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Am I Responsible For Objects Thrown From The Road?

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ChillOutPossum

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Ran over top of a big ass mother****ing road gator. Passed clean under the front of my truck but my back axle must have snagged it because I looked in my rear view in time to see it hurtling through the air and smack square into the fiberglass front valence of a truck behind me, which exploded into pieces.

Many truck companies have signage on the back which states "not responsible for thrown objects". Lacking such signage, am I responsible?
 
#8 ·
There's a big difference between theory in theory and theory in practice. Trucks must have secure loads but gravel falling from a dump truck is almost never enforced. Neither is trash flying out the open bed of a pickup truck (it's littering). Tire disablements happen and tire debris is a road hazard that you should beware of. You can't really blame the trucker for a road gator because there are 50 billion things that can cause them besides driver negligence. Therefore, even if you could prove a road gator came from a specific truck (good luck!) you will have a hard time proving liability and claiming anything against the other driver's insurance. After all, you have a responsibility to avoid certain common road hazards like other vehicles disabled in or near the roadway, pedestrians, cyclists, falling rocks, etc.

Keep your eyes peeled, look far ahead scanning the road surface and traffic conditions and do your best to avoid road hazards in the future. If you hit a road hazard it's tough luck for you. This is why you can opt for road hazard warranties for your tires and also you can carry varying levels of insurance coverage to provide you with whatever protection you deem adequate.
 
#9 ·
freedomgli said:
There's a big difference between theory in theory and theory in practice. Trucks must have secure loads but gravel falling from a dump truck is almost never enforced. Neither is trash flying out the open bed of a pickup truck (it's littering). Tire disablements happen and tire debris is a road hazard that you should beware of. You can't really blame the trucker for a road gator because there are 50 billion things that can cause them besides driver negligence. Therefore, even if you could prove a road gator came from a specific truck (good luck!) you will have a hard time proving liability and claiming anything against the other driver's insurance. After all, you have a responsibility to avoid certain common road hazards like other vehicles disabled in or near the roadway, pedestrians, cyclists, falling rocks, etc.

Keep your eyes peeled, look far ahead scanning the road surface and traffic conditions and do your best to avoid road hazards in the future. If you hit a road hazard it's tough luck for you. This is why you can opt for road hazard warranties for your tires and also you can carry varying levels of insurance coverage to provide you with whatever protection you deem adequate.
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He's asking if he's responsible for a road hazard that he ran over which then subsequently hit another car.
 
#11 ·
robhurlburt said:
OT but can anyone explain to me when the HWYs are absolutely littered with these? they seem like such a hazard blowing out all the time, how are they legal?
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technically the tires aren't blowing out. Tractor trailer tires are designed to be retreaded, meaning that a worn tire can have its tread removed and a brand new tread grafted on. That saves the cost of replacing the entire tire. But that grafting doesn't hold all the time and the tread flies off. Since most of the tires on a tractor trailer are double-tired, it's not an absolutely huge deal for the trucker when one flies off.

It's a much bigger deal for cars.
 
#12 ·
robhurlburt said:
OT but can anyone explain to me when the HWYs are absolutely littered with these? they seem like such a hazard blowing out all the time, how are they legal?
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Retreads cost about half as much as new tires and can last longer than new tires.
A retread is about $200/tire and new tires are about $450/tire.
 
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#13 ·
I wish semis could be held responsible for gravel flying off their loads. I have 2 significant chips in my windshield due to semis.
 
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#16 ·
Having a sign does not remove liability, just like not having a sign would make you liable.

I think the sign is really just there to lower the number of calls/lawsuits that come in.

Regardless of that.

My experience is this... the truck companies lawyers write people a letter basically saying "my bad, but not our fault... maybe you shouldn't drive behind our trucks. bug off. good day sir." or something to that effect.

I mean really.
If having a 'sign' removed liability. I need to start walking around with a sign that says.... "Say something stupid near me, and I cannot be held responsible for shooting you in the face."
 
#17 ·
eweu said:
I would say even trucks with such signage could be found responsible. You can't just blindly declare "not my fault" and then assume you have legal protection.
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Exactly. I always chuckle when I see signs like that. Lawyers laugh in their general direction.

Hell, even when you sign a release to do something like bungee jumping, that doesn't mean they are off the hook if the bungee breaks and you plummet to your death.
 
#18 ·
I was on the receiving end of this situation a few years ago in my mk2 coupe. Guy in front of me ran over a big sheet of ABS plastic or something similar. It flew up and I plowed into it and it exploded. I ended up replacing both headlights, the grill, and the radiator support. Could have used a bumper skin, too, but I wasn't able to find one in good shape.
 
#19 ·
robhurlburt said:
OT but can anyone explain to me when the HWYs are absolutely littered with these? they seem like such a hazard blowing out all the time, how are they legal?
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When you have a flat tire on your car, you generally can't go any further and have to deal with the problem.

On a truck, if a tire goes flat or has low pressure, the guy driving can usually keep going, if he even notices at all, (after all, there are 18 other tires carrying the thing) and driving on the flat tire causes it to disintegrate. And often truckers will keep going to the next town or at least somewhere safe to pull over, because you can't just change a tire easily on a semi truck, it requires special equipment and their wheels are on with like a million foot pounds of torque.

I don't think it's the use of retreads that's causing all the debris but driving on flat tires which causes the tread to de-laminate where it's glued on, because that's the weakest part of the tire as it experiences structural failure.
 
#20 ·
Stromaluski said:
I was on the receiving end of this situation a few years ago in my mk2 coupe. Guy in front of me ran over a big sheet of ABS plastic or something similar. It flew up and I plowed into it and it exploded. I ended up replacing both headlights, the grill, and the radiator support. Could have used a bumper skin, too, but I wasn't able to find one in good shape.
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How did that work with your insurance?
 
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ChillOutPossum
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