Who knew that hitting an orange cone would do so much damage

[merrick4]

15 minutes into driving this morning on a load that's a day late (cause of the shipper) and I head into a work construction zone on I10 in Florida. Well it turns into one lane with cones on the side. Up a head I see a cone in the middle of the lane. To my left are more cones and to my right is the side of the road. I figure what the hell, it's just soft plastic so I go right over it trying to have it go right up the middle so as to not get caught in the tires.

Well to make a long story short lights start flashing on the dash and I pull over and there is oil everywhere. There is a big hole in the fiberglass pan underneath. So now I sit and wait. These things are delicate. I could have drove over that thing whith my cheap hyundai all day long. (not that I would, like I said it was right in the middle of the road and so I couldn't avoid it )

Lesson from one new driver to the other: don't hit orange cones

[wot i life]

I,m not sure if those cones are the same over there, but over here they are weighted down with sand. They,re also buggers for putting headlights out too. Don,t beat yourself up over it. ****e happens
Good luck for the rest of the week :wink:

[dle]

Was it a cone or was it a barrel?

[merrick4]

No it was a cone. I wouldn't have been trying to run over a barrel. Not that I wanted to hit the cone either, but like I said, they had the highway down to one lane so there wasn't much I could do.

christ if I were an o/o I'd be hysterical right now. to fix this is going to cost $2500 roughly. Now I see why they say you should have so much capital in reserve for these thing.

[Doctor Who]

Yes the little ORANGE critters can do some major damage to the underside of a vehicle. They can rip off fuel lines, air lines and can also damage aluminum tank steps. Not to mention the altercation you had.

I hope it is a lesson well learned. Try to avoid the critters at all costs.

[LandstarPete]

Back in the day while driving through Chicago, I had a driver in front of me tag one with a TRL tire, which in turn kicked it right into the middle of the lane.

Hammered the brakes and straddled it at about 20 MPH - took out most of my plastic bumper...

As one said, ****e happens..

[PackRatTDI]

I lost a rear view mirror on my car thanks to an orange barrel.

[Mr. Ford95]

You should always avoid a barrel. You never can tell if those things are weighed down with sandbags or not. A cone on the other hand is usually not weighed down unless someone has been tampering with it. The big cones can do some major damage as they are fairly heavy though they don't look it.

[flood]

15 minutes into driving this morning on a load that's a day late (cause of the shipper) and I head into a work construction zone on I10 in Florida. Well it turns into one lane with cones on the side. Up a head I see a cone in the middle of the lane. To my left are more cones and to my right is the side of the road. I figure what the hell, it's just soft plastic so I go right over it trying to have it go right up the middle so as to not get caught in the tires.

Well to make a long story short lights start flashing on the dash and I pull over and there is oil everywhere. There is a big hole in the fiberglass pan underneath. So now I sit and wait. These things are delicate. I could have drove over that thing whith my cheap hyundai all day long. (not that I would, like I said it was right in the middle of the road and so I couldn't avoid it )

Lesson from one new driver to the other: don't hit orange cones

i hit one three years ago in wyoming. this was at nite and someone had hit it and kicked it over on it's side in my lane (black rubber base facing me) didn't see in it time so put it down the middle the short list is bumper, vorad, airline (supply) brake chamber and license plate lite and stuck on the side of the road for 7 hours.

btw that black rubber base is about the same as hitting a gator.

dodo happens. as long as no one was hurt live goes on

[Twilight Flyer]

There was a post on here a while back from someone that used to work construction and they did it early in the morning out in California. Went through a couple of foggy mornings there where they would hear this flap, flap, flap, flap, flap and then a Mustang with a teenage driver would come wizzing by them, running over their cones. Foreman decided to fill up one of those cones with asphalt.

"flap, flap, flap, flap, BANG!" is still one of the funniest posts on the board. :LOL:

[marylandkw]

I hit one this past summer and it pulled the return fuel line off my tank. I had just filled up (of course) so I was draining fuel at an alarming rate. Nothing like taking a diesel shower first thing in the morning and then waiting for 6 hours on the side of the road for the part to be delivered.

[homer]

those barrels make cool noise when you run over them..better if you can get a tire on those pesky cones.or slow to a crawl so it cant tear it up. those asphalt drivers will put a steer on the cone and send it to the guard rail.i saw a schneider oop who hit a bunch of those tube style cones up above cabbage.looked like he lost some airlines because the trailer made some good skid marks.

[mikey4069]

If you hit those barrals just right you can shoot them like 25 feet off the road. :twisted:

[Mr. Ford95]

If you hit those barrals just right you can shoot them like 25 feet off the road. :twisted:

I do just that everytime I go into a construction zone for an equipment drop off or pick-up that is on the highway. It's not on purpose, they just don't leave enough room for something big like me to get in between them without hitting'em. I did send 3 in a spread pattern at a co-worker one day by accident. Had a car beside me decide to crowd me all the way into my lane. Caused me to move right to avoid her, right into the barrels. Got cussed for it by my co-worker anyways because they were moving at a high rate of speed towards him.

Twi, that is just cruel but so f-ing funny at the same time. I never hit that stuff intentionally just to do it like some truckers and cars do. I have seen some trucks give a little flick of the wheel to get their trailer wagging back and forth trying to make it clip the barrels as it goes by.

Another thing to avoid are the ballards that State's like to put up on the sides of roads. Some a plastic and just flip down when you hit them only to pop right back up after you pass. Others are actual steel that do not flip down when you hit them as they usually have cement in them. Both can do damage.

[golfhobo]

I lost a rear view mirror on my car thanks to an orange barrel.

Was that a REAR view mirror??? Or a SIDE view mirror??

[Roadhog]

I read that cone story too. Funny as all get out.
http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/...=asc&start=720
posted by .243 Winchester.

[cdreid]

I have a buddy (who's slightly crazy) who got pissed at the dot idiots one night and invented a game. Normally I wouldnt approve but these guys obviiously handnt put a Seconds thoght into big trucks driving through their stupidity. They had the cones too narrow and in s-curves a sleeper truck literally couldnt make so he tried to see how many he could take out in each pass with his tandems. His record was about 1000 feet worth though i dont know if it counts since a couple just got flattened not sent spinning into space.


PS its a shame a trooper didnt catch the kid in the mustang.. and the two idiots with the clever idea. If the kid had died they'd have felt great eh? That woulda sure taught him.

[Twilight Flyer]

PS its a shame a trooper didnt catch the kid in the mustang..

I agree with that.

and the two idiots with the clever idea. If the kid had died they'd have felt great eh? That woulda sure taught him.

If the kid hadn't been doing something stupid and dangerous, then he never would have hit an asphalt filled cone. Can't see him dying over taking a shot to the grill, but there isn't a District Attorney in the world that would have filed charges against the two construction workers, had something happened to him. Sorry, but I have a very hard time feeling sorry for Darwin award candidates.

[Mr. Ford95]

Agreed Twi, you do something on purpose that puts highway workers at danger, you deserve whatever happens to you by them or anyone else. You clip a barrel or cone, ok that's cool, it happens now and then and is understandable to the workers. Go thru playing a game of bowling and be prepared to get more than you bargained for if workers are present. I don't mind what cdreid's buddy did if it is a fact that the barrels were simply too close together for a truck to fit thru without taking them out. Swerving to take them out on purpose is not cool.