Near Death Experience Last Night
 

Well, I'll never know who the idiot was in the gate-bed truck on I-93 last night near exit 36 at 9:30 who left a hefty black rubber "chock a block" flopping around in his open bed. He was towing a small trailer with some scaffolding or ladders in it. That's all I remember. If that sounds familiar, I'd love to hear from you (and so would the state police).

Out of nowhere in the dark at 9:30 last night, that 4.6 Kilo (yes the emergency room at Mass General weighed it) came crashing through the passenger side of my minivan striking my wife, knocking her unconscious and spewing shards of glass in every direction. By some miracle, my side of the windshield stayed intact and I was able to pull over off the road and tend to my wife's injuries while my son dialed 911. Miraculously, after 6 hours in the emergency room and lots of x-rays and CAT scans, she's okay with only bad bruises and scrapes on her chin and shoulder. Had that block come through the windshield only a few inches further to the left, I think she would have been killed. If it had struck me, my whole family might have died.

You truck drivers: Next time you just toss something loose in the bed, think about what damage it could do if it were to become a projectile on the highway. Someone didn't and nearly killed my wife.

Unfortunately I see this every day on my commute on Route 125 between the Lee traffic circle and Epping. A lot of fly by night junk haulers going to Madbury Metals in Dover, or garbage haulers with poorly secured loads heading up to Waste Management in Rochester.

I've lost count of the close calls I've had, and hopefully someone will point you in the direction of the truck that caused your horrific experience.

Thankfully everything can be fixed or healed...hopefully your wife recovers soon and the trauma wears off as quick as possible.

Mink Islander--

so sorry to hear... that is the most frightening thing.... I hope everyone can recover ok... I feel so bad.
as I always watch for those things and Try to avoid them... but clearly sometimes we can't.

Be safe... so sad to hear this

I don't mean this as an accusation, but how close were you following the truck? I'm guessing the thing fell out of the bed and bounced up at you? The logical side of my brain says that something weighing 4.6 kilos would fall out and generally tumble around the ground. Even in the bed of the truck it was probably barely at windshield height, so I'm guessing ( and by the sounds of it you may never know exactly) that it fell out, tumbled along the ground at 70ish MPH and caught a good bounce to meet your windshield.

Glad that your wife and family is OK. BTW, make sure your windshield is replaced with an OEM unit and the repair is done properly and not by some mobile truck hack. Properly installed, a windshield offers a lot of resistance to objects like you encountered. Improperly installed, they can make a bad situation worse by collapsing inward. Your side of the windshield staying intact was more design than miracle...

Way, way too close to being a tragedy! I'm very glad that she's going to be ok.

Silver Duck

How close?
 

Well, the truck had passed me in the construction zone and had gotten several hundred yards ahead of me and was in the 2nd lane from the left. At the time of the accident there was no vehicle in front of me in the left lane for at least a couple hundred yards. I am only assuming the chock block came from the truck in the next lane over because how else to you explain it? I didn't see it tumbling toward me. I have this hypothesis that the chock block fell off the truck and was tumbling and bouncing in the road until it hit me (or I guess, I hit it). That's what's so weird. I was NOT in tight traffic when the impact happened. Reasonable spacing. Keep in mind this thing is made of hard tire RUBBER -- and hollow but weighing 10 pounds. I bet it was bouncing down the road like a super ball til we caught up to it and bam!

My wife's doing really well. The bruising is coming out in all its colors but she's avoided the hard pain relievers and has been comfortable with just the Motrin. We really dodged a bullet here. Every time I pick up the chock block I just shake my head and think about how much worse this could have been.

I am happy to hear your wife is doing better. Like you said, it could have been much worse. But what you encountered was bad enough.

I hope you all recover from this. Glad to hear you are all on the mend.

A Link That May Help...
 

My first hope is that your family will recover from this unfortunate experience!
To me, truck drivers are not truck drivers unless they check their loads to make certain that they are tied down properly leaving nothing loose that could cause an accident such as this.

One should take the job at hand very seriously before attempting it. Extensive training helps, but knowing that any negligence on your part could cause immeasurable suffering.

There are very stiff fines in place for unsecured loads!
http://www.truckaccidentlaw.org/Comm...ed-Loads.shtml

My very own Dad bore a scar on his forearm while driving truck and having debris coming through the windshield of his truck that put a kink in his get along at that time...

The Good News, Your Wife is on the mend!!!!
Could have been worse, and just know that we hear you!
Thanks for posting.

Some years ago my husband and I were driving south on 93 when a car passed us and sideswiped the car in front of us. The passing car then went into the guardrail and bounced back across the entire road. We just happened to pass by just before the car came across or we might have been killed. I think of that every time I am on 93 south. Just one of the many times I have been a Lucky1. Sounds like you and your wife were each a Lucky1 too.

I am almost always six or more lenghts from those in front of me on any road. Doesn't sound like that would have helped you though. It is still a good rule to follow. Stay safe as you just used one of your nine lives.

MI,

I am glad to hear your wife is doing ok. I have had many close calls on the highway with all sorts of things. Hence why I am no long comfortable in sports cars or anything that sits to low to the ground. My Wife's Subaru Forester is as low to the ground as I get. I also hope you son wasn't shaken to bad by the event either... That is not fun to see Mom being rushed to the hospital.

I hope you are able to resolve more of the mystery as to what happened, and indeed if the block came from the truck passing you that this catches up with him.

More over there is a point here. And Skips point makes it all the more clear. Things in Trucks should be tied down. I drive a Half ton pick up truck and have things in it all the time. One of the reasons I put a cover on the back is because I put small things back there... If you see trucks going down the road with cargo not tied down, especially commercial trucks, back off and let them get a head of you. And if you see them spraying the road with crap from their bed, call the cops....

Rule of thumb, stay 3 seconds behind car in front. Works at all speeds.

...and brk-int... It doesn't always work.

About a month ago I was leaving on a business trip from Manchester Airport. I left the lake and was a few miles north of the airport, where 93, 293, and 101 all join and the road is at times 5 lanes wide.

I was in the middle lane, doing the speed limit, with no one ahead of me for several hundred yards. There were cars on either side of me in the other lanes.

All of a sudden, bounding down the lake toward me, bouncing at least 3-4 feet with each bounce, and tumbling madly, is what I still assume was a water pump. It was a large piece of metal, probably about 40-50 lbs, with short pipe stubs sticking out in several directions.

To this day, I have no idea where it came from, or where it ended up. Thankfully I was the only one in the car. I moved left as much as I could without hitting the car to my left and it hit me on the next bounce, at headlight level.

I can only imagine what would have happended had I hit it on a higher bounce and a bit to the left.

Plastic and glass exploded everywhere. By the time I was able to safely move across lanes and pull over, I was far down the road from where it happened. It wasn't going to be safe to go back. Luckily the car was still driveable, so I continued on to the airport and my trip.

A week later, the assessment... Almost $3,000 of damage, crushed radiator, several structural parts of the body mangled badly, hood pushed back, quarter panel destroyed, ac compressor compressed. Imagine what it would have done to a human body.

Check your truck beds.

Thanks
 

Thanks everyone for you kind thoughts.

I heard so many stories from others both here and elsewhere, that I no longer call this a "freak" accident. Truth is, road debris of one kind or another cause serious accidents every day. Carelessness about tying down loads/loose objects certainly contributes to this. My experience will stick with me and my family for a lifetime.

Now I could start a whole new thread that would burn up the site about my feelings towards insurance companies.... Since I had no body damage to the vehicle beyond the windshield -- it hit nothing else, Commerce calls it a glass claim. I objected. Said there were glass shards everywhere in the car and it would need to be carefully detailed to remove that hazard. Don't worry, says Commerce, the glass installer is paid to clean up all the glass too! Well Larry Daryl and Daryl at the local fly by night subcontracted glass installer did little more than run a shop vac in the vehicle. That's probably enough if a vandal knocks out a side window since that mostly creates chunks of glass. A high speed collision creates much finer glass debris and it was blown everywhere in the vehicle. Needless to say, everything from chunks to fine slivers are still embedded in the passenger seat and everywhere else. Call the insurance company. Her suggestion: well you should call the glass installer (that Commerce hired and only called me when the work was supposedly done, otherwise I had no dealings with) and see if they will pay under their warrantee for you to get the car detailed to your satisfaction. At this point, Ms. Commerce got more than an earful from me. I told her the car was undriveable in its current condition and the glass was a hazard to anyone riding in it. I want it taken to a professional body shop who will dismantle the interior and carefully get all the glass from every nook and cranny. She begrudgingly agreed to send over a claims adjuster only after I told her the seat has cuts in it so it's not "just a glass claim". Have now discovered the driver side power window doesn't work because glass slivers are in the door switch mechanism. Went over to the local body shop we know and they said what I suggested is exactly what has to be done to make the car safe -- will cost about $1000. Had this been an accident with major body damage, removing the interior and cleaning it up would be an automatic part of the repair. But in a "glass claim", apparently not. Wonder why Ms. Commerce Insurance didn't suggest that originally? I'm sure I'll come up with a reason eventually.... Oh yeah, it costs them money.
Claims adjuster expected to call this morning. Can't wait....

You are quite correct regarding glass cleaning. Unlike the side and rear window, the windshield is made of non tempered, annealed laminated glass which when broken fully will expel the tiniest shards of glass everywhere. These shards will embed themselves in everything and a simple shop vac will not remove it. The side and rear window are made of tempered safety glass and when it breaks explodes into small solid pieces which can be easily vacuumed up.

You should be able to get reimbursed from your insurance for the additional cleaning necessary. I would however have a claims adjuster come out and take another look to confirm.

Good Luck, and really glad you and your wife are O.K.!!

Dan

That rubber thing could have been on the road and kicked up by a vehicle passing in the other direction, or another vehicle on the road in front of you. Several years ago a 2x4 piece of wood was kicked up by a tractor trailer that ran over it. I just happened to be approaching from the opposite direction at the time...on my motorcycle. The 2x4 hit my speedometer, and flipped over me. I saw it coming so I was able to duck, and it hit the very back of my helmet. Other than a scuff on the speedometer and on the back of my helmet, I was unharmed. I did however have to get clean underwear.

1st Mink Islander I want to say that I am glad your wife's injuries are healing and that she will be OK. Sorry for the insurance company hassles but don't let up on them until you are satisfied they have taken care of everything.

2nd There is always debris and other objects out on the roadways that can get you. My neighbor many years ago was on Rt 290 in Worcester when a tractor trailer going the opposite direction lost a wheel off the trailer. It crossed the highway and came through the windshield just off center killing the passenger instantly. My neighbor had a hand/arm injury but that was all. The tire had locked the steering wheel with his hand on it and the car kept going straight until he got it stopped.

I am on the road frequently and see lots of things fall out of and off of pick ups and big rigs all the time. I also see vehicles kick up items that are on the road. I lost a windshield to a small piece of debris a couple of years ago myself. Thankfully the debris did not make it all the way through the glass.

You are very lucky

Are you on some kind of a mission to resurrect all the old threads here?

I think Bosox and lake King are the same person and for whatever reason posting trivial responses on all old posts. I'm sure Don is on it...

Dan

They are and I am. :rolleye1:

bosox/lake king
 

But so far, he/she hasn't done anything really wrong yet. Right?

There was also a VTskier who popped on the forum the other day making the same style of posts...