Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Hood down Dangers

I do use sidescreens for long motorway journeys to cut down wind noise and buffeting, but I've never really considered the possibility of a flying stone hitting me when driving with the sidescreens off - something which I do quite a lot.

But in 20 years of driving Morgans I've never had an object impact the sidescreens, so I think it's a pretty remote risk. As others have said, you can let worrying about possibilities spoil your enjoyment of driving.

I've had open top cars for 30 years and am still alive. I think the risk of being hit and killed by a stone are exactly the same as in a coupe - and about the same as winning the lottery.

A high speed collision in a Morgan would not be nice - but that's a different topic.

We have side screens on most of the time - SWMBO really doesn't like motorways or mountains without them.

My preference is always roof down whenever possible - the visibility around the car is restricted with the roof up so I feel safer that way. I had a lot of years driving high mileages and have only once had anything hit the car above bonnet height - a bolt dented the roof of a Ford Orion I had briefly. If the car had been topless it would have hurtled past without touching.

My one concession is that when I see a tipper lorry with bits falling off I give it a very wide berth.

I had a bad incident in 2011 in my roadster on the M1 close to getting off at junction 30 doing about 40,
A large piece of debris flew up from a passing lorry hit the top of the windscreen and over the car, roof was off.
No passenger in the car otherwise they would have been seriously hurt
It cut the power and I cruiser onto the hard shoulder,
Damage was screen, screen pillars, bodywork approx £2400.

I can’t post photos unless someone can help me

Is it a case of determining the likely outcomes?
At most speeds my braking distance is governed not by the braking distance, but by the likelihood of something ahead throwing up stones.
At speed, a small stone would probably be deflected over the car by the air stream. To enter the passenger space, something would have to be quite heavy, and already dropping practically vertically at quite a speed. If that was the case, the hood might stand up to stones, but not rocks. But the probability of that happening with exactly the right timing and trajectory is not very high.
No doubt I'll be now hit by an engine falling off an aeroplane.

In 3 years, I have used my sidescreens once. Not sure they will even come out of the bag!!
I sometimes wear goggles in the "C" type as the rain gets down the back of my glasses but as for danger, well you can get a stone in your eye whilst cutting the grass.

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If the requirement is to avoid danger from objects dropping on to your head. Logically then, providing that you are shorter than the top of the windscreen, then the faster you go the less chance that something will land on your head. It’s the same logic as not getting wet in the rain.

I don’t think that sort of clear thinking will impress your better half though or indeed help your cause.

Over the last 30 years I have driven 200k+ miles all over Europe in my +8 without hood or sidescreens In fact I don't own either anymore, they were lost in a garage fire in 1987. Fortunately not the car! Only in hail I have ever had a problem.

Stewart, the speed limiters are set at 56 mph. On a downhill they may well get a little faster due to gravity.