Where's the thing I left on top of my car

January 12, 2009 8:45 AM

I left something (breadbox-sized) on top of the trunk of my car and forgot about it when driving to work. Now it's gone. Is there any way to tell where it was most likely to fall off based on sharpness of turns, highway speed, hills, etc.? We searched within half a mile of the house with no luck.
posted by Saucy Intruder to grab bag (8 comments total)

Could you try to find something roughly the same size/shape/weight, put it on the top of your car, and redo the drive at similar speeds, etc. with someone paying attention to the item?
posted by inigo2 at 8:51 AM on January 12 [2 favorites has favorites]

I know this may not be terribly helpful, but I had a cup of coffee last 2 miles on top of my car once(someone pointed it out to my at a light) and an electric guitar that lasted for 3 (realized it was missing when I arrived at my destination. Traced it back and found my baby's shattered corpse 3 miles from where I had left). I would trace the entire path.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 9:02 AM on January 12

You'll have to consider more than physics here. Someone has possibly picked it up.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:03 AM on January 12 [2 favorites has favorites]

This has happened to me more than once. Definitely check businesses along the entire route. Depending on the item your PD might have it.
posted by Grlnxtdr at 9:49 AM on January 12

There isn't any way of calculating this. Not only is wgp right about someone possibly having picked it up after it fell, it's also possible that the item in question actually made it the whole way to work and someone ganked it there.
posted by valkyryn at 9:58 AM on January 12

My son put his new cell phone on the trunk of his friend's grandfather's Saturn. We traced his whole route to his church and the damn phone was still on the trunk of his car 4 miles away. I gave the old man a pat on the back for being a good driver.
posted by winks007 at 1:14 PM on January 12

Size, shape & weight are important variables, but friction is probably the most important for where/if you will find it. Well, aside from dollar value of course. Try putting something similar on the trunk and see how easily it slide. Does it slide freely or does it stay in one place? Is it prone to tipping and rolling or is it light enough that the wind might lift it off the trunk. This can help you determine if you were more likely to lose it on a curve or a straighaway, and what speed would be necessary for it to fall off.

Also would you have been able to see it out of your rearview mirror? If so when you you have checked your rearview mirror the first time? It would probably be before that.

inigo2's idea is a good one. Try to recreate the drive with something similar on the trunk. The one time this happened to me I got lucky & it was in the bush at the end of my driveway.

Good luck.
posted by thekiltedwonder at 7:29 PM on January 12

Update: It fell off at the first turn . A neighbor picked it up - success!
posted by Saucy Intruder at 8:39 PM on January 12