Not possible to come off a wheel, is it?]
Oh, later says piece of a brake drum.
(Anothereason that we have dash cameras in our vehicles.)
1 Like
Of the drum brake configurations I’ve seen, the entire drum couldn’t come off unless the wheel came off first. But if the drum fractured for some reason, a piece of it could be thrown out with the wheel remaining bolted to the hub I think. I’ve never even seen a minor crack in a brake drum myself.
1 Like
Sounds like a piece of a brake drum fell off (out) the back of a pick up truck that was probably loaded down with scrap metal and the drivers may have been following too closely…
Yes you can break a brake drum, happens sometimes when beating them off an old rust bucket etc… lol…
Glad no one was hurt bad…
1 Like
This is one of the reasons why I subtract 5mph off the posted highway speed limit signs, and keep right.
In the case of the Audi operator that was hit by the brake hardware, it’s a good thing their steering wheel took the brunt of the in-cabin impact!
2 Likes
Maybe, but not necessarily. Even at 5 car lengths the trailing car closes in quickly. Evasive maneuvers might put the Audi in the crooked path of the brake drum. I’m always leery of any pickup or larger truck carrying lots of stuff and try to get away from them as quickly as possible. Even if we are traveling at the same speed, I’ll speed up, pass them, then settle back to my original speed once in front.
4 Likes
That had to be one very heavy piece of a drum to do that amount of damage, or was going at a fast speed… Have you ever thrown a cement block or large rock at a windshield (junkyard lol) or bend a steering wheel?? I have stood on the roof of one car and thrown a cement block at the windshield of another car and it just bounced back, hitting one with a Bat will hurt your hands… lol
And I have beat on stuck on steering wheels trying to get them off and never bent one like that…
Makes me wonder if the Audi has that week of a steering wheel or that way by design in late models for safety in crashes?..
Again, it could have been much worse and the driver of the unknown truck should have secured his load much better…
1 Like
Does this mean you drive at 5mph under the posted speed limit on the freeways? Where do you live that you can do that?
1 Like
Coastal Connecticut.
Did you read ALL of my conditions for doing so?
1 Like
I don’t know of anyplace where it is illegal to drive 5 mph under the speed limit in the right lane. Many trucks have governors that kep them 5 or more under the speed limit on the interstate.
1 Like
This sign should explain things in CT. For most of i95(CT Turnpike), that minimum is 40mph:
The average of the two is 47.5mph.
Ideally, everyone should be driving between those two speeds.
Rampers-on ahead of me are grateful, as I’m not bearing down their back as they merge in. A few still don’t get it, and attempt to on-ramp at 30-35mph, and thus use the full on-length.
There is a survey out there, suggesting that merging onto a limited-access highway is one of the most terrifying actvities, period, for some. Even scarier than commercial flight takeoffs and landings.
More appreciation of the right pedal would cure that.
1 Like
Recently I done rode in the vacuum of a semi doing 90+ mph on the 75 mph Interstate highway.
Blood bank personnel were so pleased withexpeditious (with the expeditious) delivery!
Presumably the trucker had a radar detector.
“done rode” is Colorado cowboy speak.
Example: “That horse ain’t never been rode.”
Yes. And your other post too. That just wouldn’t work around here. Once congestion cleared up I tried driving the speed limit (60mph) on the freeway. That resulted in lots of tailgating and cars passing me both on the left and right. Traffic in the right lane was consistently 65, save for the occasional semi that needed time to get up to speed. The left and carpool lanes were 70+.
My 16 year old got his license earlier this year. First time he went to merge on the freeway he was doing about 40 with me yelling at him to speed up. He quickly learned that unless traffic slows him down he’d better be doing 60 by the end of the on-ramp.
It’s not illegal but it’s certainly unsafe.
1 Like
When three lanes, in urban areas mostruckers use lane #2 (middle lane) so no slowing for vehicles accelerating from the on-ramp.
We have a few left on-ramps. (Now I forget where.)
Are left on-ramps no longer being allowed?
Not your problem, nor mine in CT.
Most drivers just go around me on the left. I never get tailgated, or horned, etc.
I treat the posted limit as a ceiling, not the minimum speed, in my state’s case, 40mph on 95.
Drivers going 65 in a 55, or 75 in a 65 zone, are the reason we have traffic jams in the first place.
No? If I’m driving in a manner that impedes the flow of traffic and causes car after car after car to go around me, I’m the problem. Accidents happen that way. It’s a little bit different example, but try driving 55 in the left lane when traffic is moving along at 70. See how long it takes for a cop to flash the red and blue lights and tell you to get out of the way. Or is this just a west coast thing?
I’m not following you. I’m about to leave work. The first 20 miles of freeway will likely take me just over an hour. That’s because we can’t drive 60 (the speed limit), the freeway is simply over capacity. If the road had 5 lanes instead of 3, I’m certain I would get home in less time. There are freeways here that have a variable speed limit, for example 45mph during peak traffic, but that provides marginal relief at best. We need more, bigger, better roads.
1 Like
I agree, a slow vehicle is the danger on the highway, people trying to go around a slow moving vehicle will pull over in front of a faster vehicle causing brake checks and rear end wrecks, almost every wreck I see holding up traffic is someone rear ended, if you are going faster or as fast as the car behind you it is very hard for them to rear end you… But drivers watching the car behind them in the other lane trying to move over due to a slow driver in front of them can move over and not realize the other lane has slowed down also and then rear end that person in front of them… or the driver right behind them is trying to move over at the same time you do pulls out 1st and then they hit the driver that was in front of them as they move over, all because of some slow poke…
Yeah I have been passed many times while I was doing 10-15 MPH over the posted speed limit…and by stupid mini vans of all things… 
If you don’t go with the flow of traffic, then YOU ARE THE PROBLEM…
Agree % I always try to go with the flow and not be the problem.
You obviously did not read what I posted. Never would I do the speed limit in the left/passing lane. I’ll repeat:
5MPH BELOW POSTED - RIGHT HAND LANE.
If I “go with the flow”, it’s a constant brake check, on ground roads as well as the highways.
As far as more lanes goes, that’s already been disproven as a means to reduce traffic jams.
There’s a mentality in this country that speed limits are the MINIMUM one should drive, and that mentality is behind most of the accidents and traffic jams occurring daily.
1 Like
Yup, or at least it isn’t done in Maryland or Virginia. Drivers go whatever speed they feel like in all lanes. I frequently encounter people driving at or below the speed limit in the left lane and faster than the limit in the right lane. Whenever there is a traffic jam the left lane is the slowest.
Would you expect anything less, in the USA(narchy)?