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It was certainly an interesting drive this morning, I must give it that. Since a lot of people have the day as a holiday, the traffic was comparatively light and made for a nice brisk drive up to work. I was almost to my exit when I noticed a ladder in the back of the pickup truck ahead of me and one lane over wobbling - and I braked before I even registered what I was seeing. Sure enough, the aluminum ladder (which I think had been leaning up a bit, but I'm not sure) came flying out, along with what looked like a red plastic toolbox (but it didn't move like it had anything especially heavy in it, at least not against 55-mph tossing-out-of-a-truck). The ladder never came into my lane at all but spun back down his lane; the toolbox spun down his lane and then crossed in to mine. By then, though, I was past.
It was only briefly startling - the traffic was nice and light, as I said, and the lanes to my right (this was just past the Carmen drive exit, right where the double-exit lanes start for the 217 flyover ramp) were empty, so it's not like I felt I was at any real risk of tangling with these things. It was pretty clear neither was going to cross into my lane, and then I was past. No one had been really close behind me but in my rear-view, I could see the traffic that had been further back (a good couple hundred feet at least, maybe more) having to dodge around the ladder and the toolbox (which forced one semi over into the left exit lane for 217, temporarily, at least that I saw).
The truck that lost them? Clearly startled when they went, then cut across three lanes of traffic to exit on the 217 flyover ramp. I'm not sure if he thought he was going to park along the edge or double back or what, but he would have done better to take the next exit in any case, and I sincerely hope he wasn't stupid enough to go try to get his things out of the middle of all those lanes of traffic. This is what the response teams from ODOT are for in the first place, and I'm sure they were headed there shortly after, since no doubt someone would report the ladder and whatever-it-was. Especially since they were tangling up not one but two lanes of traffic.
Good thing it wasn't a normal level of traffic.
It was only briefly startling - the traffic was nice and light, as I said, and the lanes to my right (this was just past the Carmen drive exit, right where the double-exit lanes start for the 217 flyover ramp) were empty, so it's not like I felt I was at any real risk of tangling with these things. It was pretty clear neither was going to cross into my lane, and then I was past. No one had been really close behind me but in my rear-view, I could see the traffic that had been further back (a good couple hundred feet at least, maybe more) having to dodge around the ladder and the toolbox (which forced one semi over into the left exit lane for 217, temporarily, at least that I saw).
The truck that lost them? Clearly startled when they went, then cut across three lanes of traffic to exit on the 217 flyover ramp. I'm not sure if he thought he was going to park along the edge or double back or what, but he would have done better to take the next exit in any case, and I sincerely hope he wasn't stupid enough to go try to get his things out of the middle of all those lanes of traffic. This is what the response teams from ODOT are for in the first place, and I'm sure they were headed there shortly after, since no doubt someone would report the ladder and whatever-it-was. Especially since they were tangling up not one but two lanes of traffic.
Good thing it wasn't a normal level of traffic.
