Tunnel Vision: How I hit a low overpass- ugh

[Mountain Flyer]

Howdy All,

Just a quick post here, making an admission of guilt in hopes others will learn from my mistake and not do the same thing.

I was in <city> the other day, dead heading from my drop across town to my pickup. I was following the GPS directions, and took a route thru an old part of town. It was four lanes, narrow street with little or no shoulder or sidewalks.

I came to a stoplight and stopped. As I started out on green, I looked ahead to see brake lights and noticed a flagman directing traffic. As I got closer I saw the right lane was closed and there were construction workers working in the right lane. The flagman was slowing down the cars in front of me and I slowed, shifted down, and lined up to make sure I didn't take out any cones. As I drove under the overpass at about 10-15 mph, I heard a "crunch". Didn't take me long to realize what I had done. :x

I got out of the truck and determined that I had smunched the top of the wind fairing a little and bent the tip of my exhaust back. Decided to move forward rather than try to back out. I put it in low gear and crawled the 70-80' remaining under the overpass, scraping and screaching the whole way thru. The construction workers enjoyed the diversion to their work.

Upon coming out the other side, I pulled over, put my flashers on, and checked the damage. Nothing falling off or damaged to the point of needing immediate repair. I did no damage to the overpass; I noted it had many a "fresh scrape" mark on it when I looked.

I looked that the HUGE low clearance sign in the opposite lane, and did not go back to see if the one in MY lane was clearly posted. I am sure it was. Even if it had not been, I would not have seen it. In all my years of law enforcement work and flying airplanes and hang gliders, I have been aware of the importance of not getting "tunnel vision". On this one occasion, I forgot that. I was so focused on the construction that it never occurred to me to check for adequate clearance.

I am just glad that the damage was not extensive, and that I dinged my wind fairing and didn't take the top off my condo sleeper.... I learned a valuable lesson, and I pass this on as a de-briefing to my fellow drivers. In police work, we always de-briefed our screw-ups in hopes others would not do what we did. It's hard to admit when we mess up, but I did, and I hope you don't. Take this for what it's worth. :wink:

[devildice]

OUCH!! At least it did not turn out as bad as it could have. Appreciate the de-brief.

I think you have to pay someone to do that unless you do it yourself. From what I understand, all trucks come with straight pipes which let water in so they drive them really fast through a low clearance to get that swept back effect. You saved a lot of money doing it yourself. Bob freaking Villa Truckdriver you are!!!

[allan5oh]

I am a bit confused, does the tunnel have adequate clearance where the workers are? Or is the whole tunnel low?

[Mountain Flyer]

It was like a railway overpass; flat and only 12' something clearance... the top of my truck is 13'1" to the top of the TV antenna (highest point).

"Tunnel Vision" is a figure of speech, meaning you "see" only the tunnel and not what is around it. I was focused so narrowly on the workers, the cones, and slowing down, that I totally failed to notice the obvious: a low clearance overpass

And yes, Steve, it DID put a nice bend in my pipes!

[RostyC]

Would it have been possible to let some air out of the tires?

Don't be too hard on yourself, chalk it up as a learning experience. :wink:

[coastie]

We are only Humans. We are prone to make mistakes and errors.

[bikerboy]

I would have dumped the air in the tractor and trailer air bags, instead of letting air from tires.

[heavyhaulerss]

I have seen a trucker dump his air bags & let air out of his tires to make it under an overpass... keep this idea in mind.

I'm sure he made the decision on the spot that the damage had already been done and would be wiser to continue on instead of stopping to let air out or any other course of action that may cause him to be stuck in the tunnel.

[Ian Williams]

When it training we were told to be aware that in a low clearance scenario you may ride higher after you're unloaded. Taking off 30-40k lbs. can make a difference in ride height.

When I'm feeling lazy with our air ride tractors I'll drop the air bags 2-4 seconds before I back into a trailer that is too low to hook rather than get out and crank down the landing gear.

[wot i life]

I have seen a trucker dump his air bags & let air out of his tires to make it under an overpass... keep this idea in mind.

Good idea. It works too. I,ve actually done that and made it under a 15`3 bridge with a 15` 3 load. Every little helps
(Iknew I would make it as I did the exact same thing on a regular basis to cut two hours off my journey. Cops would have loved to have seen me off route )