After driving 500 hazard-free miles from a business trip in my XK8, I was on my last leg home, I-20 south of Arlington, doing 65-70 and traffic is pretty busy, maybe 7:30pm or so...and a trailer hauling vehicle in front of me, to my right, seems to be dragging something behind it. This vehicle, trailer, and unknown object decides to change lanes...right in front of me, and the thingy dislodges itself from the trailer's undercarriage...
holy crap... a traffic cone! THUD! It was like I was in slow motion as it hit my bumper and God knows what else.
The cone was already mangled, but as most of you know, the black base is pretty stout, and had a portion of the cone still attached. So, instead of swerving to either side (as I didn't know for sure if a vehicle was next to me, as there probably were with the traffic conditoins) I tried to straddle it. Car jumped a bit.
Pulled over at the next exit for a little damage assessment, screw the cold, I had to know what the underside looked like..and my bumper.
The black part did a number on my bumper, just on the underside, but after getting it home, and putting some polishing compound on it, all the discoloration was able to be removed, only a couple 'rub marks' that are virtually invisible, but can be felt by the touch. I looked under the chassis on all sides, and was happy to see my catalytic converter, brake lines, mufflers, etc. all appeared undamaged. Apparently, the cone was slightly run over by my RF tire...that's why it jumped a bit.
Poor guy behind me...I wonder if he faired as well. Ok, i've had my scare of the year. Next.
