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Well where should I begin...... there has been three identical incidents since October 2018 i.e. industrial spool rolling down the highway. All three of the incidents happened thank God during off-peak hours(!) still it was a traffic nightmare. FYI - Houston has heavy traffic all day long. Nobody was hurt but only a few vehicles were damaged as the freeways had more then 5 lanes in each direction and most of drivers were able to safely dodge them. In all the cases either the lashings came loose and or did not have enough tie downs for the load ratings. It is reported that the drivers were cited and the truck owners severely penalized and charged for all the extra costs incurred by TxDot and the local law enforcement agencies. I am sure the drama associated with these incidents are not over yet, the owners/drivers lawyers will definitely contest the charges in court. Stay tuned.
I'd wager, though, that most of the highways in Houston are either perfectly flat or close to it....that is simply the lay of the land in that part of Texas. So, a rolling spool will probably slow down fairly quickly.
Where it can be a real hazard is on a steep grade. One of the most noted grades East of the Rockies, on a main road, is the notorious Uniontown (Summit Mountain) descent down Chestnut Ridge on U.S. 40 into Hopwood/Uniontown, PA. (those of you from Western PA are probably familiar with this hill)...I've mentioned this hill once or twice in other threads. It is over three miles long, which is not the longest in the area, but notably steep...averaging 9-10%, and approaching 12% at one point. In fact, many years ago, auto companies used to test engines, brakes, transmissions, cooling systems, etc... on this hill.
Anyhow, to make a long story short, (which I'm not always good at doing LOL) , every once in a while, something like that, not securely attached will fall off a truck, going up or down that hill....and start rolling downhill at high speed.
well of course there's always gonna be a freak accident somewhere, but 3 times in a month!! something's fishy about that
Sometimes companies, in a hurry, just take short cuts, and don't always adequately check the secure-mounting of their loads. Or, you may have a new, well-meaning, but inexperienced truck driver/loader who simply quite doesn't know the ropes yet (no pun intended). Or, less likely, the equipment used to secure the loads themselves (cords, ropes, chains, cables, chains, etc...... could be worn or defective, just one sharp bump away from breaking or snapping.
Personally I wish that we had enough 4k road cams to document vehicles who lose loads and cause damage to other motorists due to debris.
Example--if 5 shovels fall off a landscaping truck, an exponential number of vehicles sustain damage, while the landscaping truck keeps going.
I had a shovel go under my 335i and thank goodness it did not puncture say the external oil cooler. I lifted the vehicle when I got home and found that the shovel put a tiny pierce into the covering under the driver side area.
Time for some ticked off Vic to see what he thinks!
12-08-18, 08:57 PM
apparently industrial spools rolling down a highway is a problem in houston?
, every once in a while, something like that, not securely attached will fall off a truck, going up or down that hill....and start rolling downhill at high speed.
