What do you do if debris (rock, trash, etc.) falls from a vehicle in front of you and hits your car?

Question

Often times I will be behind a truck and rocks will be falling from the bed hitting my car. Can I call the police? Force them to pull over and file a report?

Answer 1

If it does damage to your car, then it is a traffic accident and should probably be treated as such.

If it doesn't do damage to your car, you can still call the local law enforcement and file a complaint. The officer will come out and stop the car, and you will be required to sign the ticket - the police officer will only be facilitating the incident. YOU will have to go to court on the day the other driver goes, and YOU will have to present the case to the judge - not the officer.

Answer 2

get license plate #,date,time,make of the car/truck ,and company name...and notify your insurance company

Answer 3

If you don't have time to avoid something from the vehicle in front of you,   try following from further back!     This,  by the way,  works no matter what vehicle is in front of you.

Answer 4

Nothing... it is considered a hazard of driving on the road and happens all the time.  I have been an insurance agent for 17 years and I have never seen a insurance company pay the claim from the person whose vehicle sent the rock or debris flying.  Your insurance is going to pick it up if you have damage or care to have it repaired.  The police can absolutely do nothing and won't because there is no law being broken.  It is simply a consequence of getting on the road.

All you guys that answered above, you are wrong.  Getting all the info won't help because you can't prove negligence.  The other party is only responsible for causing damage if they are negligent which is nearly impossible to prove in these kinds of situations.  Getting the company name and the license plate might make you feel better... like you've got one up in the situation, but it's totally meaningless.

Answer 5

The best thing that you can do is call the police first and then get all of the information concerning the truck and keep following them until the police get there and if everything is as you stated and the police can see a problem, they will write a report and the driver will be ticketed.

Good Luck and Drive Safe

Answer 6

you can get the name of the truck company off the side of the truck and make a claim with them

Answer 7

In California and probably every state in the USA, the only thing that can fall from a vehicle is water and feathers.  Otherwise, the vehicle is responsible for any damage caused by falling objects.  You need the description of the vehicle and license number, and report them (on your cell phone if you have one).  Recently this happened to a friend of mine, he call the Highway Patrol and the vehicle in question was pulled over and cited.

Answer 8

Stop tailgating... if you were the proper distance back, anything falling off the vehicle would hit the road and bounce out of the way before your vehicle got to that spot...

Answer 9

You can take their license number and file a report with the police. Also, note what type of vehicle it is and what damage was done to your vehicle. If you have to, you can also file a claim with your insurance to cover the damages..... after you have made a report.