Road "hazard's" . . . . .

[xTopGun]

aside from the daily drivers on the road, anyone else come across a "road hazard" that made them either stop and pick it up or at least go - holy-smolly!

Yesterday I was turning a corner and there in the driving lane, that numerous cars had just past over, was a really nice claw hammer.

Just waiting for some semi to catch it between its duals and fling it into someone unsuspecting drivers windshield.

I had my granddaughter with me, so I stopped just past it and put my 4-ways on as she jumped out and retrieved it.

The granddaughter is just preparing for her drivers permit, so it was a good learning lesson for her about paying attention to road conditions and hazards . . . . .

Over the years I've collected an interesting assortment of items, including i.e.

5-gallon water jug -

Mac ratchet wrench -

like new Snap-on jacket -

20' tow chain -

 

[blume357]

I picked up a jug like that once and it had a guy's (or gal's) lunch in it. Sandwich, chips, candy bar and soft drink. They were all pretty good and and I used the cooler for years. Oh and I also have a tow chain just like that picked it up off the side of the road coming back from a lunch meeting at a Hooters.....don't ask me what I ate there I was too distracted. .... but I did find the chain after I left.

 

[eveled]

Yep I’ve picked up many road side treasures. A big Snap on screw driver a tow chain with the huge axle hook a Ridgid Aluminum pipe wrench. More I’ve forgotten.

The road tool rule states: The tool stays in the vehicle you found it with. Based on the premise that the road gods led you to it for a reason, and that tool would be needed someday in that vehicle.


Some of them were in pretty sketchy spots. I am more safety conscious now, nothing is worth dying for.

I hope you let her keep the hammer. It’s a good memory for her.

 

[protoolman]

I have a big Vaughn framing hammer and an Estwing framing hammer both found in the road. Never found a nice 16 oz hammer in the road though. My theory is finish carpenters take better care of their tools than framing crews? I've found tons of name brand tools on the road over the years but not much junk tools. I wonder why that is?

 

[Major E.A. Sterner]

I've found a 4 D cell Mag-Lite that still worked, various wrenches a 4 way lug wrench and a Skill scroll saw in a soft case that looked brand new.

 

[TestEngineer]

I've found a LOT more cool stuff in parking lots than what I've found in the road. But, I found my favorite pliers laying in the road. They are German made with around 20 adjustment settings. They're also a bit thinner than most pliers, so they fit into spaces that most pliers can't reach.

I looked them up on line shortly after I found them (around 10 years ago) and they were $60 back then.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

I was driving home one day on a 35 MPH road that had several curves in a wooded area. I came around a curve and there was a nitwit who had stopped dead center in road, had flashers on, as a child carried a turtle to the other side of the road and ran back to the vehicle. The driver of that vehicle had the audacity to hold hand out the window and wave as they drove off and is lucky the kid didn't get hit, that I didn't plow into them and nobody plowed into me from behind. People don't think.

 

[Jeepnik]

Two instances come to mind.

First traffic was stopped on the 710 freeway into the Port of Long Beach. It's three lanes, and strewn across all three were the remains of a box spring and mattress. I pulled up next to it, tossed it into the back of my Jeep and was on the side of the road taking it out when the CHP arrived. He gave me grief and told me it was unsafe to do that and I should leave it to "professionals". I offered to put it all back on the freeway so the "professionals" could take care of it in an hour or so. Then drove off.

The second also involved the CHP. Another major freeway was stopped by a traffic break because an accident had left car parts all over the road. One lone Chippy was trying to clear it up. I got out and helped her get the bigger pieces out of the way by tossing them in the back of my pickup. As I was taking the stuff out of the back on the side of the road the gal came up and gave me a hand and then thanked me. Seems most folks will just sit in their cars and watch someone struggle than get their hands dirty helping.

 

[375hh1973]

Used to rabbit hunt with an old timer. One day we were headed to the orchard to hunt some bunnies. He was driving. He went from 50 to 0, locked em up, pulled over. I was like WTF is going on.

He had seen a coke can on the side of the road. Here in Michigan there is a 10 cent deposit.

He risked the life of me, my buddy, and himself for a dime.

I took out a dollar bill and said here, skip the next ten.

We didn't let him drive after that

 

[Kevin]

These days it’s pretty dangerous to stop and pick something up.

I do however distinctly remember driving from Utah to Minnesota one summer. I was 20 years old. So it’s been a bit.

But in Nebraska on a highway, not the interstate. There was a bag off to the side. I stopped. It was early morning. And I swear I’m not making this up. There was a black tee shirt, my size so I kept it. An empty wallet and a dead snake.

This was all in a brown duffle bag. The tee shirt smelled like gasoline. So I had to wash it before I could wear it.

 

[jimbo1096]

When I lived in California, I would find things all the time on I-5 or 405. Since the moving back to Louisiana it is very uncommon to find anything on the side of the road. Usually, it’s broken up furniture that has fallen off a truck and then hit a couple of times.

 

[Jeepnik]

One of the most common out here are ladders. But usually they are trashed in short order. But coolers, and water jugs along with hard hats are common as well. And I can understand hubcaps and such. But entire, inflated and apparently serviceable tires and rims makes no sense.

One of the most scary things are often on the previously mentioned port freeway. It runs from the port to a large railyard near downtown Los Angeles. These items are the handles used to run the landing gear down on trailers. We've had several get kicked up by passing trucks and launched into car windshields. I got one through my Jeep radiator. It took out the radiator and fan. It's one of, if not, the only times I needed to tow my Jeep. Had I been in a passenger car...

 

[Danjet500]

I usually see 5 gallon plastic buckets along side the road. I've picked up 10-15 of them over the years but my wife says I now have enough and won't allow me to stop.

 

[xTopGun]

These days it’s pretty dangerous to stop and pick something up.

I do however distinctly remember driving from Utah to Minnesota one summer. I was 20 years old. So it’s been a bit.

But in Nebraska on a highway, not the interstate. There was a bag off to the side. I stopped. It was early morning. And I swear I’m not making this up. There was a black tee shirt, my size so I kept it. An empty wallet and a dead snake.

This was all in a brown duffle bag. The tee shirt smelled like gasoline. So I had to wash it before I could wear it.

uhmmm, what about the snake, did you make a belt . . . . .

 

[375hh1973]

Guess I'm wired different.

Have seen coolers, bags, ladders, buckets, etc

Never dawned on me once to stop and pick anything up

 

[contender]

Over the years,, I've found & picked up many, many good items lost in the road. And a buddy of mine has gotten a lot more stuff than I have.
Both of us have found so much stuff, it's too numerous to mention.
Just a few days ago,, we both spotted it & I let him get it,, a nice Milwaukee rechargeable flashlight. BUT,, to retrieve stuff,, we ALWAYS find a safe place to pull over, AND avoid traffic to get something.
Safety first.

 

[peachhead]

I used to stop and pick up 5 gallon buckets all the time. The most exciting though was when I was in three lanes of traffic in a little Hyundai and had to run over one. Fortunately it was empty. It got stuck under the car and I had to pull over and get it unstuck.

 

[Watertender]

I had a guy working for me that pulled over and picked up a brand new 5 gallon bucket sitting on the side of the road with a towel over it. He was in a hurry so put it in the cab of his truck and got to work just on time.
I went out on the loading dock at lunchtime and watched him unlock his truck to get something out of cab.
He jumped back gagging and started throwing up! The bucket had a huge turd in it that had ripened in the closed truck. We were all laughing at the guy and watched as he made a hook from a piece of conduit to lift the bucket out of his truck. He sprayed the cab with Lysol and got a ride home. He left his truck at work for a couple of days and kept spraying Lysol in it to kill the smell.

 

[eveled]

Trash barrels are a good find on the side of highways. They blow out of trucks easily, and not get damaged. Figure $20 each?

Anyway one night I saw a good one. I pulled over and ran back. I flipped it upright and there was a dead coyote inside! It was only flopping from one side to the other from me flipping the barrel, but it looked like it was lunging out at me!

 

[bedfordboy]

Found many tools and stuff over the years including all the my gas cans, numerous hammers, saws, wrenches etc (my wife and daughters give me a hard time about stopping to pick up road finds) but one find that still sticks out, I was coming out the door of our local Napa store one day when a truck drove past and a 3/8” drive craftsman ratchet with 6” extension fell off the truck and literally landed at the toe of my shoe, that was probably close to 50 years ago and I still have that ratchet and extension and use it all the time.
Missed scoring a nice claw hammer myself recently, it was in the middle of an intersection so I couldn’t stop right then, by the time I got turned around and came back someone else had already snagged it , dag-nab-it
BTW anybody else remember the 80’s Freeway Fisherman skit from Saturday Night Live… back when it used to be funny

 

[Jim Walsh]

You can always tell when fishing season starts around here. You see bait buckets, coolers, fishing rods, nets, life jackets, life preservers and anything else which was left in an open boat before the owner headed down the road to his special fishing spot. Imagine the letdown upon arrival.
I saw something fly off the roof of a car leaving a fast food restaurant once. I stopped the car and had my passenger pick up the items while I keep an eye on the owners vehicle. It was a wallet and a business ledger sized checkbook. It took me a minute to catch up and I repeatedly blew my horn and flashed my lights before I caught the owners attention and convinced him to pull over. I walked up with his items and handed then to him through his open window. Never received so much as a thank you. He acted as though I was interrupting him.
Apparently he had placed the items on his roof to facilitate entering his vehicle with his take out order and left them there before heading out.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I usually see 5 gallon plastic buckets along side the road. I've picked up 10-15 of them over the years but my wife says I now have enough and won't allow me to stop.

They get brittle after a couple of years.

 

[oldmarine69]

I picked up a jug like that once and it had a guy's (or gal's) lunch in it. Sandwich, chips, candy bar and soft drink. They were all pretty good and and I used the cooler for years. Oh and I also have a tow chain just like that picked it up off the side of the road coming back from a lunch meeting at a Hooters.....don't ask me what I ate there I was too distracted. .... but I did find the chain after I left.

"a lunch meeting at a Hooters."! Men of culture, unite!!

 

[JiminMaine]

My wife (girl friend at the time) found a 12' log ash log laying in the road. We stopped and managed to get it loaded into the back of my 72 Suburban. Took it to my Dad's, cut and split it and then delivered it to her Grandmother the next day. After that she decided I was a keeper.

One of the funniest things my daughter found was a 12" x 16" sheet cake laying in the road about a half mile from our house. It said "Happy Birthday Chris" on it. It was intact, with just a little bit of road grit on top, still on the cardboard from a grocery store. We live at least 10 miles from the nearest store it could have come from. We couldn't think of anybody named Chris on our road. I told the kids, "NO you can't scrape the frosting off and eat the cake."

 

[Johnnu2]

About 30 years ago, I was driving at night in a heavy rain storm; and was "in a hurry" as was the 'normal' in those years. I was in a crumby section of town when I came around a sharp curve and saw a large black plastic bag in the middle of my lane. I was just about to drive over it when I decided to go around it since there was no one coming in the opposite lane. I never stop to pick up anything, but I did stop when I saw two guys running towards it. Turned out it wasn't a bag, but a drunk laying out in the middle of the road totally unconscious.... I just moved on. Lucky for both of us.
J.

 

[Yaworski]

I told the kids, "NO you can't scrape the frosting off and eat the cake."

WHY?

 

[xTopGun]

WHY?

ehhh, looks like the "5-second rule" got invoked.... damn it

 

[Ale-8(1)]

So far I have twice observed a lady's purse slide off the roof of her car, retrieved them, and chased the owner down to return them. They seemed amazed.

 

[JiminMaine]

WHY?

I was okay with it, my wife was concern the road grit might harm their teeth.

I don't think it was on the road that long, nobody had run it over yet.

 

[Yaworski]

I was okay with it, my wife was concern the road grit might harm their teeth.