just driving along when ....
03-15-2008, 10:48 PM
#1
Team Owner
Thread Starter
just driving along when ....
i was headed north on highway i-79 in Virginia minding my own business following a tractor trailer in front of me ... he is doing about 80 in the fast lane so i am thinking he will find the police for me ... i was about ten car legnths behind so to not pick up any stone chips . all of a sudden i see a cloud of smoke come from the truck . instinctively i brake when i see a big piece of steel coming right at me ... i hit the brakes as hard as I can safely and this think just is bouncing towards me .. i just could not scrub off enough speed fast enough as the car behind me is barrelling down on me unawares of what is going on . I steer towards the slow lane and the piece of steel bounces straight up and I know I am not going to clear it. I brace my self and lean on the brakes as hard as i can and BANG right into the hood twice as it hits with both ends and flies off ..
I pull over and run back down the highway to grab this thing before the car coming down the highway hits it and totally wipes out. as i grab it I immediately recognise it as the stub axle from the tractor trailer in front of me .. it weighs about 15lbs and only then did i realize how close i came to being killed if that had come through the windsheild if I had not braked enough.
all to say be real carefull out there as anything can happen at any time.
Ps the only good news ? i was driving my Caravan and not the Porsche .. I will post some pics tomorrow.
Scary stuff.
As you can see I almost got out of the way .. I guess I need a few more driving lessons.
I pull over and run back down the highway to grab this thing before the car coming down the highway hits it and totally wipes out. as i grab it I immediately recognise it as the stub axle from the tractor trailer in front of me .. it weighs about 15lbs and only then did i realize how close i came to being killed if that had come through the windsheild if I had not braked enough.
all to say be real carefull out there as anything can happen at any time.
Ps the only good news ? i was driving my Caravan and not the Porsche .. I will post some pics tomorrow.
Scary stuff.
As you can see I almost got out of the way .. I guess I need a few more driving lessons.
Last edited by theiceman; 01-09-2013 at 10:14 AM.
03-15-2008, 10:55 PM
#2
Drifting
Glad to hear you are alright Ice. Did the truck stop, did you talk to the driver?
If that thing had gone through your windshield it would have definitely left you with a head ache at the very least.
If that thing had gone through your windshield it would have definitely left you with a head ache at the very least.
03-15-2008, 11:03 PM
#4
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Well the driver did stop ( since he had no drive axle ) and he said his company would cover it no problem. and as far as stopping goes .. it is amazing what you remember from driver training ... while braking hard keep the wheels straight " Brake hard THEN turn in " .. I could feel the back end lifting and new if I tried to avoid and brake at the same time I would be doing the "911 spin" ..or worse , the roll , with my Son in the back ...
03-16-2008, 03:29 AM
#7
Drifting
Maaaan Ice,
I Told you not to go to the U.S.
Glad you are OK!
I followed a truck down here once picking up Torque Convertors off the road behind him. I had six in the boot (trunk) before I pulled him over. He was very surprised that they were falling out of a box off the back of his truck.
Stay safe out there or I won't have anyone to visit when I get to Canada!
I Told you not to go to the U.S.
Glad you are OK!
I followed a truck down here once picking up Torque Convertors off the road behind him. I had six in the boot (trunk) before I pulled him over. He was very surprised that they were falling out of a box off the back of his truck.
Stay safe out there or I won't have anyone to visit when I get to Canada!
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03-16-2008, 10:47 AM
#9
Burning Brakes
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Those situations are always scarry. Glad you are ok. There were just a couple recent deaths in the last couple weeks involving stuff coming off Semi's in the National news. I have had some close calls but nothing like my dad had one day....He was on his motorcycle when the Semi up in front of him lost his load...couple hundred bouncing tires.
03-16-2008, 01:17 PM
#10
Drifting
Wow Iceman, you are very lucky it did not go through the windshield or put the Caravan out of commision.
I had a similar situation while driving my 63 Notchback, peice of pipe went under my car, hit the back wheel slicing the steel hupcap in half and just missing the roof of the car behind me.
I still have the hubcap hanging on the garage wall.
Hope you enjoyed the Beach trip
John
I had a similar situation while driving my 63 Notchback, peice of pipe went under my car, hit the back wheel slicing the steel hupcap in half and just missing the roof of the car behind me.
I still have the hubcap hanging on the garage wall.
Hope you enjoyed the Beach trip
John
03-16-2008, 08:19 PM
#15
Team Owner
Thread Starter
Myrtle was as commercial as ever Ian. still we had a good time at Broadway at the beach and we even had a couple of 86F days which was really nice. oh crap forgot the photos .. hang on ..