Ran over a mattress @ 40 mph. Will my car be okay?
10-20-2016
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Ran over a mattress @ 40 mph. Will my car be okay? 2004 Civic LX sedan. I had my bike secured tightly in the rack on my trunk. I was driving in a two-lane road going in my direction, I was in right lane. I was driving at 50 mph. An SUV passes to my left, we're side-by-side. I look to my left at it.
Then, all of a sudden, I look forward and see a mattress in my lane. There was a ditch to my right, so I couldn't go there. The SUV was in my left blindspot, so I couldn't go there. There was a car behind me about 40 feet away, so I can't brake hard. I could only do the inevitable: run the mattress over.
I brake slowly to bring the car at about 40 mph, and I steer a little left to avoid hitting the mattress with all 4 tires and only ran it over with the front right and rear right tires. I pulled over to a nearby neighborhood to inspect the tires, bumpers, and shocks. I found several white strands of cotton under the right side skirt, so that means I damaged the mattress too. (After the inspection, I continue to drive as normal when I noticed way back there in my rearview mirror that a guy in a pickup truck was retrieving his mattress that I ran over, which wasn't secured completely in the first place! (I didn't know it was his either! I thought it was just some random old mattress that someone was trying to rid of)
Is my Civic okay? Did I do damage to the tires or shocks? How bad is running a mattress at 35 or 40 mph? I keep my 2004 Civic in very good condition and had it for 2 years. Still runs smooth, even after the event with the mattress, but I just want to get your opinions.
Then, all of a sudden, I look forward and see a mattress in my lane. There was a ditch to my right, so I couldn't go there. The SUV was in my left blindspot, so I couldn't go there. There was a car behind me about 40 feet away, so I can't brake hard. I could only do the inevitable: run the mattress over.
I brake slowly to bring the car at about 40 mph, and I steer a little left to avoid hitting the mattress with all 4 tires and only ran it over with the front right and rear right tires. I pulled over to a nearby neighborhood to inspect the tires, bumpers, and shocks. I found several white strands of cotton under the right side skirt, so that means I damaged the mattress too. (After the inspection, I continue to drive as normal when I noticed way back there in my rearview mirror that a guy in a pickup truck was retrieving his mattress that I ran over, which wasn't secured completely in the first place! (I didn't know it was his either! I thought it was just some random old mattress that someone was trying to rid of)
Is my Civic okay? Did I do damage to the tires or shocks? How bad is running a mattress at 35 or 40 mph? I keep my 2004 Civic in very good condition and had it for 2 years. Still runs smooth, even after the event with the mattress, but I just want to get your opinions.
10-20-2016
#2
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Re: Ran over a mattress @ 40 mph. Will my car be okay?
Sorry but I've had a crappy day and that's the most awesome post I've seen here in forever. I mean... I feel for you.... kind of a sucky situation. You also told that in a way I could totally visualize what happened.
lol. I dunno, if you're going to hit something a 40mph then a mattress is probably your best choice. Mainly just foam and fabric with a light wire structure inside. Pretty unlikely that you suffered any damage. If you didn't see anything visually wrong and nothing appears to be handling differently then I wouldn't be concerned about it.
