But for the grace of God....this could be one of us....

[CliffordK]

I'm still curious of when the ladder was dropped.

The biggest "oops" I've heard of.

I was out kayaking with some friends.
One person tied their boat down, on the roof rack, and another boat with it to shuttle back to the put-in.

Then they untied the second boat, and forgot to tie their kayak back down. All that was remaining was one rope tied to the front of their boat.

Of course, at the first major stop, their kayak went flying forward.
Hit the end of the rope.
And, sprung right back through their own windshield.

Nobody was hurt, but I think they learned their lesson.

 

[mjncad]

Over the last few years on I-76 running through the Denver metro area I've dodged a ladder, a driveshaft, a recliner, a muffler, vinyl fencing, and the latest was rolls of insulation. And then there are the tire fragments from semis when the weather starts to warm up, pieces of lumber, plywood, and drywall. With the insulation dodge, I was forced off the road, and came within 20' of hitting the end of the guardrail. Being pissed and shaken, I sat on the shoulder, calmed down a bit, called the State Patrol for them to get the insulation. While waiting for the cop to come, the idiot who dropped the load came back to retrieve his insulation. I got cellphone pictures of him, his truck, his unsecured load, and his license plate. The idiot got his crap and disappeared before the cop came; but I emailed the pictures to the cops, they cited him and the idiot lost in court.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I was once driving on the highway at night and ran over a deer corpse that had been laid down. Put it between my wheels and skipped over it. Pulled over at the next exit and saw the semi that probably laid it down stopped in front of me. The car seemed fine so I kept driving. Few miles down the road the car was full of the smell of deer meat cooking on the firewall. Months later I found that the driver side footwell in the rear was pushed up by the collision.

 

[mvwicker]

I've hit a wooden chair right in the middle of the lane, like someone had just gotten up. It flew into splinters and hardly left a scratch, thank goodness. Managed to lock up the brakes and spin around *after* hitting the chair, too.

I've seen a shovel lying in the fast lane, flattened out, and shuddered to think about a car sending it flying into some poor motorcyclist. That may even be worse than a ladder.

There was a driveshaft on the freeway once that I saw in time and drove around, but then I passed several cars pulled onto the shoulder that may not have been so lucky. One of them may have been the source of the driveshaft.

Bu I mostly see light stuff like mattresses, sofa cushions, and plastic buckets or trash cans in the road or on the shoulder, obviously there because someone neglected to secure the load.

 

[paulharvey]

I actually saw two 94# bags of portland cement about a month ago in the road. I always keep a flat shovel in the bed of my truck, wifes truck, and work truck, so I pulled over and shoved it out of the way; I hate the splattered concrete on top of asphalt. If the bags whernt broken, I would have loaded them up. Ive picked up a nice cooler that fell out of a boat.

 

[kebo]

Tragic that someone died all because a ladder wasn't properly secured. It's almost certain that the person who lost the load eventually heard about what happened, unless they live in a cave without tv or radio. Maybe they will come forward, but probably doubtful.

One time I was behind and to the inside lane (on the drivers side) of an 18 wheeler carrying a full load of cut lumber. Looked mostly like 2x8 and 2x10 planks. We came to a stop light and for some reason (don't remember now) he had to hit the brakes pretty hard. Several of the boards went over the cab and landed on the road. Fortunately, no harm done.

BUt yeah, have seen numerous pieces of furniture lying along the side of the road before, usually all busted up! Heck I've picked up a roll of new vinyl flooring, a ball peen hammer, a 3/8" drive ratchet, and plenty of bungee straps before.

 

[/pine]

I see more bungees in the road (used to secure light loads) as I do anything...

 

[joshuabardwell]

Tragic that someone died all because a ladder wasn't properly secured. It's almost certain that the person who lost the load eventually heard about what happened, unless they live in a cave without tv or radio. Maybe they will come forward, but probably doubtful.

That probably depends a lot on how old the person is. A lot of younger people get their news largely from the Internet. I'm not that young, but if it weren't covered on one of the blogs I read, I'd never hear about it. Come to think of it, I get almost no local news, except for when I see the front page of a paper at the gas station.

 

[mjncad]

If the guy who dumped the ladder in the road is an illegal alien, then it's a safe bet he'll never come forward.

 

[aczlan]

Be sure all loads are secured...no matter how inconsequential they may seem to be...

If it would come off after one flipped the vehicle or trailer upside down and shook it, it is not well enough secured.

Aaron Z