[BenitoBlanco]

Rare, deadly accident: Woman killed in Georgia when brake part flies through windshield

[SwankPeRFection]

Umm, they state “unsecured load”, but give no other info about where the caliper originated from. Unsecured load isn’t a caliper coming off a car that was part of that car, as you elude. It was a transported part at that point by said vehicle

[BenitoBlanco]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

Umm, they state “unsecured load”, but give no other info about where the caliper originated from. Unsecured load isn’t a caliper coming off a car that was part of that car, as you elude. It was a transported part at that point by said vehicle

This was the first version of the story that I saw from my local affiliate. Says it "came loose from another vehicle". Maybe it was just a pickup truck with a bed full of calipers...

[SwankPeRFection]

Who knows. More than half the time, news outlets don’t even know what they’re reporting on. 🙄 Lol

[ash_schwin]

Such sad news for an innocent loss of life. RIP to that poor girl and the suffering her family / friends are going through.

[BenitoBlanco]

Originally Posted by ash_schwin

Such sad news for an innocent loss of life. RIP to that poor girl and the suffering her family / friends are going through.

No doubt.

[forza1976]

Not sure if BMW content related.

[BzsBimmer]

That’s some Final Destination sh!t.
If it’s your time, it’s your time. RIP

[christianb5s4]

Every day is a blessing, make it count.

[Efthreeoh]

Okay, some realism. If the "brake part" was a caliper and it came loose from another car ahead of the Hyundai, generly there's not enough room for the caliper to just fall off the wheel hub. Secondly the caliper is at least still attached by the brake hose, which would have to rip apart from the vehicle.

There would be friction between the brake pad and rotor at any point the caliper started to separate from the wheel hub, which would throw it into the barrel of the wheel and most likely break or even collapse the wheel. There would be a shitload of noise and a shitload of vibration, and loss of brake pedal pressure. I would find it difficult to believe a driver of a car would not notice a loss-of-caliper event at highway speeds.

Third, if such a violent event happened on car in front of another car, I'd bet the the driver of the car following would for sure notice and take some evasive action. I doubt a brake caliper would just be skipping down the highway for any length of time. It would lose kenetic energy quite quickly and not be able to jump 2 feet in the air and go through a windshield.

From the report it sounds like an unsecured load. Or maybe some AH dropped it from an overpass.

[BlkGS]

There's actually an ongoing sniper (or snipers) shooting people on the interstate in New Orleans. As with any really screwed up city with terrible leadership, it's far from their biggest issue so nobody talks about it.

https://www.nola.com/news/crime_poli...4bbaa79f0.html

So it doesn't have to be someone dropping something off an overpass, it could be much worse.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

A brake caliper cannot come a part fall off because it wasn't torqued in my mind. Either they are talking about it from a trailer or something but the article isn't very clear.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by forza1976

Not sure if BMW content related.

It's in the appropriate section (Non BMW).

[///MPhatic]

This is truly sad, but I can't see a caliper coming off of a vehicle, even if it was hand tight. So difficult to get out of there, nearly impossible without a massive accident causing it.

[BenitoBlanco]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Okay, some realism. If the "brake part" was a caliper and it came loose from another car ahead of the Hyundai, generly there's not enough room for the caliper to just fall off the wheel hub. Secondly the caliper is at least still attached by the brake hose, which would have to rip apart from the vehicle.

There would be friction between the brake pad and rotor at any point the caliper started to separate from the wheel hub, which would throw it into the barrel of the wheel and most likely break or even collapse the wheel. There would be a shitload of noise and a shitload of vibration, and loss of brake pedal pressure. I would find it difficult to believe a driver of a car would not notice a loss-of-caliper event at highway speeds.

Third, if such a violent event happened on car in front of another car, I'd bet the the driver of the car following would for sure notice and take some evasive action. I doubt a brake caliper would just be skipping down the highway for any length of time. It would lose kenetic energy quite quickly and not be able to jump 2 feet in the air and go through a windshield.

From the report it sounds like an unsecured load. Or maybe some AH dropped it from an overpass.

I'm not a physicist or forensic scientist but I don't think it's as impossible as you claim. Unlikely, of course, it's pretty much the definition of a "freak accident", but the size of the rotor, wheel and caliper would factor in, along with the strength of the brake line and any supporting grommets and other hardware (based on age and maybe bad maintenance practices like letting the caliper dangle by the brake line).

So picture a caliper finally sliding off the rotor, these cars are going at interstate speeds. While falling in whichever order of operations, the brake line ruptures and the caliper hits the barrel of the wheel and spits out under the car.

Obviously kinetic energy is not taking it half a mile down the road but if the car was maybe 1-5 lengths behind, could definitely happen. I have seen dashcam videos of less probable things happening at interstate speeds.

Lots of claims of this coming off some type of load but no actual indication of that being the case from any news reports I have seen.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by BenitoBlanco

I'm not a physicist or forensic scientist but I don't think it's as impossible as you claim. Unlikely, of course, it's pretty much the definition of a "freak accident", but the size of the rotor, wheel and caliper would factor in, along with the strength of the brake line and any supporting grommets and other hardware (based on age and maybe bad maintenance practices like letting the caliper dangle by the brake line).

So picture a caliper finally sliding off the rotor, these cars are going at interstate speeds. While falling in whichever order of operations, the brake line ruptures and the caliper hits the barrel of the wheel and spits out under the car.

Obviously kinetic energy is not taking it half a mile down the road but if the car was maybe 1-5 lengths behind, could definitely happen. I have seen dashcam videos of less probable things happening at interstate speeds.

Lots of claims of this coming off some type of load but no actual indication of that being the case from any news reports I have seen.

It's impossible to me from my POV as the brake caliper is also held on by the caliper itself so to say. When the pedal is released, there is still not enough play for the caliper to just come off if it were to be 100% loose. You need to compress the pistons. That's the way I see it. And then ofc all the rest of the physical space limitations and hose... it would have to slide towards the wheel barrel to come off since I assume you're tlaking about a loose caliper bracket here. So pretty much impossible situations to ever happen.. although I do recognize there is always that 0.000000000001% chance I guess which makes it technically not impossible... but you know. Probably still never happen in the lifetime of humanity if the car caliper would never change and stay as it is.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by BenitoBlanco

I'm not a physicist or forensic scientist but I don't think it's as impossible as you claim.

It depends on the car.

On a performance car there just isn't enough room between the caliper and the wheel to let it escape without removing the wheel, so it'd just bounce between the barrel and the intended location indefinitely. I know on my M2 with 2NH there is only 2mm clearance on the front, and 11 on the rear, which isn't nearly enough room for the caliper to escape.

However, on a non-performance car, say an older Caprice on 24's, it's possible, but unlikely because the sound would be catastrophic for a while before the brake line failed. However, if they also happen to be pumpin' the beats at window-shaking volume then I could see it.

Definitely an unsecured load. It came off the back of a truck.

https://newschannel9.com/news/local/...autumn-mcclure

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

It depends on the car.

I think for the rear calipers it's often possible (smaller discs, smaller calipers), but the front it's very unlikely that it'll fit through the rim space.
However, as for dangerous parts getting loose from other cars (I mean no cargo), wheels are I think the most dangerous ones and come loose frequently.

[forza1976]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

It's in the appropriate section (Non BMW).

It wasn't originally....

[BenitoBlanco]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

It depends on the car.

Yes, I said that. See my comments about it being dependent on wheel, caliper and rotor size.

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Definitely an unsecured load. It came off the back of a truck.

https://newschannel9.com/news/local/...autumn-mcclure

What part of the article you linked confirms that it was "definitely an unsecured load" that "came off the back of a truck"? The article mentions the penalty for driving with an unsecured load. There is no mention of it coming off a truck.

Again, I get that it's unlikely, but this is pretty much the definition of a freak accident. The article does say that a full report is expected this week, so I am curious to learn more.

[BenitoBlanco]

Originally Posted by forza1976

It wasn't originally....

My mistake. Glad it's in the right place now.

[erickonphoenix]

We lost an associate on a sales call down in LaPorte Texas in 2017 when a twist lock came off a truck, broke through his windshield and struck him in the neck.

https://patch.com/texas/pasadena-tx/...hes-windshield

In my 41 years of driving I've run over two ladders, had to swerve around a spare tire, a mattress, a washing machine, and had pickup truck in front of me kick up a steel bar laying n the road. That last one just missed my driver side A pillar by a foot. Road debris is not to be taken lightly. Maintain a proper following distance and watch out.