Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Rocky highways

I've driven highways through each of the 48 contiguous states.

Arizona is the worst for highway rock strikes.

I've driven gravel roads in Iowa and Illinois where my car got hit by fewer rocks than it does on a daily basis during my commute.

Of course, the drivers on the gravel roads weren't going 70 miles per hour.

My 17-year-old car has numerous dings in the paint.  My windshield is held together by repair resin.  Why should I replace it when the very next day it will probably get cracked?

Yesterday, I was driving home, enjoying the music on the radio and the lovely weather.  I had the driver's side window down about halfway.

Which is odd, because I usually have it down all the way.

I hear a loud ping by my left ear, and turn my head just as a rock ricochets off the edge of the window and glances off my cheek.

No damage done, other than startling me.

But I wonder how hard that rock would have hit me, and where, if I had the window open all the way?


2 comments :

  1. That's a little scary. Why so many rocks, Arizona?

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    Replies
    1. I'm told it's because we have so many construction trucks driving around without tarps. And the roadsides are landscaped in rocks.

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