A ladder, a sofa, box tops, kitchen cabinet door - things I’ve seen on our freeways

Yesterday while driving to work, traffic suddenly slowed as everyone had to swerve an A-frame ladder that was in the middle lane of 101. Over the weekend I had to swerve on 280 at night as a few box tops flew off a pickup truck that incredibly overloaded with furniture. This summer I had to change lanes on 85 to avoid a kitchen cabinet door in the road. A co-worker of mine once talked about how a ladder fell out of a pickup truck in front of her - another co-worker of mine once talked about how a hammer fell out of the sky right in front of his car.

Granted, I never drove as much as I do now when I lived in the East Coast - but I really don’t remember seeing so much stuff in the roadway.

Coincidentally, I had just read this in the Merc recently:

San Jose Mercury News - Roadshow: Working to keep roadways free of trash

To report motorists who litter on state roads, county expressways and city streets in Santa Clara County, fire off an e-mail to stopvehiclelittering@sanjoseca.gov or call (408) 277-4111. A letter will be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle, hopefully shaming the guilty party into realizing their evil ways and the costs of littering. Caltrans spends about $40 million a year picking up trash statewide, about $15 million in the Bay Area.

Now granted, that’s probably about the trash on the sides of the roads - but still, that’s a lot of money picking up trash.

This also reminds me Maria Federici - for whom they passed a bill in Washington State. Basically, she was driving one night, and a 6×2 piece of an entertainment center crashed into her face leaving a big hole.

Beware of driving behind trailers and pickup trucks.