We saw it happen and were already running towards the gun when he hit it. We were set up on the corner of the intersection, the person was backing up the road on the wrong side and smashed it (it had cones around it too). He somehow managed to catch it out his drivers window before it hit the ground.
Everything seemed to work fine and we used it the rest of the day on known control with no errors. We're only doing topo for the next few days so I'm not too worried. Going in for an adjustment next week anyways.
Broken tripod, which he offered to pay for, and a big dent in his car. He was very apologetic...we got lucky today...
Tom
the survey gods were just letting you know who is in charge.
That sucks, but goes to show how good Leica stuff is. Did the gun actually make contact with pavement?
A crew of ours had a Sokkia Set 5 get hit by a car while they were looking in some catch basins. Broke one screen off, and destroyed the internals. I've never liked Sokkias, and although it was a bad day to lose an instrument, I eventually had it replaced with a Leica, which I love.
I've often wondered what the standards of care are in determining responsibility for damage to survey equipment within the public right of way. In the example above, the driver was clearly negligent, but if the surveyor didn't meet a particular standard (e.g. his state's MUTCD), would the surveyor be liable for his own losses?
Anyone have any experience collecting damages from the driver's insurance company in a situation like this?
I also wonder how this would work since most roads in NY are user roads or Town roads?
I'm a big fan of my Leica. Best instrument I have ever used, no question. Optics are perfect, shoots fast and tight. With the robot/ATR we often close out at over 1/50k without adjustments. We actually closed an eight legged traverse around six acres at 1/300k last fall without adjustment!
After sitting in the field with my last Sokkia and watching it take four readings on our backsite all with different distances up two a couple of tenths, I don't think it'll ever buy one again. The instrument was even sent back to Sokkia and it still did it. It also refused to shoot a distance in temps below 20 deg. It could not shoot through any brush...serious PoS.
Tom
Wow, the fellow actually hung around? I have had that happen to a sight and they just drove away.
I have had several buses run over backsights but never a gun thank goodness. Bus drivers are not professionals. Good luck on the driver catching it before it hit the ground.
Oh he literally caught the gun. I thought you meant he saw it falling. That's amazing.
"Managed to catch it, out the drivers window?"
HIRE THIS GUY!
🙂
N
Several years ago, my crew was staking an oil well. They placed the Leica GPS rover in the back of the truck, leaning up against the tailgate. They proceeded to drive down a gravel road going about 30 mph. Since the head of the rover was on top of the tail gate, I guess the wind caught it like a sail and it fell over the top. The backpack stayed with the truck which caused the truck to drag the GPS head and pole for about a quarter mile before someone realized what happened. They checked in to various control points within reason. All I can say now is that those were tough units; no longer water proof with the chunks of plastic missing and road rash, but it still worked.
Miguel A. Escobar, LSLS, RPLS