lippydave Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 Today's lucky escape... Heading for work this morning in my estate car, the radio squawks that the M40 is blocked in Warwickshire at J15. Being a sharp cookie, I nip off the M42 at J3 and head south on the A435 dual carriageway. Moving sharply along the outside lane with the rest of the traffic, the car in front of me suddenly squirts off to the left. Transversely across the carriageway directly in front of me is what looks like a fencepost. The inside lane is occupied so I attempt to steer around the 6ft odd long post, but unfortunately it clips the inside of my frt offside wheel, and a second or two later there's the ominous rumbling as the tyre deflates. I slow gently and make my way across to the verge and pull up in the slip road. Open the tailgate, retrieve the triangle and plod back down the road whilst slipping on my silly luminous womble vest from the boot. Spare is a full size alloy with a brand new tyre, jack is there, spare wheel key. Pinch a floor mat out of the car and get down on my knees and start cracking the wheel nuts. All is good except for the locking wheel key is a bit naff and doesn't engage properly. 5 mins of trying and I give up and phone a mate."Bring a socket and a ball pein hammer please so I can drive the locking key in to engage properly..." 20 mins or so later he turns up on his Beemer with tools. Drift the key in with the hammer, and change the wheel. The inside edge of the damaged alloy wheel has a big 3" deformation where it's hit the "fence post"...Ouch Anyway, I thank my pal and we head off in different directions to work. A while later he phones me in the office to say he rode back the opposite way and it turns out the fence post was actually a 3 inch sq 6ft piece of steel box section! Between where I stopped and the post he see two more cars with flat tyres at the side of the road... No big deal really, I got a dented rim, but it could've been so much worse..... Reported the debris to the police, hopefully it's been shifted before it hurts anyone, as my pal said, if he'd hit it on his bike..... It was on the A435 south just north of Bransons Cross if anyone local knows it.... Quote
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 dread to think what it would do do an older smaller car driven by some teenager at 90mph Quote
Captain Colonial Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 Sorry to hear it (from a damage viewpoint), mate. Yep, I know the road, all right. Lucky escape indeed, if an inconvenient one for you. No doubt the lorry it fell from had stopped so he could take responsibility... Beats my worst obstruction hit story, which was running over a (estimated) ten-foot aluminium ladder lying across the middle lane of the M6 near the M62 junction, which split it into three pieces, smashed (but didn't rupture) the oil cooler under my A4, and ejected one piece from the rear straight into the grille of the car tailgating me at the time. If he'd been further back, I reckon it would've gone through his windscreen. Quote
cast iron Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 dread to think what it would do do an older smaller car driven by some teenager at 90mph another village would be short of an idiot Quote
lippydave Posted April 14, 2011 Author Posted April 14, 2011 Beats my worst obstruction hit story, which was running over a (estimated) ten-foot aluminium ladder lying across the middle lane of the M6 near the M62 junction, which split it into three pieces, smashed (but didn't rupture) the oil cooler under my A4, and ejected one piece from the rear straight into the grille of the car tailgating me at the time. If he'd been further back, I reckon it would've gone through his windscreen. Close eh? One evening I was blatting down the M1 from Sheffield when I happened across a wardrobe (seriously!), obstructing the outside lane.... Like a good lad, I phoned the old bill to report it.... Me: "There's a wardrobe in the fast lane of the M1 southbound at J25..." Telephone muppet" There's no such thing as a fast lane Sir..." Me, (Barking loudly), "OK you pedantic c*** there's a wardrobe in the outside lane you stupid tw*t..." I think he got the message clearly enough.... Quote
cast iron Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 Driving in the middle of Darlington down a tight road - due to parked cars,a flat bed scafolders wagon coming the other way, scafolding board suddenly apeared sliding sideways off the bed as he swerved out to try and beat me, the plank came straight through the windscreen took out my side glass and A and B pillars, he drove off Quote
Asterix Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 Both on the M1, 2 separate incidents... Have seen a caravan snake and then disintegrate directly ahead. Was hit by on the bonnet by the pointy end of an airborne, wooden, fencepost...no bridge's in sight, so from where it came and to where it went, I have no idea. Quote
Terry Everall Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 Two incidents from me 25 yrs ago following a car going north on A1 near Retford it suddenly somersaulted due to the prop shaft disconnecting from bell housing and flipping car over at 70 mph. I got everyone out and amazingly all ok apart from a bit shaken1 Other case very sad. I played a friend at squash club one night and on his way home at night he hit the back of an unlit broken down lorry in outside lane of A1 near Wetherby. He died instantly! It can be dangerous out there so take care Quote
carpetstu Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 I had too use the hard shoulder as an escape route this morning, along with a few other vehicles including articulated lorries etc, on the M6 south at J8. There was a Large green tarpaulin concealing something that it was wrapped around. Not wanting to find out what the something was I and others where making very instant decisions to avoid it! Luckily enough, it was the inside lane so avoidance was fairly easy. Had it been another lane I think it would have caused one hell of a pile up in rush hour traffic? Quote
RedditchJay Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 thats a fast bit of road Dave past Bransons Cross...... I use it daily but just got back from a week working away so luckily missed it... Quote
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