I hit a ladder at 70 mph

Did the truck that the ladder fell from stop? Will they pay for damage caused to your two vehicles?

 

Wow! Congratulations on surviving what could have been a rather harrowing experience! (…one reason I never tail-gate, especially those vehicles with bikes/luggage/coolers/kitchen-sinks strapped to external carriers around the outside). I'm always terrified that something similar is going to happen to me! …suddenly some kiddies pink, pride-and-joy Tinkerbelle's Fairy Bike cuts loose from its inadequate fastenings and ends up as either a hood ornament, or joins me inside, riding on my lap!!! )

 

i'm always amazed at how close cars travel behind me when i have a large amount of dangerous loose stuff in my pick up.

 

I had to drive over one of those shipping pallets one time, the ones that are about four foot square and maybe 5~6" deep. it was right ahead, no way to avoid, laying diamond orientation in the lane. It was wham/wham, no problem, but that was lucky. Not with the Prius, a long time back.

 

Yeah, those small-time contractors carrying ladders, mowers, and such behind pickup trucks often tend to be in a hurry and careless. My version of that story is about the entire seat coming off a large riding mower on a trailer. It skidding underneath my 1900-pound Mazda. It shredded part of the under-engine cover, scratched the transmission housing (barely missing an electrical switch thereon), and scraped a relatively sturdy structural member between the rear wheels. but missed other more vital and fragile parts, except for denting the fuel tank. After the noise stopped, it emerged behind my car with the backrest and lower part of the frame broken into separate pieces. The guy stopped, accused me of wrecking his seat, then took off before I could get the plate number on the trailer.

 

i once tied two 4 x 8 pieces of lattice to the oem roof rack on my ford windstar minivan. the rack broke right off on the highway and the dang things went sailing up into the air like a kite. i'm watching them in the rear view mirror, and they came down on the center strip, just missing a car.
someone was watching down on me that day. and the person behind me.

 

I hope that this doesn't mean that the state does not have or enforce laws requiring all loads to be secured.
Out here, dropped loads can lead to very large fines even when no other damage occurs. Serious penalties began just after several people were killed and one very seriously brain damaged, all within a few months.
While supporting a bicycle event a few years ago, we picked up a rider who was in the wrong place when a pickup lost a barbecue and a kid's 'big wheels'. He avoided the barbecue but hit the toy while it was still skidding, destroying the front of his bike. We were astounded how little injury he sustained. At least the pickup driver stopped and was cooperating with police.
Last year, riding another event, we came upon a loading ramp dropped in the bike lane. Turned out that a rider ahead of us had to dodge it while it was still sliding.

 

yes, it's an area with two lanes on either side of a center strip, and you can be forced into the left by merging traffic coming from the right. i actually thought the lattice or ropes broke, but while washing the roof sometime later, i saw that both crossbars had snapped off.

 

The OP was very lucky not to sustain more damage or injury.
In the UK there are very heavy fines for insecure or dangerous loads. A dangerous load can be anything from a load "or part of" that falls from the vehicle, is obviously not fastened securely, is to wide or long, to heavy, or is not flagged or lit.
It is also an offence to obscure the rear lights or number plate "think bike carrier" in any way.

John

 

I was in right lane of two lane highway, with a car to my left. The right shoulder was open, but there really wasn't enough time to slow or swerve right safely; the car in front of me had just gone over it and there it was. So I straddled it, best I could.

I guess bottom line for things like this: increase following distance, and slow down. Improves mpg too.