Mattress on the highway: what to do?

There was just a story about this in the local news. A mattress came off a truck, and the woman who was behind it came to a stop. A truck behind her slammed into her at high speed, and she was killed.

I've seen mattresses on the highway before, and fortunately I was able to drive around them.

If the highway is crowded though, swerving around could be very dangerous. I'm wondering what the ideal thing to do is.

You could come to a stop, like she did, but then there is the danger that you get rear-ended.

If it's a foam mattress, I suppose that you could try just driving over it, but factors like vehicle speed, vehicle type could complicate things. Also, a mattress with springs or a box spring might be a different story, and you would have to make a quick decision.

Any thoughts?

 

I almost hit a chair... Not a little chair either. This was like the biggest Lazy-boy type chair I've ever seen. I swerved, guy tailgating me plowed right into it.


Oh! and never stop on a highway unless everyone else is or if directed by a cop to do so.

 

I'm extremely paranoid of exactly this happening so I change lanes if I find myself behind any kind of vehicle transporting any kind of object that could possibly fall off.

 

drive the appropriate speed for conditions and this wont be a problem.

 

I think that's the right call, but what if it's already on the highway and you only see it very shortly before impact?

 

hopefully you'd be able to pull around in every situation, but I'm not sure that that's true

 

I think at that point you're probably going to react before you even have time to think about it. Just thinking about my driving habits I would probably be more likely to swerve rather than hit my brakes but of course that would depend on traffic and if there was even room to swerve over

 

Thats a good idea. I was behind a pickup and on the freeway that had what looked like a huge painting easel, it was about 8ft long and 5ft high, that fell off the back. Lucky it was far enough in front that I just changed lanes and was ok. But then I looked in the rear view mirror saw other cars swerving and colliding behind me.

 

Yeah, I just swerved when I saw it.

You might be able to adjust your instincts if you think about it ahead of time and know what you would do.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1iUEtZYwc0"][HD] Highway Crash [Final Destination 2 Movie] - YouTube

 

this is where push button 4x4 shift on the fly and lightning fast speed/velocity/mass calculations come in handy

 

I'm always checking the mirror especially if I'm stopping quickly. My truck or van would probably drive over a mattress

 

at that point, there's probably no time for thoughts, just reflexes. generally when things suddenly appear in the road in front of me i'm able to break quickly, check the mirrors, and swerve if there's room to do so. but i'm still young; in a few years my reflexes will start to slow and it may not be so easy at that point.

that, and follow a safe distance behind.

you must be the only one. every single time i have a somewhat insecure load in my truck (which isn't all the time, but often enough to notice the trends) someone decides to drive the entire trip 3 inches from my back bumper. i assume they're hoping that something will fall onto them and allow them to sue me for millions. joke's on them; i don't have shit to take.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo8BA3CcLss"]mattress on Road - YouTube

 

I guess that's why you should always keep a good distance between you and other cars. Don't tail gate people and if someone is tail gating you then change lanes...that way you have enough time and room to break if you need to. Also, people transporting things should always make sure they're tightly secure.

I was driving in the fast lane on the freeway once and I could see the guy on a motorcycle infront of me was carrying a pillow..... I guess it wasn't strapped very well because next thing I know, there was a pillow tumbling toward me. I was able to switch lanes. It could have caused an accident and who knows, maybe even did after I passed it. And that scared the shit out of me. I can hardly imagine running into a mattress on the freeway.

 

i seen a guy lose a car off a car dolly once

good thing for the other people it stayed to the right jumped the ditch and went into a field instead of going left

 

oh and another good one was when i turned the corner and there was a boat in the lane....then further up the road was a truck and an empty trailer with two guys that looked lost

 

Once while driving on the freeway a sheet of plywood came off the truck in front of me.
It was laying flat in the truck and just slid out and "floated" just about at the right height to come through the windshield and decapitate me.
Then with me standing on the brakes getting ready to hit the floor, it slammed flat down on the ground as if someone jumped on it and I drove over it.
That was really weird and scared the crap out of me.

One morning about 5:00am years ago on our way to the mountains to go shooting, my friend and I were passed by a Camaro going easily in excess of 130+ MPH. He flew by us like we were going backwards and we were doing 80.

Then about 5 miles up the road we see the Camaro, or the rear quarter of it with the other 3/4 of the car, driver included, accordioned into the back seat/trunk, and about 50 yards further was the poor soul he hit. His car was in pretty much the same shape, only the rear 3/4 of the car was crammed into the front seat/engine.
There were already a couple people stopped and running over to help at each site and on phones, so we opted to continue on our way.


Now that I think about it, I have had the misfortune to have seen more than my share of accidents and people getting hit by cars...


On a more lighter note, there was the time on the way to work at an intersection waiting for the light and in the left turn lane on the other street was a nice BMW and behind that was a Mercedes. The door of the Mercedes was open and this hot looking black woman was yelling and screaming at the guy in the BMW. It was obvious there was some sort of relationship between them.
Then the light turned green, so what's a brother to do but go ahead and make his turn?
He starts to drive and this crazy bitch jumps on the side of the car, standing on the door opening and hanging on to the open door as he takes the turn. Then we saw her hop in on his lap and the fists just started flailing and we see the guy try to cover his face and BAM!! up over the curb and into a bus stop bench!

My friend and I nearly pissed ourselves watching that early morning show on the way to work.
We called that one "Bat Girl".

Then there was the day on the way home from work and we watched the "Ironside vs Cannon" challenge for the off ramp, but that's a story for another day.

 

Different time zones, 'tis a new day for me.

Spill the beans

 

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