These are some tips we got from the Highway Patrol of Utah on how to safely and properly handle losing some of your load on the highway or other busy road. Before any tips, we urge everyone to securely tie down anything on top of your car or in your truck bed. Even if you properly know how to handle it, any debris at high speeds can cause serious accidents. Please share the graphic to the right with your family and friends and make sure people know the proper way to handle debris on the freeway or a highway!
Table of Contents
Stop safely and quickly.
Do not stop in a travel lane, and do not leave the scene. You are liable for any damage caused by your debris, and leaving the area will be prosecuted just like a hit-and-run. This is a criminal offense.
Do not back up!
You will be much more dangerous as a car traveling in the wrong direction than any stationary debris could be.
Call 911.
The object will need to be removed by troopers, and they hopefully can remove it before it causes damage to other vehicles.
Do not try to remove the object yourself.
While this may be tempting, it is the best way to make a bad situation worse. Not only is the object causing danger, now you are putting your own body in danger to remove it. Troopers are trained on how to handle this, and can do so safely and quickly.
After police retrieve the object, they will come to you and help to reunite you with the object if there is anything left of it.
If you have been injured in an accident involving someone else’s debris, please contact us at 801-506-0800 to talk about it completely free.