Courtesy of Phil at Bustedknuckles, we find this photograph. (Clickit to biggit.)
Getting that fire hydrant stuck in there must have been . . . adventurous! Also, note how it's chewing up the tread on both tires. Both - perhaps all four, both inner and both outer tires - are going to have to be replaced.
I hate to think what might happen if the driver didn't notice that, and tried to drive on. The explosion of all four tires, which would be almost inevitable within yards, could cause very serious damage to vehicles - not to mention injury to their occupants - as chunks of rubber and metal-reinforced tread flew outward. I've been far too close to an exploding truck tire for comfort, on more than one occasion . . .
Peter
So just how did the driver maneuver to get the hydrant into that orientation? My guess is that he rode forward, toppling the hydrant, until just the moment that the cap was under the forward wheel pail, pivoting the base flange upward; braking hard at that instant would induce a slight skid and slide the flange upward past the immobile front face of the rear tires. Now the driver would be free to go on his way until the tires shredded or some busybody intervened.
ReplyDeleteSo many puzzles, so little time.
Lost a high school classmate when a semi tire blew out next to their vehicle
ReplyDeleteGood the driver noticed; but how did he not see it to begin with?
ReplyDeleteNot uncommon. The driver cut the corner too tight. Residential street, most likely. The pipe they are mounted to breaks easily. Actually, I think there is a pipe section that is designed to be a breakaway, so it is easily repaired, since this is an all too common occurrence.
ReplyDeleteThe hydrant across the street got hit twice in six months, first by a big truck cutting the corner, the second time by a drunk in a small pickup who blew the corner and hit it head-on. He kept going, just missing cars and people in his escape. That property owner has since built a very heavy stone wall along the sidewalk, so a repeat of his cutting across the yard and driveway won't happen again. Well, unless he's driving a loaded 10 wheel dumptruck, perhaps. Not much stops one of those!
Agree with Will, turned too short.
ReplyDeleteIf the shutoff valve is below grade level and the flange, then I can accept taking a corner too tight and collecting a couple hundred pounds of cast iron without noticing. If the valve is in the hydrant, then there should be a geyser at system pressure going WHUMP into the trailer frame, and leaving a visible plume behind.
ReplyDeleteStill, may have not noticed. I got sidewsiped and almost jersey-walled by an 18 wheeler this past winter. He'd passed me on the right and drifted over into my lane, didn't notice as he pulled up and passed me. I got lucky, had room to brake and drop back from disaster, only got the side panels and a wheel torn up.
I was shuttling a car down to Phoenix, from Salem, OR for my snowbird parents who didn't want to drive. I got just south of Albany on I 5 and got behind an old pickup with two Harley hogs in the back, in the fast lane, and suddenly the left rear tire exploded, and fortunately, there was nobody in the slow lane at that point, so I had some room to maneuver, and dodge all the pieces of tire in my path. First twenty minutes on a four-day road trip. Twenty minutes before I found where my parents lived, I almost changed lanes into the side of another car that passed me on the right at a high rate of speed. I don't know why somebody was looking over me, but he did. Good grief.
ReplyDeleteExploding truck tires is why I don't dawdle next to an 18 wheeler when passing. It's annoying as hell to me (and the truck driver, I'm sure)when I am in the process of passing a truck with another driver in front of me, and that driver slows down when they get opposite the driving wheels - and then just sits there. When that happens, I have to drop back so as not to be right next to the truck and wait for the other driver to pull his head out and go on around.
ReplyDeleteI have had to dodge treads from an exploding truck tire before and it is no fun.
Where I am from, they call those pieces of tread strewn along the highway "alligators".
I bet that trailer says "SWIFT" on the side.
ReplyDeleteAs an old ex-OTR trucker
Peter, as a broken down ex-truck driver, I used to hate it when a tyre just exploded when I was truck driving. It wakes you up so suddenly!
ReplyDelete