I Ran Over A Ladder ...

[raymaines]

I was driving in the fast lane of my local freeway when an extension ladder came loose from somebody's construction truck, bounced across three lanes of traffic, was ran over by the car in front of me, and I ran over it too. I haven't looked under the Mav yet to see what damage might have been inflicted, but the right front fiber fender liner has been pulled loose from the plastic pop rivets. It's not torn or deformed, but it's loose. And that's where the story kind of begins...

I chased the construction truck and took a photo of his license plate. The State Patrol thanked me and promised to get back to me at some future date. Maybe, sort of...

I only want to be sure the truck is safe to drive. The tire isn't scheduled or anything like that but what do I know about this sort of thing?

My local Ford Dealer wished me well and suggested I contact my insurance company and a local body/fender shop.

My insurance company was sympathetic but was of no actual help. Call us back when money gets involved.

My local body/fender shop only does estimates by appointment, and the first appointment would be in early March. MARCH? Really???

I found a local generic car repair shop that can fit me in next Wednesday. Holy Cow.

I don't know what I expected exactly, but it was more than what I've been getting in the last few hours.

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[The Real Maverick]

Why do you think you need all those appointments?

Inspect it yourself in good lighting when you get a chance.

Easy to "rivet" the fender back in. Your dealer; or hardware store has the "rivets".

You may have been really lucky.

I wish you well but don't worry until you know you have something to worry about.

 

[raymaines]

Why do you think you need all those appointments?

Inspect it yourself in good lighting when you get a chance.

Easy to "rivet" the fender back in. Your dealer; or hardware store has the "rivets".

You may have been really lucky.

I wish you well but don't worry until you know you have something to worry about.

You're right of course. Tomorrow morning I'll find the ramps I used to use when I changed my own oil, and I'll check to see anything/everything that I can see. I'll do something about the floppy fender well liner. Life will go on. I know this sort of thing happens ten times a day for the State Patrol, my insurance company, the Ford dealer, and every body shop in town, but it happens to me about once every 50 years and I foolishly expected more from the system than I've been getting so far.

 

[Sharksforarms]

Did you get the name of the company that owns the truck when you got the plate #? I'd contact them to let them know where their ladder is and who their insurance company can contact.

If you made it home with no liquids pooling under the truck, it's a good chance you made it out with only superficial or tire damage, if anything. I've run over all sorts of stupid things over the years and never had underbody damage. Hope all turns out well for you.

 

[bbhaag]

Oh man so sorry this happened to you. It always sucks when things outside of our control insert themselves into our lives and we're left to figure it out.

The only advice I have is to first decide whether or not you want to file a claim with your insurance company.

 

[The Real Maverick]

What are those yellow rental box trucks called? Ryder? Or Penske? I forget.

Anyhow.... once on I-29 doing about 65 mph the truck in front drops his drive shaft. His drive shaft!!!

Like dropping a torpedo from a dive bomber I tell ya.

Lucky for me the drive shaft was parallel to the road, had some gyroscopic stability at first, and remained parallel as I straddled it, passed over it, unharmed.

In my rearview it then rolled across all lanes. I'll never forget that day.

 

[raymaines]

What are those yellow rental box trucks called? Ryder? Or Penske? I forget.

Anyhow.... once on I-29 doing about 65 mph the truck in front drops his drive shaft. His drive shaft!!!

Like dropping a torpedo from a dive bomber I tell ya.

Lucky for me the drive shaft was parallel to the road, had some gyroscopic stability at first, and remained parallel as I straddled it, passed over it, unharmed.

In my rearview it then rolled across all lanes. I'll never forget that day.

I had a bicycle thing something like that. It was years ago and I don't remember the details, but something got loose, drifted across traffic, and sought out my riding partner like a guided missile. The poor guy got wiped out at about 15mph on a bike, fell, tumbled, crashed, minor injuries, bike damaged, blah, blah, blah, and it wasn't his fault. Doo Doo ocures.

 

[colinl]

My insurance company was sympathetic but was of no actual help. Call us back when money gets involved.

that is bullshat.

someone else is responsible for the damage and they should have taken the plate, and description of the truck, and they should be able to locate the company that owns it and start a claim against their insurance.

regarding chasing the truck down, it's possible they didn't notice the ladder fall off, but after it went missing certainly someone is going to notice that. if your insurance really isn't any help today, I would start doing the legwork yourself. I've never had something like this happen, exactly, but I would start by asking the police who is the registered owner of that vehicle so that you can report it to that company.

 

[rzz]

It's not going to help now or in every case or incident, but in some instances when driving with your gps on, even though you know where you're heading can by a life saver, especially when it lets you know of obstructions in the road ahead, this is once reason I turn it on during interstate driving, along with speed traps ahead..

 

[colinl]

It's not going to help now or in every case or incident, but in some instances when driving with your gps on, even though you know where you're heading can by a life saver, especially when it lets you know of obstructions in the road ahead, this is once reason I turn it on during interstate driving, along with speed traps ahead..

That's not applicable to the OP at all. The ladder fell off the truck just ahead of him, he was close enough to see the truck it came from and follow it to get the plate. If there was a major accident because of the ladder, it would take several minutes at least (maybe 10+) for Google Maps to realize what's happening and show that traffic and accident warning to drivers using Maps.

I find the realtime updates in Google Maps to be nearly useless. I have a radar detector and about 90% of the time 'there's a speed trap ahead' is wrong. There probably was at some point but there isn't when I get there.

Every now and then 'there's a disabled vehicle ahead' is correct and potentially useful, but I can still see the vehicle with my eyes and any traffic slowdown that might be caused by it (which is typically nothing).

Realtime traffic can be useful but traffic isn't a common thing in my metro area, and when it is, it affects one of the only major highways so the update isn't any more useful than just exiting the highway as soon as you see the gridlock ahead. Don't need a realtime update for that, either.

 

[Maverickman74]

I was driving in the fast lane of my local freeway when an extension ladder came loose from somebody's construction truck, bounced across three lanes of traffic, was ran over by the car in front of me, and I ran over it too. I haven't looked under the Mav yet to see what damage might have been inflicted, but the right front fiber fender liner has been pulled loose from the plastic pop rivets. It's not torn or deformed, but it's loose. And that's where the story kind of begins...

I chased the construction truck and took a photo of his license plate. The State Patrol thanked me and promised to get back to me at some future date. Maybe, sort of...

I only want to be sure the truck is safe to drive. The tire isn't scheduled or anything like that but what do I know about this sort of thing?

My local Ford Dealer wished me well and suggested I contact my insurance company and a local body/fender shop.

My insurance company was sympathetic but was of no actual help. Call us back when money gets involved.

My local body/fender shop only does estimates by appointment, and the first appointment would be in early March. MARCH? Really???

I found a local generic car repair shop that can fit me in next Wednesday. Holy Cow.

I don't know what I expected exactly, but it was more than what I've been getting in the last few hours.

Go find a tire shop that isnt busy, walmart or something and ask em to put it on the lift and check your tires. Then ask if you can look under there and tell them why. They will be happy to charge you $30 bucks for a quick inspection. Just look for damage other than the felts.

 

[Edge Haley]

Had a similar situation and called my DMV explaining my hit-and-run and was surprised that the DMV gave me the truck's owner name.. If you did not see signage on the truck's doors it could have been a self-employed roofer, etc that's a little harder to find.

 

[dogtruck]

I see you are in Washington....
Chill, be grateful you weren't hurt, or worse.
It could have been a lot worse. Of course if it had been me, I'd probably would have made the evening news.

 

[Jim Walker]

Your fender liner is snapped in and plastic push fasteners you can get at auto supply, maybe just snapped off cpl fasteners

 

[rzz]

That's not applicable to the OP at all. The ladder fell off the truck just ahead of him, he was close enough to see the truck it came from and follow it to get the plate. If there was a major accident because of the ladder, it would take several minutes at least (maybe 10+) for Google Maps to realize what's happening and show that traffic and accident warning to drivers using Maps.

I find the realtime updates in Google Maps to be nearly useless. I have a radar detector and about 90% of the time 'there's a speed trap ahead' is wrong. There probably was at some point but there isn't when I get there.

Every now and then 'there's a disabled vehicle ahead' is correct and potentially useful, but I can still see the vehicle with my eyes and any traffic slowdown that might be caused by it (which is typically nothing).

Realtime traffic can be useful but traffic isn't a common thing in my metro area, and when it is, it affects one of the only major highways so the update isn't any more useful than just exiting the highway as soon as you see the gridlock ahead. Don't need a realtime update for that, either.

I realize that his case was different i can read! that's why I said in my original reply "It's not going to help him now or in every case or incident"
but in my experience in the past there has been many times my GPS has warned of an obstacle while driving on the interstate, and it wasn't instantaneously where I came upon it, It was a ways ahead, so i had time to react.

I do realize in his case it was a different scenario regarding the ladder, I read what he wrote, but if the GPS warning can save one person from running over a huge obstacle on the road ahead in a different situation, it's worth suggesting it.
I didn't want to start in on a who's right and who's wrong contest on the reliability of the GPS, It was just my experience on several occasions with obstacles in the road and how it warned me in a decent amount of time to avoid it, I just thought i would share, didn't expect to be told how useless it is to put my GPS on when driving on the interstate, or the scientifics of it all? but thanks for your input??

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