# Highway skid marks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175 "2020-08-03T16:47:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/1 "2020-08-03T16:47:31Z")
I was driving on the highway yesterday and passed a set of skid marks, diagonal to the traffic lanes and ending at the median barrier. So I was imagining the incident during which the driver had to slam on his brakes and end up going more-or-less sideways across the road. I find myself doing this sometimes when bored while driving. Sometimes on surface streets, I see circular skid marks, perhaps from some kid doing donuts on the street. Anyone else look at the skid marks and wonder at what happened? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/2 "2020-08-03T17:02:52Z")
Yes, I do spot this kind of thing. Another is long burnout patches along desolate straightaways from people racing. Aerial shots of airport runways, too. It’s interesting how often you can notice where a car fire had occurred. The asphalt is textured and darker or the concrete is stained. Another one is seeing the dark stains after a bump in the road. A lot of vehicles are actively leaking and drips tend to drop off when going over a bump. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/3 "2020-08-03T17:06:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > the driver had to slam on his brakes and end up going more-or-less sideways across the road. I find myself doing this sometimes when bored while driving. Certainly would solve the boredom. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/4 "2020-08-03T17:09:34Z")
There’s a stretch of I-5, north of Canyonville, I think, where there are two sharp turns and the speed limit drops down to 50 MPH. The guardrails there are pretty marked up with accompanying debris and it’s easy to imagine people speeding through without realizing how sharp the turns are. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/5 "2020-08-03T17:33:26Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Certainly would solve the boredom. > 🤣 I had the same thought when reading the OP but your fingers type faster than mine :sigh: My comment would have been more smart aleck than yours, but then you are no doubt a nicer person than me 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/6 "2020-08-03T17:43:18Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Another one is seeing the dark stains after a bump in the road. A lot of vehicles are actively leaking and drips tend to drop off when going over a bump. I’m going to have to look for those now. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/7 "2020-08-03T17:45:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > … Anyone else look at the skid marks and wonder at what happened? Yes, but not necessarily on the highway. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/8 "2020-08-03T17:46:47Z")
I expected stupid references to fecal stains on underwear but tried to word the OP carefully enough not to avoid that. Apparently I wasn’t careful enough. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/9 "2020-08-03T17:48:44Z")
I was talking about parking lots. What are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/10 "2020-08-03T17:48:44Z")
At least my first thought didn’t flash to THAT! Guess that is something to be said for me-I have potential for smart ass rehabilitation. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/11 "2020-08-03T17:54:54Z")
Apologies if that wasn’t where your mind was at. I was fearful of the stupid jokes that seem to infect almost every thread. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/12 "2020-08-03T18:01:54Z")
No apologies needed, at all! Several of us were given a smile and a chance to joke around a tad. You did us a mitzvah that lightened our day a bit. Plus answered the OP ? I hope. Of course the OP got a couple of stupid jokes infecting the thread… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/13 "2020-08-03T18:54:59Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > t’s interesting how often you can notice where a car fire had occurred. The asphalt is textured and darker or the concrete is stained. One of the things I notice on the drive up the I-15 to Vegas. Seems there’s one every couple miles, all the way from Barstow to Primm. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/14 "2020-08-03T18:58:01Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > There’s a stretch of I-5, north of Canyonville, I think, where there are two sharp turns and the speed limit drops down to 50 MPH. The guardrails there are pretty marked up with accompanying debris and it’s easy to imagine people speeding through without realizing how sharp the turns are. Sometimes on cloverleaf ramps, you can see signs that someone swiped the guardrails as they were going too fast around the curve. Personally, when I’m accelerating up a ramp, I’m trying to go as fast as I can while still maintaining control of the car, so I can see how this happens. ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/15 "2020-08-03T19:04:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sometimes on cloverleaf ramps, you can see signs that someone swiped the guardrails as they were going too fast around the curve. Personally, when I’m accelerating up a ramp, I’m trying to go as fast as I can while still maintaining control of the car, so I can see how this happens. I see this often at the start of winter when the frost makes examples of the overconfident and the underprepared. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/16 "2020-08-03T19:05:07Z")
I used to wonder what happened to make swirly skidmarks all over the highway – not donuts but a flurry of curving marks all over the road. Then I saw a video of what happens when a badly balanced trailer gets out of control. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/17 "2020-08-03T19:54:00Z")
Some of the local shopping center parking lots have skid marks from teens doing donuts on the weekends. There used to be an old highway near my hometown that attracted drag racing. The burn out marks were very obvious. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/18 "2020-08-03T20:01:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Anyone else look at the skid marks and wonder at what happened? I love those. You see the trails cross twice that means they spun. You see them go partway up the Jersey barrier then reflect back out across the lanes to the opposite shoulder you know they were hauling ass. You see damaged shrubs on the outside shoulder then a large tree missing a bunch of bark or scuff marks up the face of a bridge support & you know somebody died or nearly so. As somebody said up-thread, burn scars on the pavement are obvious & fun too. I do a quickie accident reconstruction on the evidence every time I see some. And on I-95 in greater Miami I see lots of them. Folks be drivin’ crazy an’ shit around here. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/19 "2020-08-03T20:10:34Z")
Yes! I always do reconstruction in my mind when I see tire marks on the road. It helps that my job for a few years involved knowing a lot about road infrastructure and how poor engineering and maintenance contribute to or cause accidents. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175/20 "2020-08-03T21:18:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Anyone else look at the skid marks and wonder at what happened? Me. I always have. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-skid-marks/917175.md?page=2)