Can I vent a little?

[07EddyB]

An interesting day involving the Explorer.
On my way to work this morning I was on the interstate - three lane in this stretch. I had a semi tanker about 30 feet in front of me - he was in the center lane and I was in the right lane. He lost two hoses. I can't tell you the exact diameter of the hoses but you know the ones - you've seen them when a tanker drops gas at a station. I hit the brakes and started moving toward the right because they were sliding that way on the road at about 80. I was completely on the shoulder braking at about the same speed they were when I decided that I wanted to be on the other side of that problem. Let off the brakes and punched it to squeeze between the hoses and the guard rail to get in front of the problem. I consider myself lucky that the truck didn't get hit because those hoses were starting to flail around severely.
Had to go to the main office that morning for an interview - stopped by Advance to pick up some coolant for the radiator swap. They only had the 50/50 mix. No problem - go back - interview the candidate and hit Autozone before lunch. Autozone doesn't carry it. No problem - stopped by another Advance location on the way home which included some severe Friday afternoon traffic and scored. Why is it so hard to get something that is supposedly in stock?
Coming home - a car pulls out in front of me and crawls. Apparently, they thought I approached them to fast (55 zone - they were doing about 35 when I got to them) so they slammed on their brakes apparently to teach me a lesson. Apparently I've done a good job on the brakes because I did not hit them - all tires squawling without the antilock kicking in. They were lucky today although they may not feel the same way. The rear of the car had dents - apparently because this is something they like to do.
Unfortunately, the law sides with the person you hit in the rear no matter the circumstances.
Unfortunately also, there was a kid in the car.


It's been a less than optimum day.

 

[tripplec]

Yeah Vent,

I know and hope that tractor driver new he lost a load. Should have reported the stupid car driver to the state police (careless driving), there are min speed even if not posted.

Many years ago i got rear ended at high speed. Highway traffic was at full stop for some reason and when I came up to it I hit the brakes, stopped and a full size VAN rear ended me. He couldn't stop. The OPP asked why I stopped when they arrived. I told them, it seems to can't just lay on the breaks just the the heck of it which would almost always cause and accident.

 

[de1010]

.

 

[Josh P]

If the tanker driver knew he dropped the hoses, he would have stopped to secure them. Driver may have not been checking his mirrors enough or the hoses fell in a blind spot. I had a trailer tire go flat once and did not realize it until the tire ripped a hydraulic line to the lift gate. Only thing that saved the guys life behind me riding my ass was the dolly for the second trailer I was going to pick up. The lift broke the safety chain and slammed down on the tongue of the dolly, there was no stop at the bottom to keep the lift from exiting the rear of the trailer.

 

[07EddyB]

The tanker pulled over about a mile later. I was trying to figure out how to let him know - by that point it was obvious he didn't know he lost anything. There was a semi behind me that saw the whole thing play out so I assume he was able to catch the guy on his cb.

 

[tripplec]

Yeah, can't backup on the highway and a loop back can take a long time. If they were still on the highway. It would be chaotic mess for drivers.