man hole covers/storm drains

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iwannadie · Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:45 pm

has anyone ever ran over a man hole with no cover on it? ive seen them a few times before. ive went over a few that had a cover but it either was suken very low below the road surface making a deep pothole. or one time i hit one that the cover wasnt seated in properly and wobbled as i hit it.

one time in a parking lot they had storm drains with metal grates over them. as i am going through the lot i see it and see the grate and think no thing of it(you couldnt avoid it) so i was going to go over it. right as i get near it i see half the grate is just missing making for a 3x3 foot opening! after i got off i went over to look at it, thing was a good 10 feet deep.

my brother(in a car) almost went into a 5x10 foot storm drain that lost its metal grate. he didnt even notice the grate was missing and backed his car up he herd something so got out thinking he hit something. he saw the storm drain under his car and the grate now gone, his back tire was half over the opening bout to fall.

any other experineces with grates and the such? if you hit an open manhole cover is there a chance to ride over it without crashing? seems with a big enough front tire and enough speed you could make it over. if you do wreck is the city at all liable in a case like that?

Keyoke · #2 Unread post by **Keyoke** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:46 am

Thankfully not with drains, but some of the local roads around here are badly in need of repair, so there are some serious potholes that can give a nasty suprise if you're not looking for them....!

XJRJohn · #3 Unread post by **XJRJohn** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:56 am

once on nights we had to cone a street off till highways dept got there,somone had stolen every grate(manhole cover)on both sides of the street .this must have taken some doing,theyre two foot square and two foot deep made of cast iron.i think thats why they were stolen,to weigh in at a scrap yard.xjrjohn

mswarrior · #4 Unread post by **mswarrior** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:01 am

I read a story long ago on CNN about people stealing the covers and selling them for $15 as salvage in various sities. Since then I've subconciously avoided all of them, just in case.

XJRJohn · #5 Unread post by **XJRJohn** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 8:05 am

became quite bad round here for a while,havnt heard of it happening for some time now.xjrjohn

Neddog · #6 Unread post by **Neddog** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:56 pm

I don't as a rule ride over manhole covers. I usually just go around them.

I have heard of a number of people who've slid on wet manhole covers or crashed from open manhole covers, but don't have any personal experiences.

I once had a cop on the Oregon coast, who doesn't ride, write me a warning for reckless driving because I was going around manhole covers on a rainy day (there's never a non-rainy day on the Oregon coast). He told me, 'I don't know what you were doing, but it looked sort of dangerous, so I'll write you a warning'. There was no need to argue over a warning, but I would love to hear how his argument of 'it looked sort of dangerous' would hold up in court, over the habits of a trained riding instructor with half a million miles under his belt (at that time).

Keyoke · #7 Unread post by **Keyoke** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 4:23 am

There is a particularly large one that is now on my new route home (moved house recently) that although the metal cover is still present, the whole thing is sunk below the surface about 3-4 inches... was a real suprise the first time i hit it - now i know where it is, i round around!

Jaymz · #8 Unread post by **Jaymz** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:18 pm

Strange, I haven't seen any like that before! And around here in yuppy ville this sounds like the exact kinda thing those high school punks (I can say that now being a freshmen in college right?) would do to make themselves feel badass! Though maybe the little riced civics couldn't leave the scene fast enough ; D

iwannadie · #9 Unread post by **iwannadie** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:48 pm

Jaymz wrote:Strange, I haven't seen any like that before! And around here in yuppy ville this sounds like the exact kinda thing those high school punks (I can say that now being a freshmen in college right?) would do to make themselves feel badass! Though maybe the little riced civics couldn't leave the scene fast enough ; D

some how i get a picture of a bunch of kids strapping a chain to a man hole cover then to the back of their civic expecting to take off ripping the man hole cover off as they roar down the road like in the movie fast n' the furious. only then dissapointed when the civic cant budge it or even spin the tires leaving them only to conclude the cover is glued in place.

Jaymz · #10 Unread post by **Jaymz** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:55 pm

Or more likely the "sporty" and ricearific bumper they have inevtibly placed on the vehicle is ripped off as their car hurls into it's version of speed only to find the kids don't have a clue how to control the car and run over a curb and flip the "thing".