I’ve ridden in the back of those trucks. I grew up in East TN, in the mountains. It was a point of honor to get everything you needed moved in ONE trip. I often sat on the mountain of crap being moved from one place to another scared half to death during every turn in the road. I learned not to ask questions, it seemed to create laughter and rude comments about my manhood.
I cracked up when I first saw that story because I knew exactly where they were parked - we used to eat in that IHOP!
I didn’t get a picture, but I do not believe anything could beat what I saw on the highway between Barrie and Orillia (Ontario).
At first, I noticed the guy in front appeared to be hauling a huge mountain of mixed stuff - bad, but not unusual. It was when I passed that I noticed his trailer was some sort of home-made job that was, quite visibly, comming apart under the strain - the sides were hammered out of mixed bits of lumber, badly weather-stained, and you could see the sheer force of the stuff piled and heaped inside it was forcing the boards apart, showing bare wood in places.
But that’s not all - on top of the towing vehicle, there was a home-made luggage rack ALSO overloaded with junk and visibly comming apart! The driver’s window was open, and a burly tattooed arm was reaching up and attempting to hold the failing luggage rack in place while he was driving!
Got a PM asking why this would be frightening. If anyone else hasn’t been around Amish dudes, they tend toward stoicism. And have a Children of the Corn look to them. These guys were just sitting, one hand holding their hat on, getting poured on with a solemn, scary, expression.
In a similar vein, driving down a freeway in Melb a couple of years ago, the car in front had a large mattress on the roof…held down only by two arms: one out the driver’s side window, and one out the passengers side. No roof rack, no tie downs, just the arms.
Predictably, the mattress had doubled in the middle, and was sitting up at right angles into the wind.
:eek:
Reno 911! did a spoof on this with a fake public service announcement. Jim Dangle did it in (real bad) Spanish with stick-figure pictures. Funniest part was, “No Bueno, No Bueno”
Around here, we call those kinds of drivers Yoder Toters.
Scary things I have seen on the roads…
Following a truck down Hwy 62 in rural Ontario: It was loaded to the brim and the load was tilted sideways. We got away from it as soon as we could.
On a sideroad in Georgina Township: a dump truck was weaving all over the road, crossing solid centre lines and everything. We called 911 on that one.
Years ago when I was a kid: My father is driving the family down Hwy 28 south of Peterborough. Ahead of us, two cars are passing on the two-lane highway. We approach very quickly. The two cars separate, one remaining in the oncoming lane, and the other moving onto our shoulder. They flash by on either side of us. I was in the back seat and a little too young to truly appreciate at the time how close we came to a wreck that day, but I still remember it. My dad probably pulled about a kilo of stuffing out of the seat…
That is a really good idea. We’ve got a campaign up here to raise some freeway speed limits to 120 km/h, as they have just done in British Columbia; maybe we can get another campaign going for proper towing training.
There’s a railroad trestle in Durham NC with a clearance of 11’8". They’ve tried everything; warning signs for blocks before it, large signage at the bridge with warning lights that flash if your vehicle is to high; yet trucks and campers regularly slice their tops off driving under it.
And… there are cameras! Videos here: http://11foot8.com
And there’s something similar in France, except it’s a tunnel: http://www.2m40.com
Just remembered one that I saw. One morning a few years back I came across an obstacle on my way to where I was working at the time.
About a minute from the office, there’s a railroad trestle that you have to go under. That morning I couldn’t.
There was a car stopped under the bridge.
There was a reason it was stopped.
It was upside down. I mean completely upside down. It was sitting on it’s roof.
To this day I don’t know how it happened. I don’t think there was enough room for it to flip while under the bridge. It must have somehow flipped before the bridge and then slid under it.
Wow, I just read the State Department’s advisory for driving in Haiti:
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/haiti.html
This sounds like loads of fun!
Scariest thing on the road for me is a teenager with a cell phone. I was very nearly killed by one as a matter of fact.
I’ve told this before, but what the hell:
I-280, just south of Daly City (which is immediately S of SF).
I am in #3, about 60.
In #1 come 2 cars:
First: Sedan with 2 women in the front seat chatting, completely oblivious to the tail-gating car about 5’ behind them.
Over 70, 5’ separation. What kind of moron tailgates something like that? If startled, the first driver is very likely to hit brakes, making for another mess on the road?
The moron was a cop - in a black and white, with lightbar on roof.
At that distance, she isn’t going to see anything in the mirror except a young man wearing a blue shirt.
I didn’t want to be anywhere near that mess when he finally decides to hit the siren.
Drop to 50 and move to #4.
In St. Mary’s County, there’s a public bus system of sorts that the Amish use when I buggy won’t do. The vehicles remind me of parking lot shuttles and they make loops along the main roads to shopping centers, professional offices, and such.
But you’ll still occasionally see a horse and buggy tied to a light pole in the Food Lion parking lot…
Speaking of Amish, when I pass a wagon full of kids, my first reaction is “Why aren’t those kids buckled in??” till I remember that if they fall off, they can easily run to catch up and jump back on the wagon. Not that I’ve ever seen one close to falling off. They’re always sitting very quietly, behaving themselves. I wonder if Amish kids ever play “MOOOOOOOOOM!! He’s touching meeeeeeeeee!!”
Haiti is all that and worse.
A big game of chicken. After a couple of weeks driving begins to have its own logic.
You know how people bitch about New York, or Boston, or Rome or Naples or pretty much anywhere?
Imagine Naples or New York with no paved roads, no street signs, no stop lights, no lights at all after dark, no head lights, no laws, no lanes, add a couple million goats, some cows, suicidal motorcyclists, overloaded tap taps, the UN, some version of paramilitary, and one fucking bridge in the entire country, I swear.
Jesus, this brings back vivid memories.
Show no fear. It’s not really angry driving, it’s just insane death driving.
I don’t know if I’d do it again.
Fucking Haiti.
Take everything I just wrote, multiply it X 10, then double it.
I think I have driving ptsd.
You mean like this?
Or this?
Or maybe this one?
All of these are my rigs over the years.
In my defense, I know (from Cat Scales) the weights of everything, the CG (from axle weighings) of everything, and I have the requisite sway controls and brakes to control them. In the latter two pics, pressing the pedal in the pickup applies brakes to all twelve wheels. I also took each rig to a deserted spot and practiced sudden swerves, panic braking, and made several attempts to induce fishtailing. (all failed)
Every one of these is also within the max tow capacity, GVWR, and GCWR of the tow vehicles. Also each middle trailer was strengthened with substantial additional I-beams and other supports to ensure everything stayed together.
I understand your worries though, as most people don’t bother to do it safely.
Explains the screen name…
I can’t figure out how the car got loaded in the first place, and what keeps the load from sliding off the end of the car. What’s keeping the load together- there don’t appear to be any metal band surrounding it, just a bit of twine. If the lumberyard guy used a forklift to set the load on the car, how did he get his forks back out without dragging the load off? So many questions…