Not Responsible for Broken Windshields

[atx_hunter]

If you were 200' back it wouldn't hit your windshield, that's the point.

At highway speeds (70 mph) a car will cover approx. 102 ft/second. A rock falling from 10 feet up will take .79 seconds to hit the ground. It's pretty easy for it to bounce and still be at windshield height 1.17 seconds later.

[Dale Moser]

At highway speeds (70 mph) a car will cover approx. 102 ft/second. A rock falling from 10 feet up will take .79 seconds to hit the ground. It's pretty easy for it to bounce and still be at windshield height 1.17 seconds later.

End dumps are not 10' tall, and the Rock is moving forward.

I work/live/hunt along 114 and 287....millions of rock trucks. I am a chronic tailgater and have replaced my own windshield a dozen times....never once have I been hit when staying back 200'. It works.

[Razorback01]

The main problem I have going up and down I35 in Fort Worth, its not staying 200' behind, they are hauling ars passing me- how can I stay 200' behind?

[atx_hunter]

End dumps are not 10' tall, and the Rock is moving forward..

My bad, I forgot about the rock moving forward.

[Michael]

I own a trucking company. We haul rock and and gravel. I don't have those signs on my trialers. We have 100+ truck fleet. I have the best rating you can get from dot. We get windshield clams all the time. Some are laget. Most are not. If material comes off the truck and hits your vehicle by law the company has to fix it. But if the material hits the ground then hits your vehicle it's called road hazard and they are not respectable. I can't speak for any other company but mine. If someone calls us and tell me what happens and it correct. Then we fix or help fix the windshield. By help I mean pay half. The signs are more of a stop tailgating. If a truck can't see you in his mirrors then he doesn't know your there. For what it's worth. For those who think truck drivers are rude or stupid. Try taking a 54 foot piece of equipment and drive it around everyday looking out of the guy texting and driving trying to make another meeting or finding an exit. It's not that simple.

Ferron's son?

It's easy to complain about truckers until you need food, a road, a shipment, etc. Very few have an appreciation for what trucking means to our economy. I'm glad I'm no longer in the business.

[Michael]

Had a rock truck on 67 south of Cleburne he was empty and forgot to lock his rear dump gate. When he got to hwy speed that gate was flapping open out came the gravel and pop, cracked my winshield on my F350 that had been replaced just a few months prior. Had the wife video and take pics of it open. Pulled up next to the guy to try and get him to pull over, basically had to pull in front of him and stop to get him too. Got his info called his trucking firm and the guy was kind of a jerk. Said nothing they Could do I was like ok but TX dot is going to love the video and pics of your truck driving down the road with the tail gate open. He send he would send me a form to fill out and return it with windshield pic and estimate and the fordhouse give me one (they were the highest) sent it in and had a check within a week.

Attaboy! Milk 'em for all you can!

[Dale Moser]

Attaboy! Milk 'em for all you can!

It took all my restraint....

[curtintex]

Attaboy! Milk 'em for all you can!

Well, it's just a "company"...it don't really cost anybody anything to screw over a company.......right?

[CACTUSEXP]

Yes sir. Faron's son. Just letting everyone know what the laws says. Not saying it right or wrong. Just what it says. Hope your doing good.

[CACTUSEXP]

Try to get a trailer or truck number. Make of the truck. Color. More info you have the better it is. Last week had a lady call me. She was upset we has rock hit her new car. She had all the right information. Color of truck got a truck number and what direction the tuck was traveling. After talking to her and the driver. There was a hole in the trailer floor. I called her back told her to take her car to a body shop. We got it fixed for her. Thing happen. She wasn't mad after we talked. I thanked her for being understanding. told her what happened to the trailer. Got her car fixed and the trailer. Everyone was happy.

[KNEE DEEP]

Gravels trucks around Altair, Eagle Lake are notorious for busting windshields. Better now now with DPS patrolling Hwy 90 and 71 all the time. Vox Popoli yard even has street sweeper that cleans the highway where they enter 71. So much gravel hauled from there it's crazy.

[mjhaverkamp]

Man I deal with this all the time, I have over 20 trucks that haul some kind of material, we get several calls a month about broken windshields, the insurance company denies all of them, it is almost impossible to prove that a certain truck lost material that broke a windshield. I have personally had at least 8 windshields broke, not one time was I behind an 18 wheeler, there is so much debris on the roads right now because of all the construction going on, I am not saying we are perfect but I think we get blamed for a lot of windshields that we had nothing to do with.

[GtownBowhunter]

Ok, this is something of wondered about for a while now...

I always see hauling trucks with the warning sign on the back saying that they're "not responsible for broken windshields." Do those signs have any legal merit? To me it sounds like they're saying "Even if we're negligent and don't properly secure the load we're hauling, it's not our fault."

If the signs do have legal merit can I go ahead and hang a sign over my neighbors fence saying "Not responsible for errant arrows" and go to town practicing my 100 yard shots ?

My family runs a fleet of about 20 Gravel trucks in Georgetown. If the rock came off the top of the truck then the company is liable for the damages. If the rock came from under the truck it is considered road hazard. It is generally pretty difficult to get the damages paid for (at least through the insurance company we have) but sometimes if we feel the person is being honest we will pay damages out of pocket. You would be amazed at what some people that have previously damaged their windshield come up with. It is extremely frustrating to deal with people like that. Hope this helps

[GtownBowhunter]

You could also notice a chip in your windshield while in the Kroger parking lot and blame it on the next commercial truck you get behind. Not that you'd do that, but many do. DOT is tough on trucks hauling aggregate for this very reason. Also, how do you know if the rock falls off of a truck or the tires of the truck just throw an existing rock from the highway up into a windshield.

I know that some negligence probably exist with some truckers, but you can't imagine the number of crackheads that have called here over the years just wanting a check..."no need to get the insurance involved....just pay me $200 to fix my windshield". Uh......no.

I figured there had to be someone else on here that was in the trucking business. I have heard my share of stories about a cracked windshield. Generally pretty easy to see through the lies.

[Dale Moser]

I always tell them to bring me the rock and we'll see if it matches anything we have.