Althouse: And here's the fascinating story of the escaped spool of wire.

January 5, 2017

And here's the fascinating story of the escaped spool of wire.

51 comments:

Unknown said...: It's a good thing nobody collided with it! Besides the possible danger to drivers and vehicle damage I imagine the truck diver could face serious liability issues. I vaguely remember a five gallon drum of detergent rolling off a truck owned by my fathers business when I was in high school. It rolled beautifully, in traffic on Peachtree Rd in Atlanta.; 1/5/17, 5:36 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/5/17, 5:39 PM
dhagood said...: for some reason, federal and state DOT agencies take a dim view of cargo falling off of trucks and onto the roadway. that driver is going to have a memorable conversation with the DOT folks and i imagine the fine will be epic.; 1/5/17, 5:42 PM
JAORE said...: Alabama still produces a fair amount of sheet steel shipped in large rolls. Several have fallen off trucks over the years. They even cause a punch through on part of a bridge deck.

Trucking firms and steel companies employ people who don't know, or don't care how to secure loads. The State got serious about it and, with the Fed's help began checking a lot of loads. Things got better.; 1/5/17, 5:48 PM
Rick said...: One foggy morning about a year ago I passed a tire blocking the middle lane of a three lane highway. Not a car tire, it must have been for construction equipment since it was taller than my SUV even laying on its side. I'm surprised no one died.; 1/5/17, 5:50 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: That could have been the spool of death. yikes.; 1/5/17, 5:56 PM
rehajm said...: Escape! Kudos for seeing your opportunity and going for it!

Glad it appears there were no physical injuries.; 1/5/17, 6:13 PM
Mark Nielsen said...: We just had our minivan totaled in an accident a couple days before Thanksgiving, caused by someone losing a couch onto the northbound lanes of I-5 between Tacoma and Seattle. The car ahead of us lost control trying to avoid the freeway's new furniture (it was raining and dark) and hit us at the back corner, sending us into a 360 degree spin. Five of us in the car and all unharmed, for which we're very grateful.; 1/5/17, 6:18 PM
Floris said...: I lived in coastal Georgia in 1989 when hurricane Hugo hit. I recall news footage of a giant KFC bucket which had escaped from its sign, rolling down a main thoroughfare of the city.; 1/5/17, 6:26 PM
campy said...: Can we impeach Trump for this?; 1/5/17, 6:32 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Scary Mark. You were lucky. Count your blessings. I recall an acquaintance's elderly parents being killed on a highway crash caused by an illegal immigrant's losing a storm door from his truck on I-95.; 1/5/17, 6:40 PM
etbass said...: Years ago, I was on my motorcycle when an approaching pickup truck about 200 yards ahead suddenly lost a wheel that began careening toward me. I felt like I had been targeted by a missile and didn't know where to steer to avoid it but it veered off the highway about 50 feet in front of me. To this day, I don't know how that wheel got loose but it was a scary moment.; 1/5/17, 6:43 PM
RigelDog said...: Mom was driving across the Fort Pitt Bridge in Pittsburgh one evening when a shovel flew off the dump truck driving in front of her. It smashed partway through the (empty)passenger side of the windshield. Truck just kept on going, oblivious to the near-disaster.; 1/5/17, 6:55 PM
chuck said...: I was walking down the street one Sunday morning when a jeep came round the corner and its right front wheel came off and went rolling past. It wasn't what I was expecting...; 1/5/17, 7:15 PM
L Day said...: A few years ago I came across a news item about a flatbed truck losing it's cargo, a wrecking ball, in traffic. The wrecking ball struck another vehicle with fatal consequences. Damn.; 1/5/17, 7:22 PM
alan markus said...: A physician was killed on Milwaukee freeway - a wheel had flown off of a semi & crossed the median. He was on his way home at the time. Earlier in the day, drivers in the Oshkosh/Fond du Lac stretch of what is now I-41 had called in about a semi with a wobbly wheel.

Family of doctor killed by wayward wheel sues for wrongful death; 1/5/17, 7:24 PM
LordSomber said...: If you look closely you can tell that it's an ACME brand spool of wire.; 1/5/17, 7:25 PM
wholelottasplainin said...: Years ago in rural Pennsylvania, a flat-bed truck laden with iron pipes had to make a sudden stop.

The pipes were not properly secured, and kept going, right through the cabin and the driver.

Ick.; 1/5/17, 7:55 PM
wild chicken said...: Good steady video work! Usually the pic is all over hell and gone.; 1/5/17, 8:16 PM
Josephbleau said...: And the wayward wheel is a restless wheel. A restless wheel- that yearns to wander....; 1/5/17, 8:19 PM
Josephbleau said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/5/17, 8:24 PM
Josephbleau said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/5/17, 8:24 PM
Moondawggie said...: Once in Med School in the late 70's we were driving from Stanford to So Cal for the UCLA game.
Southbound on 101 in Salinas we saw a northbound U-Haul trailer come loose from the pickup pulling it. It ran straight in the fast lane for about 100 yards, and then smashed into the center divide without hitting us.

My Med School classmate in the passenger seat (now an orthopod in Washington) started singing "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel..."; 1/5/17, 8:59 PM
Kylos said...: I once lost a wheel off a Ramcharger and ended up hitting a guardrail. My engineer friends had bought the beater for cheap and got a set of off road tires to mount on it. Only problem was the tires were mounted on wheels with a different bolt pattern. They had some 3/4" steel plate lying around and decided to manufacture some adapter plates from it to attach to go between the hubs and wheels. After a weekend off-roading with it we got it out on the road to go home. It wasn't long before some nuts holding the plate to the hub worked loose sending me into the guardrail.; 1/5/17, 9:07 PM
Once written, twice... said...: That spool of wire is a great metaphor for the coming Trump presidency which will embarrass you because you did not do one critical post about him during his rise to power in 2016.; 1/5/17, 9:12 PM
Fernandinande said...: A Florida driver's license is on the way.; 1/5/17, 9:20 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "Truck just kept on going, oblivious to the near-disaster."

Indeed but I call myself Guild.; 1/5/17, 9:40 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: That spool of wire is a great metaphor

Yeah, Onesie, nobody got hurt. Excellent metaphor!; 1/5/17, 10:09 PM
David said...: Staggering spool been drinking. Get to detox.; 1/5/17, 10:22 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: I thought I was going to be Captain Bringdown but I see lots of others beat me to the punch--improperly secured loads are serious business! Looks like everyone made out OK this time.
A trailer on the interstate next to me a few years ago lost a wheel, one of those little 13" deals, and that sucker rolled in a straight line for a long way doin' 60mph or so. The pickup pulling the trailer didn't seem to notice. It was a nice physics lesson, but I am not sure my nephew was suitably impressed by the sight ("whoa, cool!" if I remember correctly).; 1/5/17, 10:47 PM
F said...: If you love it, let it go. . .; 1/5/17, 10:54 PM
chickelit said...: Reminded me of the film "Rubber" (2011), a film so bad it was good. trailer; 1/5/17, 11:01 PM
Alex said...: At least it isn't a hate crime.; 1/5/17, 11:26 PM
Craig Landon said...: All of these tales affirm that timing is everything, and it works both ways. Just as true in the air or on the water. Maybe more so.; 1/6/17, 12:43 AM
Jon Ericson said...: An engine fell out of a B-52 bomber during a training mission northeast of Minot on Wednesday.

According to DefenseNews.com, the Air Force confirmed that one of the aircraft's eight engines dropped out of the B-52 during a training flight.

A pentagon source says the engine is buried in snow in a river bed. Air Force sources tell us it is on J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge land, located near Upham in Bottineau County.

A team from the Air Force will meet with refuge officials early this afternoon to develop a plan to recover the engine.

The B-52's five-member crew was able to land the aircraft safely.

The Air Force says no weapons were onboard the aircraft, and no injuries have been reported relating to the incident, which remains under investigation.

Donnie Darko was interviewed on the golf course that morning. Tough. Rabbits.; 1/6/17, 1:36 AM
Jon Ericson said...: More looseness escaping!; 1/6/17, 1:48 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: I live near a national park. It gets a lot of bus tours.
One day I was driving along the highway and hauled up short on a curve. A tour bus was stopped, dead, in front of me. I could see the problem. A pickup had been hauling a trailer with a big, new (e.g. empty) septic tank. The things are made of thick plastic these days. It had fallen off the trailer on the curve and was blocking the road. It was a cylinder about 6x10 feet. It weighed maybe 500 hundred pounds.
The pickup and empty trailer were pulled over on the shoulder, the sad-sack driver was standing against the pickup talking on a cell phone.
The door to the tour bus opened. The driver emerged, followed by a dozen passengers. Under his direction, they picked up the septic tank and placed it on the trailer, then they all filed back onto the bus. We all proceeded on our way.
The driver and all the passengers were, presumably, strangers. They obviously didn't know the guy hauling the septic tank or any of us stuck on the road.
People possess immense abilities to self-organize.; 1/6/17, 2:28 AM
AllenS said...: Thanks, Lewis, a great story to start off the day.; 1/6/17, 5:21 AM
Donna B. said...: Tie down your loads, please. After negotiating smoking and music rules, my eldest daughter and I embarked on an 800 mile road trip a few years ago. Less than a 100 miles in, I topped a hill and narrowly missed hitting a moron standing (and waving her arms) on the mattress that had flown off her pickup. I did this by swerving in front of an 18-wheeler while pressing the pedal to the metal to get out of its way. First thing I did after I got stopped off the shoulder of the freeway (way off!) was light a cigarette.

I apologized to my daughter for violating our agreement by smoking in the car. Her response? "First time I've ever understood the need for a cigarette, but what I really need is a drink!" We had several (OK, ok... many) drinks when we got to our destination.

Thank goodness that 18-wheeler had very good brakes and was driven by someone with extraordinary ability and reflexes. It could have easily wiped out my little Corolla and the moron on the mattress and wouldn't really have been at fault. Thank goodness for the Corolla's responsiveness too.; 1/6/17, 5:59 AM
Rusty said...: One of the saddest sight I've ever seen was a half million dollar machining center upside down in the off ramp ditch with the trailer still attached. A few days later it could be seen at the local scrap yard.
Did I say sad?
I meant funny as hell.; 1/6/17, 6:11 AM
DavidD said...: On a related note, always use safety chains when towing a trailer. My Dad told me once of seeing a boat going down the highway alongside the truck that had been towing it,

The worst thing I ever saw was on the way home from Florida 5 years ago when a semi-truck had started grass fires all along te highway from sparks thrown by something he was dragging.; 1/6/17, 6:29 AM
urbane legend said...: Officials changed plans to make Route 40 wireless near Uniontown Wednesday.; 1/6/17, 6:43 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It's only funny because nobody got hurt.

Obviously, that thing is very dangerous. Nobody thought it wasn't. It was entertaining to watch because it was dangerous, like a high-wire act.; 1/6/17, 7:29 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Tie down your loads, please. After negotiating smoking and music rules, my eldest daughter and I embarked on an 800 mile road trip a few years ago. Less than a 100 miles in, I topped a hill and narrowly missed hitting a moron standing (and waving her arms) on the mattress that had flown off her pickup. I did this by swerving in front of an 18-wheeler while pressing the pedal to the metal to get out of its way. First thing I did after I got stopped off the shoulder of the freeway (way off!) was light a cigarette."

Wow.

I was driving late at night on the last leg of a long trip home from out west. Meade was asleep on the passenger side. I saw something up ahead that looked like maybe a painted white rectangle on the street. As I came up on it, I saw at the last moment that it was a mattress and I choose to drive straight over it. It seemed like the best option. Woke Meade up from a bad dream.; 1/6/17, 7:32 AM
gspencer said...: LordSomber,

Thanks for the laugh,; 1/6/17, 7:40 AM
dbp said...: Go live your best life, spool of wire.; 1/6/17, 8:36 AM
chickelit said...: As I came up on it, I saw at the last moment that it was a mattress and I choose to drive straight over it.

That's Emma Sulkowicz's worst nightmare.; 1/6/17, 8:46 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Arizona is the Mecca for this. Since I've lived here I've had up-close, personal (as in hitting) encounters with a vinyl pickup truck bed liner and brand new in the box washing machine. It's gotten better, but used to be so bad that one of the local radio stations used to do a morning road debris report as part of their traffic updates.; 1/6/17, 9:54 AM
Widmerpool said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/6/17, 10:52 AM
DavidD said...: I once inadvertently and unknowingly ran over a length of clothesline in the road on my way home when I was in high school.

It somehow got wrapped around the drivetrain and the car came to a screeching halt just up the hill from our house.

My Dad was not amused. Still, he backed up the car and got the clothesline off and the car was none the worse for wear.; 1/6/17, 11:10 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: A truck kicked up a small log on the highway in front of my mother-in-law. It shot through her windshield and was stopped by the steering wheel. Thank goodness for large sunglasses because windshield glass flew into her face.; 1/6/17, 1:35 PM