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@#$@# Debris On I-85

Warren Mary Ellen

Warren Mary Ellen

Ranger
Coming home from a great weekend of camping at Rolling View Campground at Falls Lake State Park, we nearly had a major problem. Some of you at CICO saw pictures of the other Anderson, SC Camp Inn that was involved in an accident. I thought for a few minutes we were going to be sending Jeremiah back to Cary and Craig for repairs. By the way, I've seen the other repaired Camp Inn & it looks great.

We were two miles or so from our exit off of I-85 when we hit a large piece of debris. From what we could tell at highway speeds, it was what was left of a stove in the middle lane of 3 lanes. I was trying to work my way over into the right lane as we were approaching our exit in the next couple of miles. The cars in front of me split with one going to the right and the other to the left. There in the middle of my lane was a large piece of debris with part of stick straight up. The car that was behind me for several miles had moved to my left and was passing me on the inside lane. On my right there was a vehicle too in the outside. All I could do was try to line up the tires so they hopefully would not hit the debris. I won't publish what I said, but I'm as good with profanity as Michelangelo is with marble.

We hit it hard and I was afraid it had torn up the front of bumper, maybe getting the radiator. The thoughts that went through my head were did it damage the car underneath somewhere, did it pull the emergency cable on the camper, hit the camper anywhere, etc. The next exit was where we would have gotten off anyway. When got off we pulled in a gas station to check it out. The bumper of a our Outback has a pretty good scratch about 6 inches off of center, but other than that there is no damage anywhere. No fluids leaking from the car and the camper doesn't have a mark on it.

Where we hit the debris, there was an 18 wheeler pulled over who had hit the much larger piece of debris which appeared to be a stove. His front end was damaged and we think what we hit was what was left on the interstate. My guess is somebody had something not secured that fell out of pickup truck.
 
Sorry to hear of your bad experience, but happy to hear you are OK.
It may have been a matter of your timing of coming upon it, and the owner hadn't been able to stop yet, but unfortunately what has become the norm for too many people is:
Lose part of your load....oh well, just keep driving, since that stove will no longer be usable for me, I don't want to be bothered with picking up the mess I just made, and the heck with anyone else behind me who might be endangered by it,... that's their problem. Just get out of here before someone gets my license number.

My parents had a similar experience with a couch that left the back of a pickup in front of them. It totaled their car when they hit it at near freeway speed (no time for much braking), and the pickup just kept on going. Of course getting their license number was not possible for them, as their attention was totally on the couch they were unable to avoid, and about to hit. They weren't injured, but were stranded on the side of a rural freeway on a cold winter day for some time, while they waited for help.:(
 
dustinp said:
Sorry to hear of your bad experience, but happy to hear you are OK.
It may have been a matter of your timing of coming upon it, and the owner hadn't been able to stop yet, but unfortunately what has become the norm for too many people is:
Lose part of your load....oh well, just keep driving, since that stove will no longer be usable for me, I don't want to be bothered with picking up the mess I just made, and the heck with anyone else behind me who might be endangered by it,... that's their problem. Just get out of here before someone gets my license number.

My parents had a similar experience with a couch that left the back of a pickup in front of them. It totaled their car when they hit it at near freeway speed (no time for much braking), and the pickup just kept on going. Of course getting their license number was not possible for them, as their attention was totally on the couch they were unable to avoid, and about to hit. They weren't injured, but were stranded on the side of a rural freeway on a cold winter day for some time, while they waited for help.:(
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We've had three issues on the road since we bought our CI 560 Ultra in 2015. This was the most recent one. The other two were on the same trip in 2016 when we went out West. We hit a cooler lid in Oklahoma City on the trip heading West. I didn't see it until the last minute and I was sandwiched between two other vehicles with no where to go. Lost one of the side lights one side with that one. Coming back East, we had someone lose a gas grill out of a pickup truck right in front of us. Luckily, I saw it begin to rock in truck and had to time to accelerate and jerk the car away from it in Amarillo. Not that I recommend it, but I can speak from experience that it is possible to make an evasive maneuver at 75-80 mph towing CI 560 Ultra towed by a Subaru Outback. People need to strap stuff down in a pickup truck.
 
My previous two tow vehicles were pickup trucks. They taught me the value of hanging back and trying to drive between the clumps of cars, rather than in them, because of the increased braking distance. The habit has stuck with my current TV, an SUV. Of course this is an “as much as I can” thing, and I’m about to launch into my daily commute with a more assertive style.

But when towing I’m looking to decrease my stress, and may arrive 5 or 10 minutes later than the next person. As a side benefit some debris may be dodged with a bit more space, but you never know what will be thrown your way. Reading about the washing machines, grills, and couches gives me the willies!
 
Two close calls I have had but not while towing Xanadu. 1st was when I was heading into Springfield Illinois on a 3 lane and I was in the far left lane. A pickup in the middle lane had what I assume was an old cut off basketball pole with a 3 foot concrete plug on the bottom. Anyway a probably 200 to 300 pound chunk of concrete with a 4 foot metal pole sticking out. It fell out out of the pickup into the middle lane and the car right next to me hit it. I still have this vision of the front end of that car going about 4 feet into the air. Car was totaled and the occupants very shaken up but no serious injury's. 2nd time was also in Illinois. Driving through some farm country in southern Illinois. A truck with a tractor on a flat bed trailer coming toward me in the other lane. On the front of the tractor were some removable heavy iron weights they add on to hold the front end of the tractor down while working. One wasn't well secured and when the flat bed bounced on the road the weight came off the tractor. It hit the road right in front of me and then bounced directly over my car. We pulled over to collect our self and I walked back and found where the weight had hit the road. It put a 3-4 inch divot in the asphalt! I dont even want to think about if it had been 20 feet closer and come through the windshield.
 
I drive so I brake the least amount of time because it is wasted energy on my Transit Connect. The van is known for having weak brakes however a check of my pads indicated 40% remaining after 54,000 miles.
 
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