Weird stuff on the side of the road

So, I'm driving in endless bumper to bumper traffic on the 405 fwy today that somehow the people of LA put up with everyday. I'm stuck there and I look into the center divider area and what do I see?

A transmission torque converter, looking like an oversized pink donut from Randy's donuts.

So I'm asking myself, how the heck does a torque converter get here? Did the entire transmission of a car fall out somewhere? It's the only way I can figure someone could lose one. If so, how does a transmission FALL OUT of a car? And, if they picked up the transmission, why leave behind the torque converter?

It made me wonder (as I was stuck in traffic anyway): What is the weirdest car part or oddball thing anyone has seen on the side of the road?

 

Free cat!


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ow. i just scrapped one of our kittys off the street and planted it this morning. on a lighter note; i always wondered why you always see one shoe on the road. one day i plan to drive around the country and make a photo essay of those solitary shoes.

 

the worst thing I've seen is a Semi Truck hit a skunk, we were right behind the semi...

i've also seen a STUFFED deer at the side of the highway

 

Ouch not a really lighter note on the one shoe. This could very possibly be accident victims, when you are supposedly hit by a car or any serious traumatic force it literally knocks your shoes off . Its crazy I know but it is a fact that this happens. Unfortunately this could be the source....but highway unlikely maybe but still...

 

I've seen a boat that got detached from the truck that was towing it. A mattress and a folding lawn chair. The boat was defintely interesting though.

 

the bed (back half) of a pickup, missing the rest of the truck. Surely you'd notice if that fell off?!?

 

As a kid in the '70s, I once saw 2 or 3 pickup roofs. A and B pillars, glass, and all. They were full of stuff. I don't remember what. That's just bizarre.

Central Texas is overrun with deer. Twice I've driven by road kill deer and seen the heads cut off, hunting trophy style. It wasn't poachers; I drove by the same deer several times before the heads got cut off. What kind of jackass has road kill on the wall of his trophy room?

 

There has been a bumper on the side of the 90 for three days.

 

There was UCLA prof who (years ago) suggested they leave wrecks on the side of the road to desensitize and stop the lookyloos.

 

The other day I avoided a steering wheel which was in the middle of a highway.

Now...how does one loose a steering wheel?

Perhaps someone like this will pick it up---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9w8FY0ikT4

 

A bedframe and a folding table.

 

A whole boat, laying on the side of the road, no trailer. The boat was not seaworthy, badly weathered, motor gone, glass gone and a nice hole in the hull.

 

I once read a list of strange things those guys in the orange vest pick up on the side of the road I don't remember the whole list but seems they find a lot of cell phones and strangest thing was that they find false teeth fairly often.


The torque convertor, I suspect that fell off a scrap yard truck.

 

Back in the 70's a friend of mine raced flat-bottom powerboats and traveled around towing the trailer with a school bus. At a race in another state he had an unfortunate mishap that resulted in the boat burning to the waterline. After getting the wreckage loaded back on the trailer they headed back the 200 miles home to regroup and rebuild. About an hour later they pulled over for gas and discovered OOPS, no trailer! Apparently it had come unhitched and nobody noticed it leave.

They immediately turned around and headed back the way they came until they encountered an array of emergency vehicles with flashing lights converged in a field a short distance from the 4-lane divided highway on the side they were now traveling. Initially pretending to know nothing, they inquired as to the nature of the situation and were told that there may have been a plane crash, judging by the appearance of the charred wreckage but they had not located a pilot. After determining that nobody had been injured and explaining what had really occurred they were able to sell the wreckage to the farmer who owned the land and were back on their way home.

 

I saw an old guy taking a whiz on the side of the 405 once, near the 105. Traffic was going nowhere so he just pulled his caddy over to the left (yes, the left), opened his door, and stood on the other side of it (so people couldn't see I guess?) and handled his business. When you gotta go you gotta go I guess.

 

not "side of the road", but today I saw a ghettoed-out Pontiac Grand Prix with a bullet hole in the left rear quarter panel. At first I thought it was one of those stickers, but upon closer inspection...it was real!

 

Fell off scrap truck

 

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I completely freaker out today and almost hit an oncoming car after seeing what I thought was a body on the side of the road.

 

One of the radio stations here routinely issues "urine-stained mattress alerts".

 

In my early 20's a buddy and I with some friends were on the way home from Syracuse after a Billy Idol concert. He had this old POS rusted out VW bus. It was freezing cold and the thing had no heat. We are heading down the highway at top speed ~45 mph. and the engine is making the typical vw rattle. Without any warning the motor just stops and there is this huge bang like we hit something. I look out the rear window and I see the entire motor bouncing down the highway. LOL. It was SOOOOOO cold walking to the nearest exit.

 

THATS what memories are made of.

Seriously.

Had you returned home unscathed, you'd net cared to remember....long live VW!!

 

Bowling balls

 

The silver one on the Eastbound side? Still there yesterday.