Near Miss From Flying Sheetrock!

[Boat]

Had a very close call on the way home from work yesterday.  I was intentionally hanging back because I saw the load shifting.  Sure enough a 4x8 piece of sheetrock takes flight and heads straight for me.  I had milliseconds to decide my course of action so I decided to accelerate and duck for cover.  I was very lucky that it sailed right over my head.  I literally heard it crash right behind me!  I WAS PISSED!!!!!!!

Stay vigilant out there people!

https://youtu.be/XH0Vm-5wYzc

[dazzler24]

Another sphincter tightening moment!  Glad you were able to avoid an impact.  Would not have been pleasant.

[Heli ATP]

Good situational awareness, glad things went your way. Did the driver ever stop or were they even aware of the situation?

[sirepair]

Daaaayyyyuuuummmm! Way to dodge a bullet! 

[peteinpa]

Yikes!  People just don't think.

[bwringer]

Nice dodging!

Why so many people hit the road without bothering to secure their loads, I'll never, ever understand. Even if they DGAF about other people, you'd think they'd not want to lose the money spent on the stuff they leave behind. 

 

I was once riding to work and entering a very busy five lane highway (I-465 around Indy) when a landscaping trailer just ahead began a death oscillation. They had just taken on a huge load of mulch (uncovered on an open trailer, of course), and loaded it with the CG too far back. As soon as they got up to around 50MPH it started to wag.

And of course the mulch was just piled on an open trailer with no tarp or sidewalls, and shovels, weed whackers, blowers, ladders, etc were just tossed in, also all unsecured. Two guys were riding in the back of the pickup, also piled with unsecured tools and materials.

Chaos ensued... tools and mulch exploded everywhere. I had my eye on them from the first, sensing that there would be problems, and had moved to the furthest lane already. As soon as the oscillation started, I began to accelerate past, and just as I pulled ahead, a trailer tire blew out, and shovels, mulch, tools, etc. pretty much exploded everywhere. The pickup was on two wheels and they guys in back were hanging on for dear life... in my rear view mirror, I did see that the pickup managed to get to the shoulder and slow down, but the traffic back there was complete chaos. 

 

Trust no one, and stay far, far away from the splash zone of anyone hauling stuff in a trailer or truck bed. Use your superior speed and maneuverability to get away and get ahead of these bozos ASAP and PDQ. Landscapers and anyone with a load of household or camping goods must be regarded as immediate DEFCON 1 threats.

I reserve an especially crispy and blackened spot of hatred in my heart for dump truck drivers. They're constantly scattering unsecured loads all over creation. Most of them have load covers that can be deployed easily, but I don't think I've ever seen more than one or two in use. The load covers are mostly useless, but they're something... totally illegal to have an unsecured load, and extremely dangerous, but I don't think there's ever been any attempt at enforcement and no one seems to care.

[miweber929]

A former coworker has a permanent brain injury from hitting a mattress on the highway that fell off the roof of an SUV because the people literally used grandmas oxygen tubing to “secure” it. He had a fairly minor crash, and almost no physical injuries but his mind is completely messed up and he is now permanently disabled. 
 

This stuff used to be almost funny to see to me, how stupid people are with their cargo. But now it makes me livid. 

[robzilla]

Glad you made it out safely! I would've reported it to local authorities if you have the plates. Makes me think I should wear my GoPro more for these dashcam moments. 

Edit: I see you contacted the company so hopefully they do the responsible thing, maybe a follow-up to this thread if they do anything at all.

Edited October 27, 2022 by robzilla

[betoney]

Glad to hear that you are safe and avoided a potential disaster.