Hi all, nothing interesting I'm afraid, just a little incident that occurred on friday whilst travelling along the A14 near Ipswich. I was in the inside lane, doing about 70mph when the transit in front of me starts swerving and finally moves over to the outside lane. Once it had moved I was presented with a car wheel sitting in the middle of my lane. Unfortunately I did not has the same opportunity as the van driver did to move lanes as there was a lorry next to me. So natural instinct was to brake, I guess I slowed to around 50ish by the time I hit the wheel. The wheel went under the car and as you would imagine there were loads of nasty noises. Anyway I made it over to a layby and looked under the car. The wheel was trapped to the floor pan, just before the rear seat. I had no idea how to get this out, until I noticed a high kerb on the side of the layby. I drove so the passenger side up onto the kerb, checking under the car showed that the underside had cleared the wheel, so I continued to drive along the kerb until it was clear of the car. Anyway, opened the bonnet of the car, engine still running, I couldn't see any leaks or damage, the exhaust was quiet as usual. The wheel rim was flattened so it looked more like a D, also the was the insert with the jack still in place ! I must admit whislt trying to get to the layby I noticed a white Peugeot at the side of the road, so my guess is that the spare wheel cage (under the car) came loose and the spare fell out onto the road. Anyhow, I drove the car back home, all sounded ok, put it up on ramps, the only thing I could see is that the second bar that goes under the exhaust tunnel was twisted (Theres one under the driver/passenger seat and then the other by the rear seat). I beleive that the rim of this wheel caught on this. The car is going in on Wednesday for its MOT, so I'll get them to check it all out then.

Edited 2 July, 201213 yr by cj_uk

Nice story, you certainly were lucky and I'm sure everything will be OK once it's put up on the ramp. However you did kind of ruin it by using the phrase "fast lane" in your opening line. No such thing as a "fast lane" on either a dual-carriageway or motorway.

You may want to edit the speed you say you were travelling at so that it's not over the national limit, this being a public forum and all....

glad to hear you are ok,that could have been a bad one.

it will take more than that to stop an octavia though

fast lane has been changed, but as to 75mph on my car equates to 69mph via satnav

Edited 2 July, 201213 yr by cj_uk

Glad you are ok, no-one was injured and that, by the sounds of it the car is fine

How fast was the lorry going!?

Yes, as the family said, the main thing is that I was ok, but you can't help worrying about your mota . The lorry, I guess, was travelling around 60 but I was braking heavily at the time I wanted to change lanes

You never know your luck on these things.

Mind you, I had a similar experience two days ago but with a seagull, not a wheel! I ran over the top of it as it decided to take off.

I heard its head clunk against my floor, and while feeling a bit sorry for it I thought "That's for all the times you lot use my roof as a toilet."

Yes I know what you mean, don't like to kill or hurt things for the sake of it but sometimes its either them or you :'(

I had a similar incident on the M6 with lorry driveshaft (about 50cm long 3" dia steel bar) which was drive over by the vehicle in front and it came bouncing towards me. There was nowhere to go and not enough time to brake and they was a nasty bang - bang under the car (Fabia Comfort 1.9tdi)- Stopped at the next services to find the it had hit the plastic engine undershield and dented it but not penetrated and then hit the plastic fuel tank and scratched it deeply missed the rest of the car.

I'll always remember a story my Dad told me - one of the guys he used to work with had an E-Type and was going down the mtorway when a putlock from a scaffold truck fell off and bounced down the road towards him. Apparently he had no time to react and it bounced at just the wrong time and ended up penetrating the boot floor of the Jag and smashing that lovely rear screen! Interesting insurance explanation that one!

Scary stuff CJ - glad to hear all was ok!

Kinda makes you slow down for a while that type of thing!

Yes it does, many thanks guys for your concerns, much appreciated