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Don (W5IT) · 02-19-2008, 01:44 PM

Link to story with pictures here

Text:

Semi-truck loses wheel, hits RV in opposite traffic

Updated: Feb 19, 2008 04:19 PM CST
EL PASO -- El Paso police are on the scene of a road hazard that happened when the wheel of semi rig came off the vehicle and hit a truck carrying an RV.

Witnesses indicate that the left, front wheel of a semi came off the cab of the vehicle and spun over the center divider of I-10 heading West. The wheel spun into the opposite lanes of traffic for I-10 Eastbound, striking a White Dodge Ram that was hauling a recreational trailer.

The Dodge was severely damaged on its driver-side door and front fender. The truck proceeded to the shoulder on I-10 East near the Mesa Dr. exit, where police responded. Officials said one person was transported to Providence Hospital, but the extent of any injuries was not released.

Don (W5IT) · 02-19-2008, 01:44 PM

Link to story with pictures here

Text:

Semi-truck loses wheel, hits RV in opposite traffic

Updated: Feb 19, 2008 04:19 PM CST
EL PASO -- El Paso police are on the scene of a road hazard that happened when the wheel of semi rig came off the vehicle and hit a truck carrying an RV.

Witnesses indicate that the left, front wheel of a semi came off the cab of the vehicle and spun over the center divider of I-10 heading West. The wheel spun into the opposite lanes of traffic for I-10 Eastbound, striking a White Dodge Ram that was hauling a recreational trailer.

The Dodge was severely damaged on its driver-side door and front fender. The truck proceeded to the shoulder on I-10 East near the Mesa Dr. exit, where police responded. Officials said one person was transported to Providence Hospital, but the extent of any injuries was not released.

Ray,IN · 02-19-2008, 02:44 PM

Don, it seems this is more common that we imagine. In December a set of duals came off a semi-trailer, killing a sheriff deputy who was standing alongside a car he had stopped for speeding. The news showed the dash-cam recording of the incident.

**Petro** · 02-19-2008, 03:13 PM

Don;

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It is a reminder to all of us to be alert when we are traveling. I am happy it did not turn out any worse than it was. It could have been a fatality.

Don

Vette Racer · 02-19-2008, 04:06 PM

I had to dodge one off a dump truck a few years ago, not a lot of fun. Nailed the car behind me.

TXiceman · 02-19-2008, 05:32 PM

Years ago my father in law was hit by a wayward wheel from a truck. He was sitting at a traffic light and it came across the intersection, across the median and hit him on the drivers side.

Ken

CD · 02-19-2008, 06:48 PM

I was lucky!!
Many years ago I was east bound on I90 in Wa. when I saw a truck tire/wheel come across the median. Before I could do anything I saw the tire go across in front of the PU. Then I looked out the pass. window I saw it leave the shoulder. I was a partner in a tire shop, so we stopped to retrieve it. There was a lot of snow on the ground but finally found it. When we got back to the shop and broke it down we found the only thing we could salvage was the valve stem. The rest was junk. The center of the wheel was broke out, the tire was blown, ruining both tire & tube. We were just Lucky it missed us.

TXiceman · 02-20-2008, 03:00 AM

Talking about things coming at you on the road...Traveling south on Hwy 288 toward Freeport, Texas, as I approached a hotshot driver with a goose neck trailer, somthing bounced off the tail end and hit the road. I managed to get over a lane and it bounced OVER ME

...a 4" butt weld elbow.

I never knew a 4" elbow could bounce so hig when traveling at 65 MPH. I never could get the driver to pull over...and no signs on the truck.

Ken

WaveMaker · 02-20-2008, 12:18 PM

ohh man we were on I-17 coming down from payson az.. i was lucky to be looking at a Truck camper but it was attached to a big flatbed truck and it was smaller then the flatbed so he had all kinda stuff around the camper it was kinda neat... he was in the lane to the left of me and a big hammer fell off his truck now we were going 75 mph this thing flew at least 40 ft in the air it landed behind me if you have ever were in i-17 you know how narrow it is so ya couldent stop so i never did find what else it hit but it was real scary me and barbara were in like s l o w motion until it landed

Hillbilly2 · 02-20-2008, 02:43 PM

Tires are not the only thing that flys off trucks, my brother inlaw had a drum brake disinegrate on the semi trailer he was pulling scattering large chunks of cast iron on the highway hitting the semi behind him, luckily it only put a gash in the bumper of the truck and did not injure anyone.

Moder2 · 02-20-2008, 03:38 PM

A good reason to stay alert, keep your distance and make sure your vehicle is safe and secure!

In my OTR past, I once had a flatbed (Covered wagon) in front of me loose one of the vertical bars that hold the panel sides up. It was a 2x2 piece of aluminum about 4 foot long. It bounce 30 feet in the air and tumbled end for end. This was on I94 downtown Chicago. I had no where to go, slowed as much as I could and saw it coming straight at me. at the last second I veered as much as I safely could to the left, and it went right through the passenger side windshield. I was freaked out! If I had not saw it in time, I most likely would have died, as the impact went almost through the passenger side seat. The whole event took seconds, but it was amazing how long those seconds took, and how vivid the event still is in my mind.

Shortly after that I went on to work for the companies safety department. I can tell you that it is a very common event that things come off vehicles, and the energy stored in even the smallest moving objects is incredible. The company I worked for had a similar incident (loosing a truck wheel), in that case the wheel crossed the median to find the windshield of an oncoming sedan. That driver didn't make it.

When I see this stuff I wish there was a way to make people understand how much impact an event can have on someone's life. It is Not just a bad pre-trip, or a mechanical failure, but these event effect peoples lives.

John

NeilV · 02-20-2008, 11:38 PM

Big Rigs can be a supreme hazard especially when major assemblies come flying off/apart.

My own horror story was comming up on the toll plaza heading south from Bar Harbor, Maine. A Big Rig with construction equipment on a goose neck trailer lost the back half of the trailer and his entire load when he braked for the toll plaza as the gooseneck stayed attached to his fifth wheel but the rest of the trailer cam off and spun out across the road like a gigantic windsheild whiper swiping the other vehicles off the road. Just missed my Sedan Deville with 6 passengers in it towing a 32 ft Prowler. Amazingly no one was seriously injured.

rjf7g · 02-21-2008, 02:38 AM

Question: What happens when the car in front of you runs over the leaf of a leaf spring AND you are following too closely in a very low to the ground sports car?

Answer: You hear a strange noise and feel a spray of sorts. You pull off on to the shoulder and see a 1/4" x 2" cut in your windshield between the driver's seat and the driver's door. You look in the back of your car and find the leaf. You turn white as a ghost as you think sit back in the driver's seat and replay the scene and realize you were about 1/8" away from having a new lobe in your brain. Then, you thank God and everyone you can for the fact you only have two little glass shards in your face and one in your thigh.

full-timer · 02-21-2008, 06:32 AM

A few years ago I was coming up I-65 in my car and a truck was coming passed me,as soon as he was just pass my car he had a blow out on the right rear tire which was approx. 20-39 feet in front of me. It blew off his mud flap which came upon my windshield,the wife was screaming and I was puckering thinking it was coming through on us. Everything turned out ok though. Whew

Joe