sheets on the roof.

 

Or sit on top of it to hold it down! (That right there is a slice of rocket science! No offense to any real rocket scientists, of course.)

 

I've seen the rocket scientists at work. In fact I watched a kid ride a mattess off the top of a loaded pickup and down behind it where he slid about 70 feet in the lanes. He pulled it off to the side of the road while his friends drove away unknowingly.

 

All I can say to that is WTF??

[AZJerry]

I had two wooded pallets come off the top of a haul away trash truck.

One of them hit just below the windshield of my Jeep. The driver stopped. The police made a report. The trash company would not respond to my trying to get compansation. The trash company would not admit that one of their drivers was involved. The insurance company turned the claim over to a law firm and the trash company decided to pay. It cost me the legal fees. I thought the legal fees should have been paid by the insurance company but it was not worth the trouble to sue them.

[catmandoo]

The insurance company only wanted to know if it touched the ground before hitting him. It it had happened to HIT the ground first, it would have been HIS fault for not having avoided it.

I hope after hearing that, that he went out and changed his insurance provider. I would have, immediately.

 

Our provider is State Farm, it made no difference that the mattress hit the pavement prior to impacting Carrie + her Roadster.

i have american family.I have a jetta tdi which sets about 2 inchs off the ground and are known for racking up high dollar repairs if you run over stuff,particularly if you hit the oil pan and crack it lose the oil and eventually blow the motor.i asked my agent if i was covered if i was driving down the road and something fell out of a truck or whatever and i hit it and eventually blew the engine would it be covered.her response was "if the object fell out and was laying on the road no it would not be covered".BUT if it fell out and was still moving when i hit it,then it would be covered.so if i ever hit anything "it was moving"

[eddd]

I've seen the rocket scientists at work. In fact I watched a kid ride a mattess off the top of a loaded pickup and down behind it where he slid about 70 feet in the lanes. He pulled it off to the side of the road while his friends drove away unknowingly.

 

We had a similar call a few years back...A family drove to the local convience store to use the compressor to pump up their swimming pool. They placed the inflated pool in the back of a pick up and sat a teenage girl in the pool to hold it down...

 

Yes...just like you imagined...the truck picked up speed and the pool, with girl, went airborne. She had head injuries, and was pretty scratched up and had to be transported.

[jbim]

I'm paranoid of pick-ups carrying anything in the open like that. Either I will back-off significantly or I will pass it as soon as possible.

[jstraw]

Not long ago I had to drive a car from San Francisco to Topeka and during rush hour in SLC, a pickup in front of me on the freeway had it's moulded bedliner go ballistic in front of me.

 

I saw it land a hundred yards behind me, three lanes to the left. It was amazing that no one hit it.

[notacop]

Years ago I was going home about 12 midnight on the I-10 in El Monte Ca. I saw the car up aways in front of me swerve. I wondered 'what the!' Since I was in my jeep when I saw the set of box springs appear in front of me I did not swerve. Ran over that sucker dead straight. Looked my rear view mirror to see the box springs jump straight up behind me. The freeway was not busy at that time 30 years. Still, it's a hairy thing to find in your way.

I try to keep a high line of sight now to be aware of what traffic is doing ahead.