Flying stone rocks driver travelling on Port Curtis Way
IT wasn't Dale Johnson's best birthday ever.
It was one of those days where he planned to work and then go home for a few bevvies to celebrate.
But, as he was driving along Port Curtis Way near the Rio Tinto Alcon Yarwun refinery, the ute he was driving was hit by a large rock - right in the driver's view section of the windscreen.
"I got a hell of a fright," Dale said.
"It wasn't the best start to a birthday."
And the ute's owner, Gary Dingle, wasn't too pleased either.
"I can't even claim insurance on the broken screen because I made a glass claim earlier this year when the same thing happened," he said.
"So, I'm going to have to cough up the $420 myself."
Mr Dingle says his other ute is peppered with smaller windscreen chips caused by stones falling off trucks.
"It's just happening all the time. The one that hit Dale's ute was a rock that fell from a truck-and-dog combination.
"It's obvious it came from the local quarry, but by the time it happened, you've got no chance of tracking down any rego numbers."
The two spend a lot of time travelling on roads around the Gladstone region, and say they have encountered numerous stones flying from trucks that haven't been checked before they leave the quarry.
"Something has to be done to stop this happening," Dale said.
