An Ipswich rider has hit a mattress that fell off a trailer in a Brisbane tunnel at 80km/h and police are lived to tell the tale after performing an impromptu “endo”.
Contractor Aaron Wood said the “endo” was so severe he tore the grips off the bars of his Honda CBR1000RR.
Aaron was following a Toyota Prado through the Clem 7 tunnel on the night of March 28, 2017, when an unsecured mattress flew out of the back of a cage trailer it was towing.
He hit the mattress and came to an abrupt stop, lucky not to be rear-ended. The mattress was lodged under the bike near the exhaust and began to smoulder before being pulled out.
“I have been riding for 20 years and never had something like this happen,” he told The Queensland Times.
Ipswich police are checking the tunnel CCTV footage, but it is very difficult to read the number plate of the vehicle.
A police media spokesperson says if they locate the driver they could be charged with “Fail to ensure load on private light vehicle complies with requirements” and face a $243 fine.
UPDATE: Read how much the driver was fined.
Australian authorities receive tens of thousands of callouts a year to collect debris from our roads.
It includes household goods, building materials and green waste, causing road closures, disruptions, injuries and deaths.
Most vulnerable to these unsecured loads are motorcyclists.
Most riders have witnessed all sorts of things flying off the backs of trucks and pick-ups, but the worst culprits seem to be tradies.
Perhaps they are in a rush to get home or to the next job, but too many don’t secure their loads properly.
Take a look at the side of our freeways. They are littered with tradies’ hard hats, rubber boots, gloves and tools.
Other motorists to avoid are weekend gardeners taking their load to the dump in a hired trailer. They are not professional transport operators, so they don’t know how to secure a load properly. Give them a wide berth.
It’s not as if the police and authorities don’t care about unsecured loads.
Police frequently blitz for unsecured loads and the fines range from several hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on the risk level of the spilt load.
However, a fine won’t help a rider recovering in hospital from hitting a loose load. Instead, it’s our responsibility to stay away from any vehicle with a loose load.
And if you see a dangerous load, report it to the police.
This video of an American rider crashing into a load that had fallen off the back of a boat trailer being pulled by an SUV is a lesson in never following vehicles with dodgy looking loads.
Rider Brendan Jankowski, 20, doesn’t seem to be following very closely, but it is close enough for him not to be able to avoid the load of rolled-up foam that falls off. He hits it square on and flips over.
Luckily, he only received minor injuries.
It’s a good lesson to be aware of trucks and pickups carrying loads secured only by ropes and ties.