stupid pick up truck drivers

[David McLaughlin]

Driving home from work one night, a pick up passes me. Just as he's pulling along side, I see a couple of card board boxes fluttering in the back. He slows down for a bit then punches it. One of the boxes catches the wind and launches skyward. I move to the left just as the box hits the highway, exploding in a burst of foam peanuts. The driver slows for a bit then speeds up again and is gone. All this time I never changed my car's speed control setting.

The very next morning heading to work I meet D. A. truck driver number two. This moron thought it would be a great idea to put a wheelbarrow upside down on the cap of his truck. Just as I'm about to pass him on the left the wheelbarrow lifts up, flips a few times and lands upside down spinning in my lane. I swerve left and miss it. Again I'm thankfull for light traffic.

A couple days later I find D. A. truck driver number three. This is a work truck with utility box sides like a telephone truck. This smart guy thinks boxes folded flat will stay just fine in the bed of the truck at highway speeds. Did you know that a flat box will open up once it's caught air? Well, A box that's about the size of a dishwasher lands right in front of me in the fast lane and it's now fully opened and standing upright. I just squeeze by between the box and the jersey barrier to my left.

Can't wait till next week.

[Heel n Toe]

Great word pictures David. I felt like I was in the car with you during all three.

Reminded me of that pileup on the interstate in the movie "Nashville" that (as I remember it) was caused by a couch falling off the top of a station wagon.

[dennis in se pa]

You're making this up, right?

[kach22i]

Unfortunately a course in aerodynamics does not come with the purchase of a pick-up truck.

[R K T]

I see this stuff everyday. Big lifted trucks driving 70 mph no matter what the conditions are....heavy traffic, rain, snow, road construction....hillbilly nascar mentality. Cops sit on the side of the road and watch them go by.

[fastfredracing]

And they always pick on me when I take a few extra minutes to strap down my load.
The only load I have ever lost was when my tailgate did not latch. I pulled out of one of the rental houses,on a steep hill, and dumped an entire truck bed of tools on the street. A few of my boxes busted open, and it was a mess. There were spectators. I felt like a dick .
I was helping move some family members a few years back. They loaded the dump truck with dressers, and desks with all the drawers removed. I kept telling them that they should put the drawers back in the dressers, and tie it all down. they stacked all the empty drawers on top of the dressers , and said it would be fine, it is only a few miles. When we unloaded, there were 3 drawers missing, never to be found again.

[Oh Haha]

Around here, I avoid those type of vehicles whenever possible. Most of the ones I have seen have been driven by, in my opinion based purely on nothing but the way they are driving or how they are skewed to the middle of the seat, left arm to the middle of the steering wheel being all Billy Bada$$, douchebags.

[gamin]

I was driving on I-40 in the mid lane south of Raleigh on sunny afternoon (not in Porsche) when the car ahead suddenly shot to the right. Bouncing in front of me was a V8 engine that had fallen out of a pick up truck. I dodged left and ended in the median in order to avoid the engine. No damage done thankfully. Actually had a temporary positive. Wife was speechless for about an hour.

[recycled sixtie]

If that kind of chain of events (to put it politely) happened to me I would go out and buy some lottery tickets. You need to have a reward for that and cudos to you for your "Top Gun" reactions times and control.

[oldE]

And then there was the day I was in my '24S, waiting to overtake another car on a road I knew well. With a nice 1/4 mile straight coming up, I just had to wait for an old pick up with a home-built wooden box coming the other way to clear and I dropped two gears and rolled into the throttle. My glance in the left mirror told me he had a load of cement contractor type stuff. My attention to the road ahead showed a concrete building block in my lane! WTF?
A firm bit of threshold braking so the car I wanted to overtake could get ahead of me again, lane change to clear the obstruction and a second maneuver to overtake the slower car.
As I was pulling out to pass the second time, I noted the frost-heaved culvert across the road which, I suspect caused the truck to bounce hard enough to dump the concrete block onto the road. Haven't rednecks heard of tailgates?
I don't think running a 924 into 20 lbs of concrete would have been good for any of the components down there.

Best
Les

[gamin]

I was in fact a Naval Aviator. I believe that the training and experience gives one situational awareness and emergency reaction skills that stay with you. The engine in the road I hope was a once in a lifetime event.

[Noah930]

It's not just p/u drivers. It's just that p/u are more likely to be carrying poorly secured cargo.

I was returning to Boston from the Cape once on my motorcycle. 4 lane divided hwy (2 lanes in each direction). There was a car with a mattress tied to it's roof. Maybe it looked sturdy in someone's driveway, but the leading edge of the mattress was catching air at highway speed and was levitating motorboat-style off the roof. Fortunately whatever twine the guy used held. But I kept thinking that if that line gave way, it would not be good for traffic behind (particularly for me, on a motorcycle). I remember it being very uncomfortable. I wanted to pass mattress guy to get out of harms way (plus he was doing about 55 mph), but had to pick a spot as he was in the fast lane glacially passing other traffic. I was afraid the mattress would come flying off at any moment so I didn't want to get too close (what are the aerodynamic properties of a mattress at 55 mph, I wondered), yet at the same time there was other car traffic behind me that wanted to pass mattress guy, too. All the while this guy's driving along, blissfully unaware that the mattress is hovering about 2 feet off his windshield header.

[Tervuren]

I've been carrying a dead tree trunk in the bed of the truck all year, but it got stolen last week.

It just fit the look of the truck, guess I'll have to find another.

[fastfredracing]

[QUOTE=Noah930;7435887]It's not just p/u drivers. It's just that p/u are more likely to be carrying poorly secured cargo.

I was going to say this. Can you imagine the carnage if most of the populace had open cargo areas ? There would be stuff flying everywhere. My brother in law came out a few weeks ago to do some bike riding, You should have seen how poorly he had 4 bicycles bungee corded to the roof of his caravan.

[Noah930]

Full disclosure: I'm a guilty party, too. But at least I was aware of the danger I presented the motoring public.

Mrs. Noah ordered some mega-deluxe jogging baby stroller online. It arrive at the local DHL distribution center. I can't recall the details but it couldn't be delivered to our home address (or they tried, couldn't get a signature, and took it back to their warehouse). But it was Christmas Eve, I was on my way home from work, and the DHL place was set to close in 1/2 an hour. So I stopped by to try to pick up the package, as otherwise I'd have to wait until after Christmas. And who wants to give a gift after Christmas when you can have it all set up next to the tree the day of?

What I didn't realize was that this stroller could arrive in a humongous box the size of a small desk. Unfortunately I was driving the 911. Clearly there was no way it was getting inside the car, even if I took it out of the box. And there wasn't enough time for me to run home, swap cars, and come back before their early closing time.

While my 911 may be a coupe and not a cab, fortunately it is a turbo. So I took the box, laid it on top of the sushi tray rear spoiler and leaned it against the back glass. The edges of the box just fit inside the rubber lip of the spoiler. And because it was leaned up against the back window it allowed space for air to still enter the top of the motor. Perfect. While not heavy (I didn't want to damage the rubber lip of the spoiler, after all), the weight of the box would be enough to keep it from sliding around. And so I drove home the 3 or 4 miles with the box like that. I kept to residential streets as much as I could, and figured that if there was any day of the year I could talk my way out of a ticket, this would be it. Light traffic, (mostly) residential streets, 25 mph--it all worked out OK.

[Zeke]

I'm guilty. I had a soft toneau over my bed. I didn't want to drill holes for the snaps so I built a frame that sat down in and on the bed rails. I put the snaps on the frame. I guess I didn't secure it too well, but I had driven for a few months even at freeway speeds.

I was sitting at a light in 30MPH Santa Ana winds when a large gust came from behind and lifted the whole enchilada up and over my truck. It landed on top and across the windshield of the car in front of me. Talk about surprise. I jumped out and took it off the car. Not a scratch, everyone went on their way with a jittery laugh.

[look 171]

something lilke a disk fell off the back of welding contractor's pick up and hit and broke my RUF wheel. There was a CHP about 100 yard behind me and we both pull over. He claims he did not see the object flying off the truck because he was looking the other way. It took about 6 months to find another RUF wheel.

[sc_rufctr]

Big fine down here for unsecured loads and our cops aren't shy.

I don't get it. How long does it take to secure your load?

[Mrmerlin]

I was cruisin down a long freeway hill and came up on a pickup with a couch in the back,
no rope holding it in the bed doing about 70mph ,

next thing this couch comes flying out the bed of the truck ,
and the couch is now doing 360s in the middle lane at 70MPh ,
a quick swerve and it goes down the right side passing a few feet from my door,

yes the pillows went flying as they were just set into the couch like it was in your living room,, WOW that was fun!

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by Noah930

It's not just p/u drivers. It's just that p/u are more likely to be carrying poorly secured cargo.

I was returning to Boston from the Cape once on my motorcycle. 4 lane divided hwy (2 lanes in each direction). There was a car with a mattress tied to it's roof. Maybe it looked sturdy in someone's driveway, but the leading edge of the mattress was catching air at highway speed and was levitating motorboat-style off the roof. Fortunately whatever twine the guy used held. But I kept thinking that if that line gave way, it would not be good for traffic behind (particularly for me, on a motorcycle). I remember it being very uncomfortable. I wanted to pass mattress guy to get out of harms way (plus he was doing about 55 mph), but had to pick a spot as he was in the fast lane glacially passing other traffic. I was afraid the mattress would come flying off at any moment so I didn't want to get too close (what are the aerodynamic properties of a mattress at 55 mph, I wondered), yet at the same time there was other car traffic behind me that wanted to pass mattress guy, too. All the while this guy's driving along, blissfully unaware that the mattress is hovering about 2 feet off his windshield header.

That exact same thing happened here a few years ago although the twine did not hold and the resulting multi-car pile up killed a couple.
I am always sure to secure my loads. I carry bungi cords, ratcheting hold downs and a "spider web" cover behind the seat.
There is never an excuse to have something fly out of the bed of a truck