Flying Truck Tire Treads

[GeorgeS]

I rode down to Southern Oregon and back over the last 2 days, a nice 700 mile ride. However on return just south of Eugene Ore, had a scarry moment !

 

18 wheeler, 3 cars ahead of me in right lane, I'm in the right lane.

 

Left lane, 1 car just ahead of me, and another 18 wheeler ahead of that car.

That trucks cab, was about abreast of the tail end of the trailer in my lane 3 cars ahead of me.

 

Speed about 65 MPH.

 

The truck 3 cars ahead of me, throw's a tire caseing, from rear end of trailer.

 

I don't know if the cars got hit, but the caseing went to the left lane, and went under the rear wheels of the 18 wheeler in the left lane.

 

The loose caseing was propelled, Up, and back, and flew over the Car, that was directly behind the 18 wheeler in the left lane. ( that guy was very lucky, it did not go thru his windshield, cause he was tailgateing the truck !!! )

 

I watched as the large caseing ( about 1/2 of the caseing ) went flying bye me on my left, about 15 feet in the air. I watched it land about 40 feet behind me in the left lane. Lucky for me, it was traveling straight aft of the truck. !!!

 

About now, I'm hitting the brakes as the car's ahead of me are slowing, and I see a dust cloud ahead, as the truck that threw the caseing, was takeing the shoulder of the road and hitting the brakes.

 

Whats the morel of this story ?? Stay away from trucks, which I have said many times. And obviously yesterday I was not following my own advise.

 

I was to darn close to those trucks, and I am darn lucky I did not get hit !!

 

Other then that it was a nice trip, except for the 12 year old kid on a bike in some small town on Hwy 99W in Oregon who darted across the street in front of me. I almost hit him !! Oh well, such is life,

 

Ride safe my friends, you never know whats comeing down those roads !!

[FuzzyRSTD]

Sounds like a close call, glad you all OK. I had a similiar inceident while coming back from Lexington Hospital with my wife. We are following in the car behind an 18 wheeler on I-64 east, and like you I am always weary of this and all of a suddon his right rear trailer tire started shredding. So we dogded a little and passed him and then I got on the CB radio and told him. He was very thankful and pulled off the side of the road to check. So everyone please be sure and think about this while riding your bikes behind these truck and trailers.

[KeithR]

I have often seen those pieces of rubber on the road and glad I wasn't around when it let loose.

 

 

Keith

[Sling]

We were out riding a few months back, and we were passing a big rig.

just as we got past the rear wheels of the trailer----one of his tires blew!!

The sound alone scarred the crap out of us. We were happy though we were in front of the peices that went flying back. The car behind us got damaged from the tire.

[CaptainJoe]

Ya know its a close call when you have to stop at a rest area to clean out your drawers !

Glad ya were ok!

[waterbug]

We had a new suburban in the shop earlier this year that a tire came off of a semi and he hit it going the other way dead center in the front of it and it totaled the surburban! If I remember it moved the engine back a few inches it hit so hard. I have had the blow up beside me in the car and they sound like a bomb went off.

[Trader]

Not just tires to look out for!

 

A few years ago a guy travelling in the oposite direction of a major hiway was killed when a shoe from the parking jack dropped off a transport trailer...itires bounced it off the road , over the center divider and dropped into his lane...thru his windshield and BANG....he's dead.

 

Probably never even knew what hit him!

 

Not sure if they ever found the truck responsible.

[N3FOL]

Thanks for sharing your news on the shredded tire incident. I also see a lot of those 'alligators' on the road, but have not witnessed a tire shredding off an 18 wheeler while in motion. I'm always aware of the possibility that it can happen anytime everytime I am following a trucker...always keeping my distance and passing on the far side of my lane. This is one safety issue on tire recaps.

[bj66]

Thats why when passing a truck of any kind I am liable to get a hefty speeding ticket. I dont dilly dally. I hang back a ways until it is time to go around, then I pretty much wind the bike out till I get around. I dont want to be close to a truck at all. After I get by the truck I slow back down. I usually hang back for awhile, but I make sure I give the truck time to notice me before I do go. But once I go, I GO.........plus its kinda fun.

[dynodon]

I have hit road gaters in my car, and dodged bits of them on my bike, but what I saw last month was different: One of those LARGE tow trucks, the kind that pick up semi's was going down the road empty, when one of the jacks on the back corner (the ones they use to stabilize the truck as it pulls from the side) slides down and starts dragging on the road!

 

HUGE shower of sparks. I was coming up on this truck and was in the passing lane (interstate) and it scared me. But as I got beside the truck I tried to tell the driver that something was wrong out back. He didn't want to look. Saw him trailing sparks for a long time, he never pulled off till he was well out of site. I know several cars tried to get a message to him also.

[wes0778]

Thats why when passing a truck of any kind I am liable to get a hefty speeding ticket. I dont dilly dally. I hang back a ways until it is time to go around, then I pretty much wind the bike out till I get around. I dont want to be close to a truck at all. After I get by the truck I slow back down. I usually hang back for awhile, but I make sure I give the truck time to notice me before I do go. But once I go, I GO.........plus its kinda fun.

 

3rd gear WOT!!! :Laugh:

[uechi kid]

I think about that every time I'm near a truck. Scary stuff. Glad to hear it missed you.

[barend]

Always find it interesting to read this stuff and though I do not mean to sound disparaging, I got one question: What are you going to do when it is your time?"

 

There are so many if's" in these situation, "the guy was very lucky, it did not go thru his windshield, cause he was tailgateing the truck !!! )". If he had not been tailgating he might have gotten hit, if the casing had gone straight back you might have been in a chain reaction or if it had gone straight back and over you might have been hit anyway. If you'd been in the left lane and it hadn't kicked quite as hard you may have been hit also. If, if, if .....

 

I'm not by any stretch of the imagination saying to be stupid and ride like an idiot, but when your number is called, it doesn't matter whether you're getting out of bed getting your slippers on, or whether you're running downhill next to an accelerating big rig. Life's too short, don't sweat the small stuff.

[Carbon_One]

Quote: I'm not by any stretch of the imagination saying to be stupid and ride like an idiot, but when your number is called, it doesn't matter whether you're getting out of bed getting your slippers on, or whether you're running downhill next to an accelerating big rig. Life's too short, don't sweat the small stuff.

 

While that's true we certainly don't need to temp fate by being careless or taking undue chances like riding besides a truck rig for any distance.

Larry

[Dragonslayer]

Always pays to be vigilant. Glad you weren't struck by flying road debris.

[GeorgeS]

Yes to all the reply's. Especially if I had been in the left lane, farther back where the thing landed !!

 

Also after thinking about the entire event, the 3 car's ahead of me, directly behind the truck that threw the tread. Its amazing the thing went to the left lane under the other truck, so those cars did not get into a chain reaction. If the first car had taken the hit, its hard to imagine what would have happened.

 

I was thinking about why I was exactly where I was at the time, I had just entered the freeway from an " On Ramp " and decideing what position to take in the heavy traffic. Traffic from the state hwy I was entereing from, plus another local, on ramp. were all mergeing at this point, into a 2 lane freeway ( I-5 ) ( on south end of Eugene Or ) , and also entering curves. Sort of a bad set up.

 

Its just one of those things we have to live with, if we are going to ride.

 

Bottom line I guess is simply don't spend anymore time then is absolutly necessary close to the big rigs.

And I am re-evaluating just how far those big chunks of rubber can fly thru the air !!

[Guest Tinman]

Glad you had the good forture to be out of the way of that interstate alligator! The wife will tell you that I hate trucks of all types, 18 wheeler down to over sized pickups. Besides not being able to see what's coming - traffic or debris - the big rigs add the danger of blow tires. I get out of there fast, no matter what I'm driving. Besides, as the guy said, it's kinda fun!