This is the perfect time of year to talk about why it’s dangerous to throw anything out of a vehicle or over a bridge onto a highway. Equally dangerous is having an unsecured load in your vehicle, no matter what that may be. Whether it’s a pumpkin that rolls off a large truck or a group of teens throwing rocks over a bridge, those items are extremely hazardous and could cause dangerous accidents if they hit moving vehicles.
Take for example this case out of Indiana in which a young man was driving home when a pumpkin came flying through his windshield. It’s not clear if the pumpkin fell off a truck or was tossed from an overpass above Interstate 70, but it dramatically impacted his windshield and missed him by just a few inches.
In front of the young man, a large truck swerved just before a pumpkin hit the ground. Then, the second pumpkin crashed into him. It’s possible that someone was throwing them from the overpass above.
There is a real danger in doing so. Though a pumpkin isn’t particularly heavy or hard, at that speed, it can be deadly. The man’s vehicle was damaged, but he was uninjured. The same has not been true for others in the same circumstances.
It’s a criminal offense to throw items at moving vehicles, because falling objects, like the pumpkins in this story, could kill people. If you are hit in your vehicle because someone drops an item from above or because cargo has come loose from a vehicle in front of you, you may have the potential to seek compensation for your injuries and losses. An experienced attorney can help you determine your options.
