what's the deal with ladders?

[palerider]

Over the past several weeks on the forum I've read reports from riders who've collided with ladders. Today I was riding too fast for conditions on the 101 and suddenly saw just ahead and one lane to my right a twisted, 12-foot aluminum ladder spring into the air and pinwheel (a white Tundra had just run over it). Thankfully it wasn't in my lane or it would have hit me in the head and chest.

Are ladders tired of being stepped on? Are they rebelling? Is this a plot to get even? What's going on!!!!!

 

[Old Michael]

...Are ladders tired of being stepped on? Are they rebelling? Is this a plot to get even? What's going on!!!!!

Almost got "rung" up, huh?

 

[mxvet57]

Must be a left coast thing.

My problem is road kill.

 

[dcarver]

Got me one good ass chewing by the electrician friend neighbor when I placed his ladder on the truck rack without him knowing it....

Said that was his job, he could easily not know it wasn't tied down and end up killing folks like me.

This guy is normally way jovial but now was deadly serious.

I got the message.

I'm allowed to remove ladders, never put back on the rack.

 

[dsmack]

DC ~ That's the way it should be!

If everyone adopted your friend's sincere efforts to prevent ladders from falling off trucks, we would all be considerably safer.

It is strictly a problem of users of the ladder not caring enough to ensure that they are properly secured.

As a commercial vehicle cop, "Failure to secure load" was one of my very favorite cites.

Don

 

[Bustanut joker]

I think you'll find the majority of these ladders are either homeowners who don't give a shit or fly by night contractors with the same attitude.

A good commercial grade ladder don't come cheap and all the fellas I know that use them are very diligent when it comes to securing them.

If it was a contractor worth his salt, you can bet his name is located someplace on the ladder.

 

[odot]

Yeah, I hit one once....the name on the ladder was "barry's house of sheep"......any clues?

 

[dcarver]

Yeah, I hit one once....the name on the ladder was "barry's house of sheep"......any clues?

hmmm, let me count some sheep so me can think of house of sheeps....

HEY, really? It's been Bust doing all this ladder dumping?

Ain't that against free trade and all?

 

 

[odot]

NO, he's helping foreigners get on our roofs. :glare:

 

[FJRBilldo]

I drove my car to work yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks. Hit a truck tire tread at 85 on the 210. $500 damage to the car. It was basically a full tire without the sidewalls. Shit! Hate to think what would have happened on the bike, although I probably would have been paying more attention, and would have had room to move around it.

I agree there has been lots of crap on the freeway around L.A. lately.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Driving home some time back I had to swerve to miss a ladder on the freeway. Dangerous, right? So as a civic-minded citizen, I called the CHP to report it. The comic who answered the phone says "so that ladder's over on I-5 now, huh?" What? "Oh, yeah, we get a call on that ladder about three times a week, but it's never there when we get there. We figure somebody's just moving it around on us." Kind of pissed me off, matter of fact, although now that 20 years or so have gone by, guess it was kind of funny. Looks like Palerider found it this week.

 

[odot]

20 years? Ok, mike....time for your medicine...... :blink:

 

[SacramentoMike]

Shit, 20 years ago seems like yesterday.

It's yesterday I can't remember.

 

[mtnhigh]

My ladder slid out on me coming off my roof two years ago. I caught up to it when i got to the ground and shattered a leg! :glare:

Kept me off my bike for 4 months. Got to be a conspiracy!!!

 

[mcatrophy]

Not a ladder, but just as scary.

...

There were some illuminated signs saying "50". Normally these signs are used for fog, accidents or roadworks, but they are usually left on long after they might have been useful, so most drivers ignore them. Anyway, after passing the third one of these, I noticed a high visibility jacket on the hard shoulder. Its wearer was holding something up, looking at the traffic. My immediate thought was a radar speed meter, but I subsequently realised it was a video camera. He was concentrating on the road, I was concentrating on him.

When I finally looked in front again, I saw a piece of what I took to be a vehicle loading ramp lying right in the middle of my lane. It was perhaps four or five feet long, eight inches wide, and was of a channel section, perhaps two or three inches deep.

Luckily for me it was end on, I was able to avoid it with a mere twitch of the bars, missing it by a few inches. Had the man videoing this not been there, I'd have seen it well in advance. Another lesson or two learnt.

...

(From a ride report posted here also written here.)

 

[CraigRegs]

My daily commute includes a stretch of I-80. About a month ago, on the way home, it was several bags of Quikrete in the middle of three lanes. On the way in the next morning, it was a ladder. Fortunately, I was looking well ahead and saw traffic slowing and swerving. Ladder conspiracy? No. Idiocy of others? Yes.

 

[palerider]

My daily commute includes a stretch of I-80. About a month ago, on the way home, it was several bags of Quikrete in the middle of three lanes. On the way in the next morning, it was a ladder. Fortunately, I was looking well ahead and saw traffic slowing and swerving. Ladder conspiracy? No. Idiocy of others? Yes.

I thnk it's a ladder uprising.

 

[Bokerfork]

...Are ladders tired of being stepped on? Are they rebelling? Is this a plot to get even? What's going on!!!!!

Almost got "rung" up, huh?

No, I believe he simply got an "extension" on his life.

 

[crumpadump]

I have a customer I visit every week about an hour south of me. Two weeks ago now, after our meeting I was heading back north on I-65 to Indianapolis talking to a friend on then phone when I noticed an entire wheel and tire assembley had become unattached from the trailer on the back of a rather fast moving semi. It cought my eye as the wheel, moving at least 65 mph, was bouncing down the interstate towards the oncoming traffic when it was fortunately cought in catch fence that was installed about a year ago. The whole time I was thinking "what if I where on my bike and that thing was heading for me....I was definitely a sight luckily no one was hurt. :yahoo: