I was going down the highway and out of nowhere there was this huge tire that shred off a tractor trailer. I couldn't avoid it and hit it head on. The damage isn't that bad. The lower black valence insert popped out and I have a few dings on the lower bumper. My license plate took the brunt of it and got mangled. I don't know if I need to file a police report on it. About a quarter mile up the road the tractor trailer was pulled over on the side of the road. I was 10 minutes from my house so I went home and got my camera and took pictures of the trailer and tire all over the road. I'll call my insurance guy on Tuesday but if this will count as a ding on my insurance I won't file a claim and live with it. You can see the black valence is cracked but it popped back in ok, but some of the clips on it are broke. I can use touch up paint on the rest.

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i just saw a news report on tv about road debris.. and how many highway related deaths are caused by crap falling into the roadway cuz people didnt bother to secure it.

 

Dustin, you are not alone!

My dad once had to run over a box full of alum siding that fell off of a truck in front of him on Rt95 in Richmond VA. His Lincoln ran over it fine, no damage, but it almost gave him a heart attack!

I hit a dead dog on a Texas highway once. Going too fast to avoid it. Broke my running light. :notnice:

Felt like I had run over Richard Nixon!

 

I had a Xmas tree fall off a truck right in front of me on the freeway (I was driving a truck) and I had to run over it.....didn't seem to cause any real damages. I had a full size truck camper fall off in front of me on the 110 freeway about a year ago and I barely missed it. At 80 mph, that was quite a thrill. :yes:

 

Lots of crap like that all over the roads down here. It's mostly rural and the farmers really run some beat up junk on the roads. I'm not getting down on farmers, but it burns me up seeing what they do to the roads dragging their discs across the asphalt. My biggest peeve is the gravel trucks doing 90 with rocks piled up over the top and no cover on the load. A tire cap, like you hit, put my wife and a friend of hers into the median slideing backwards on I-55 once. They were so scared it took them an hour to regain enough composure to drive again.

 

You might like to consider changing your vanity plate to ATETIRE.

 

feel for you, this is the reason why I dont want to buy a motorcycle, I dont think it will go against you on your insurance, hopefully you will be able to find who the trucker is insured under if you have it's license tag, then you can file a claim against his insurance. Your Ins. Co. should be able to help you without dinging your policy, I believe they can only get you for at fault accidents. Hope it all works out for ya.

 

I'm sorry man that stinks I hope your insurance will fix it with no penalty.

 

That stinks man. It's one of the things I'm nervous about if and when my stang finally shows up. In my jeep I've run over plywood, big hunks of styrofoam, a trash can lid and a few other things on the freeway. Of course none of that hurts a lifted jeep, but the mustang may not be so tough.

 

Sorry to hear about your mishap! Good to see that you're ok.
Happy Trails!!!

 

That blows man. I see that stuff all over the road down here where it is hot. These tires are like crap and with the amount of time on the road, and the heat they generate, it is a disaster waiting to happen. I hope it turns out well for you. maybe the insurance company will replace that lower chin for you.

 

I ran into a busted tire once, in my wife's old mustang. The sound of the impact was so bad I seriously thought I cracked the bumper. Fortunately nothing happened.

Sorry about your car

 

I've seen a lot of stuff on the road over the years. The scariest stuff is the stuff that is big, heavy and hard to see. Like a torque converter! Luckily it was on the dividing stripe, but I suspect it eventually ruined someone's day. As did the jagged piece of concrete that stood about 12" high. That one had to hurt. The only thing I've driven over was a piece of firewood, knocked one side of my exhaust loose (not in the Mustang). I saw 3 more pieces on the road before eventually overtaking the offender, a truckload of guys pulling a trailer loaded with unsecured firewood. I tried signalling them, but just got a funny look. This was before the days of cel phones, so I had no way of contacting the police in the middle of a long drive through nowhere Texas.

I've also seen barbecue grilles, a sofa, all kinds of chairs, boxes of clothes, boxes of paper, all kinds of car parts (especially mufflers) and of course a zillion tire chunks in varying sizes. I have watched many semi drivers continue to drive down the road as their flat tire shreds itself. No way they didn't know, it makes quite a racket. Can't be late though!

 

I had to dodge a 8' alum. step ladder one day on the freeway. It came off the truck in front of me. I just had to wait and see where it wanted to go and the go around it. Have seen lots of furniture and even a starter on the freeway.
I also saw a wheel rolling down an overpass and exiting the off ramp. That was the strangest one yet. I sure am glad I wasn't in front of it.
The car was on top of the overpass and the whole wheel came right off. It scratched to the side of the road but the wheel just keep on going.

 

Have we finally found a good reason to install a front license plate? :scratch:

 

This sounds like the cap came off the trailer's tire. If you got the name of the truck owner and insurance info, their insurance should cover it. Did you ask for that from the driver?

 

Dustin, doesn't look too bad. You were actually lucky. It could have been a lot worse. Good luck. And oh, I would not file a claim on it. Looks like you can handle it yourself. Later

 

Dude that totally stinks! But I know how you feel...a WEEK into picking up my brand new A4, I hit the same kind of tire debris except it broke my headlight, foglight, frony grille and because it rolled up my hood and onto the windshield, the hood needed to be repainted. $3000 worth of damage and the car was in the shop for THREE weeks. :bang: It stinks how stupid little things can cause so much damage.

I've had some scary moments on the highway with my motorcycle though - i once came across the contents of someone's luggage strewn all over the road - luckily the cars ahead of me had cleared the way through the tire tracks in my lane so I didn't hit anything but considering the couple of LARGE items I've smoked with my car (the tire and a huge piece of aluminum siding), I'm tahnkful I've been ok on the bike.

knock on wood!