PSA: Please secure cargo when in an open-bed truck

Luckyarmpit

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Was on my way home from shopping Wednesday evening around 7:30 PM. Was on a highway, traveling at highway speeds (~75 MPH). A dually pickup truck in front of me ran something over that was in front of him. I only had about 1/2 second to react. Jumped on the brakes and tried to turn away from the debris but no such luck. I struck whatever it was at about 50 MPH (estimated) on the drivers' side front. I slowed down and took a mental checklist... nothing rattling, no TPMS light, no pulling to one side, no fuel smell, etc. Continued home without issue. I'm thinking it was a large bucket but I'm not sure as it all happened very fast. I did notice a pickup truck carrying a metric shit-ton of just random stuff in both the bed and an open trailer a few miles ahead of the incident. It was probably him but I had no proof, so I didn't confront him.

Assessed the damage when I got home. The black plastic insert that houses the foglight is partially pulled away from the bumper. The left foglight itself is out. The housing looks OK; hopefully it's just the bulb (I replaced both foglights about a week ago and had to pull the whole front bumper off to get to them. Not looking forward to doing that again). And the side running light (the corner light?) is pulled halfway out of the car; thinking that's probably broken and I need to order that part. Won't know for sure until I get the bumper off.

So here's my PSA: Attention pickup truck owners! Please secure your cargo properly! No, lowering your tailgate does NOT improve your gas mileage, so if you insist on doing so, please double-check all cargo is secured. Maybe that's an NC thing but watching pickups with tailgates down and seeing random shit just bouncing around the bed is probably my #1 pet peeve.

So, to whoever didn't properly secure their cargo.... thanks a lot, asshole.

And yes, I'm very thankful it wasn't worse damage or caused any sort of bodily harm. That hasn't escaped me. I'm just pissed off at the situation overall.
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utparatrooper

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I am actually surprised that I don't hear of more accidents due to these a******s not securing their gear.

Each time I get behind some utility truck carrying 50 of those small diameter white (PVC piping?) dangling and flexing up and down over the cab - all I could think about is some kind of Final Destination event where one of those come loose and shoot through my windshield like an arrow and pierce through my skull.
 
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Luckyarmpit

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What's this have to do with the Si?
Because I have one and it was damaged...?

Got the bumper off. I'm missing retaining clips on the little black bar that's sits under the headlights. Thankfully that's a separate part, and I don't have to buy the entire headlight assembly. I'm also missing retaining clips on the fake black plastic grill that sits on the driver side where the fog light is housed. All those parts are just a little over $100, and my Honda dealership has them in stock. I'm on my way to go pick them up, and should have everything replaced today.
 

thatlilwhiteone

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this is a gen x civic forum though not an "open-bed" truck forum. lol.
 


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I was driving my Mercury Sable from Dayton, Ohio to Chicago one day. In northern Indiana at the time, me and 3 or 4 other cars were caravanning at around 100-110 mph without anyone else around, and only seldomly passing other cars on a completely flat, open highway. There was an Accord behind me, not far, but not on my bumper or anything as we pulled up to a pickup truck with an extension ladder in the bed. I was still probably a quarter mile back or so but something told me to move to the fast lane earlier than I normally would. As I got up within a few car lengths of the truck I watched the ladder lift, gracefully, up out of the bed and out of the truck. The Accord was still in the slow lane and I don't know if there was an accident or not but I didn't see the Accord again after that. Scary stuff!

Also, just yesterday, like 4 giant bails of housing insulation in the middle of the highway. Each almost the size of my coupe...

This is good advice, OP, and a good reminder. Thanks. Sorry about your car.
 
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Luckyarmpit

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I was driving my Mercury Sable from Dayton, Ohio to Chicago one day. In northern Indiana at the time, me and 3 or 4 other cars were caravanning at around 100-110 mph without anyone else around, and only seldomly passing other cars on a completely flat, open highway. There was an Accord behind me, not far, but not on my bumper or anything as we pulled up to a pickup truck with an extension ladder in the bed. I was still probably a quarter mile back or so but something told me to move to the fast lane earlier than I normally would. As I got up within a few car lengths of the truck I watched the ladder lift, gracefully, up out of the bed and out of the truck. The Accord was still in the slow lane and I don't know if there was an accident or not but I didn't see the Accord again after that. Scary stuff!

Also, just yesterday, like 4 giant bails of housing insulation in the middle of the highway. Each almost the size of my coupe...

This is good advice, OP, and a good reminder. Thanks. Sorry about your car.
Thank you. Glad you were OK and avoided the accident. Hopefully the other driver was OK too. I remember something similar happening while I was in my Jeep. I have an '03 Wrangler X. No ABS. Was on the highway and something large and cylindrical suddenly appeared in front of me. Jumped on the brakes; locked up the rear. No where to go.... median to my left and traffic to the right. Gripped the steering wheel and prepared myself for the worst. Heard a very soft 'crunch' as I ran over the object, and was amazed that it didn't even register on the suspension. Puzzled/amazed/bewildered/thankful, I came across a truck with an open-bed trailer pulled over about 100 ft. after the object. In his open trailer, UNSECURED was HVAC duct insulation. Boy was I (and anyone else that ran it over) thankful it wasn't a solid object. And the hilarious-yet-infuriating part was the confused look on the truck driver's face... I'm sure wondering how that lightweight stuff fell out of his trailer at highway speeds?!

Anyway, back to the Si to keep it on topic. :rolleyes: Replaced both beams (the plastic thing that the headlight assembly attaches to) and the bumper insert last night. Just have to mount the bumper this morning - I lost a screw last night in the engine bay and it took a long time to find - and it's complete. So the total damage was:

  • Left headlight mounting beam
  • Right headlight mounting beam
  • Left plastic bumper insert
  • 10 x plastic 'pop-rivets'
  • Left foglight bulb
 

REBELXSi

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Like others have said, this isn't an Si specific topic and I'm not a gambling man but the odds are the guy responsible won't see this thread.

Also, you don't need to pull the bumper to replace fog bulbs.
 

RYSBRNR

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Jesus, who cares what forum it’s in, can’t we just feel bad for the guy because his car got damaged and stop dumping on him for having the audacity to write it here? Who gives a shit, he has an Si, it got damaged, he’s unhappy, he wants to share. Let the man feel like people care as opposed to feel like shit for bothering to vent his frustration amongst other people who are supposed to care about their car like he does. Wouldn’t you want to feel like someone else felt your pain if your car got jacked up?

Sorry to hear it brother, hope you can fix it soon and it looks 100% like it never happened.
 
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Luckyarmpit

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Jesus, who cares what forum it’s in, can’t we just feel bad for the guy because his car got damaged and stop dumping on him for having the audacity to write it here? Who gives a shit, he has an Si, it got damaged, he’s unhappy, he wants to share. Let the man feel like people care as opposed to feel like shit for bothering to vent his frustration amongst other people who are supposed to care about their car like he does. Wouldn’t you want to feel like someone else felt your pain if your car got jacked up?

Sorry to hear it brother, hope you can fix it soon and it looks 100% like it never happened.
Thanks very much. Not understanding the vitriol at my post; plenty of other people post "my wheels got stolen" or "I was in an accident" and they don't get barraged by "this is an Si forum" replies. I don't get it but I expected as much... it's a public forum after all.

I've got everything changed out. All is well except for a broken clip on part of the bumper insert... it's the black piece that has the Si emblem. I didn't notice that at first and I haven't called to see what it will cost to replace. I'll do that on down the road as that's purely cosmetic and not functional at all.

@REBELXSi Yes, I know that the bumper doesn't have to come off to replace the foglight bulbs. The bumper had to come off to replace the black foglight insert as well as the beams the headlights sit on.
 


RYSBRNR

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Thanks very much. Not understanding the vitriol at my post; plenty of other people post "my wheels got stolen" or "I was in an accident" and they don't get barraged by "this is an Si forum" replies. I don't get it but I expected as much... it's a public forum after all.

I've got everything changed out. All is well except for a broken clip on part of the bumper insert... it's the black piece that has the Si emblem. I didn't notice that at first and I haven't called to see what it will cost to replace. I'll do that on down the road as that's purely cosmetic and not functional at all.

@REBELXSi Yes, I know that the bumper doesn't have to come off to replace the foglight bulbs. The bumper had to come off to replace the black foglight insert as well as the beams the headlights sit on.
You’re welcome! Can’t stand seeing that kind of behavior from what is supposed to be a community of enthusiasts who share a passion for these cars, it’s disgraceful. Hopefully the next part goes smoothly for you. My whole front fascia has always been misaligned, even after a body shop addressed it at the dealer’s expense. I just ignore it but it’s irritating when I see it up close.
 

PhilF

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Hey, I feel your pain, your car, which you Obviously value & care for was damaged by something beyond your ability to avoid it. My last two Civics, a 2013 EX-L Coupe and a 2016 same model were both rear-ended at the SAME yield sign, both had less than 3k miles, both were hit by a young woman who was texting, I yielded, they didn't! Only bumper damage to the tune of $1300, subrigated to the other person's insurance so didn't count against my insurance. Didn't lessen my being pissed off by damage to a brand new car and the inconvenience of getting them fixed. Related to your issue, I have NEVER been down the I95 corridor through Va without being hit by some debris off a truck or kicked up off the road. Now I never use that intersection where I was rear-ended twice, & refuse to use I95, but all roads are full of uncaring idiots. Sorry about your car, glad it didn't involve paint!
 

BoostedSiCoupe

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your typical pickup truck owner is an inbred manlet tard wearing a camouflage hat who suffers severe insecurities that only a huge truck can compensate for in their mind.

with that being said, do you think these idiots are smart enough or care enough to make sure their shit in the back of their big ugly pickups is properly secured? the answer is no, dude. im sorry.
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