Avoid being asalted

[Amarillo]

Have you ever passed too close to a gritting truck and had salt flung at your precious Cali?

Well now you can avoid that... if you are in Scotland with this gritty grit truck tracker. Find out exactly where Gritty Gritty Bang Bang and other aptly named grit trucks are headed and avoid that area.

ArcGIS Web Application

scotgov.maps.arcgis.com

 

[HB19]

In a similar vein .. Is there a website that helps you avoid the dragon pitcher that sprays tarmac into potholes?

I was doused when an operative waved me past a few weeks ago and then forgot to turn OFF the spinning boom that sprays the hot tar into the potholes. The driver had kindly raised the boom to about 2 metres off the ground before waving me past so the machine was able to spray the entire van on the near side and incredibly, the offside as well, with the tar mist floated through the air and dripping off the roof. Barely a surface was spared .. it was even in the engine bay !!!!

After an emotional “conversation” with the driver, I dashed home to begin a frantic 4 hours of washing and intense spraying with cans of tar remover provided by the dragon pitcher driver.

On the way home, I telephoned the local council, who put me in touch with the duty manager responsible for the company they had contracted to carry out road repairs in the area. He was incredibly helpful (and apologetic) and wishing an hour he had driven to my home with a box full of tar removal product, which worked a treat.

Everyone I spoke to apologised profusely and an offer to pay for a full car detailing was made within hours, plus replacement windscreen wipers and an offer to cover any additional damage incurred.

I have to confess there were tears! It was really difficult getting the tar off but I live in a family commune so we had lots of people on hand. The dragon pitcher driver impressed the need to ‘act quickly before it dries‘ and luckily it was a damp but mild day so we were able to get the van cleaned up before the tar stuck solid.

We did a great job at home but the detailer painstakingly cleaned everything really thoroughly, paying particular attention to all the bits,of plastic trim that we didn’t want to spray with the tar remover. And he gave the van a ceramic finish to make sure the protective factory finish was restored - on the basis that the tar remover product can’t have done the paintwork any good.

The company that operates the dragon pitcher was naturally very grateful for our hasty recovery of the situation, and they were well aware of the potential costs that could have been incurred if we hadn’t been able to act so quickly to clean the tar off.

All said and done, the company concerned did everything they should have done and there was no lasting damage. Take a look at the pictures and you will see why there were tears.

 

[HB19]

in addition to my last post, I just thought .. some of you might not have seen a dragon pitcher .. here’s what they look like.

Be warned .. PASS WITH CAUTION!!

Thanks for the commiserations ..

 

[Black Noir]

Back when I had a Peugeot 406 coupe and I passed a gritter going opposite direction a bit of grit went through the air vent above the stereo and hit me in the eye . Nothing serious but makes me paranoid about them now .

 

[Amarillo]

Back when I had a Peugeot 406 coupe and I passed a gritter going opposite direction a bit of grit went through the air vent above the stereo and hit me in the eye . Nothing serious but makes me paranoid about them now .

Try cycling past a gritter truck!

 

[Mr T]

That looks horrific @HB19 so glad it has been sorted without too much hassle. Not sure I would cope if that happened to my Cali.

 

[Skylark2.0]

What a nightmare!

 

[Anthony1]

In a similar vein .. Is there a website that helps you avoid the dragon pitcher that sprays tarmac into potholes?

I was doused when an operative waved me past a few weeks ago and then forgot to turn OFF the spinning boom that sprays the hot tar into the potholes. The driver had kindly raised the boom to about 2 metres off the ground before waving me past so the machine was able to spray the entire van on the near side and incredibly, the offside as well, with the tar mist floated through the air and dripping off the roof. Barely a surface was spared .. it was even in the engine bay !!!!

After an emotional “conversation” with the driver, I dashed home to begin a frantic 4 hours of washing and intense spraying with cans of tar remover provided by the dragon pitcher driver.

On the way home, I telephoned the local council, who put me in touch with the duty manager responsible for the company they had contracted to carry out road repairs in the area. He was incredibly helpful (and apologetic) and wishing an hour he had driven to my home with a box full of tar removal product, which worked a treat.

Everyone I spoke to apologised profusely and an offer to pay for a full car detailing was made within hours, plus replacement windscreen wipers and an offer to cover any additional damage incurred.

I have to confess there were tears! It was really difficult getting the tar off but I live in a family commune so we had lots of people on hand. The dragon pitcher driver impressed the need to ‘act quickly before it dries‘ and luckily it was a damp but mild day so we were able to get the van cleaned up before the tar stuck solid.

We did a great job at home but the detailer painstakingly cleaned everything really thoroughly, paying particular attention to all the bits,of plastic trim that we didn’t want to spray with the tar remover. And he gave the van a ceramic finish to make sure the protective factory finish was restored - on the basis that the tar remover product can’t have done the paintwork any good.

The company that operates the dragon pitcher was naturally very grateful for our hasty recovery of the situation, and they were well aware of the potential costs that could have been incurred if we hadn’t been able to act so quickly to clean the tar off.

All said and done, the company concerned did everything they should have done and there was no lasting damage. Take a look at the pictures and you will see why there were tears.

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Did you call it a Dragon Pitcher on purpose, because on the side of the lorry it say Dragon Patcher?

 

[HB19]

Did you call it a Dragon Pitcher on purpose, because on the side of the lorry it say Dragon Patcher?

No .. it was a typo (sorry about that) ... I knew someone would menation it eventuallllllly

Back when I had a Peugeot 406 coupe and I passed a gritter going opposite direction a bit of grit went through the air vent above the stereo and hit me in the eye . Nothing serious but makes me paranoid about them now .

OMG .. I am adding that to my new and growing list of hazards.

That looks horrific @HB19 so glad it has been sorted without too much hassle. Not sure I would cope if that happened to my Cali.

It really was a pretty dreadful day. I was particularly nervous about the engine bay and the radiator, which was smothered in the sticky fine tar spray!

The guy who came out to see us from the company operating the Dragon Patcher said that if the tar had been allowed to set, we would have been really struggling to get it off. Luckily it all happened in December and the weather was on our side.

It’s worth noting that the aerosol product they supplied (the guy driving the Patcher had two in his cab - which he gave us - and the supervising manager brought several more out to us) was the only thing that would touch it. We had tar remover in our car cleaning stash and it didn't work at all well.

 

[Vantastic2]

Not TAR but when i was a Lad ( 20 summit ) was with my girl friend
( now the wife) and passing a farm tractor cutting a hedge, a branch flew out of the hedge hit the car with a nice ' BANG 'noise ! thought nothing of it until i got home and saw the dent it mad Grrrrrr !
So watch those tractors cutting hedges too !