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A few months ago, my wife got a magnetic advertisement for the minivan. It is a sheet of magnet-backed plastic with her business name and contact information on it, so that people who see the minivan might be inclined to become customers. It has the side effect of causing me to be a more courteous driver, but that’s another post. The ad is about 8.5 inches by 11 inches – the size of a standard sheet of paper – and sticks nicely to the door of the minivan.

We were recently driving in Indiana. We had been driving through a city, and then we entered a freeway. When we got to speed, I heard some flipping sound. It then became a flapping sound, so I looked in the mirrors to see if we ran over a piece of paper or something that had become caught on our vehicle somehow. As I looked in my side-view mirror, I saw the advertisement flailing. I guess that the wind had caught the front edge of the magnetic sheet and started peeling it back.

I started slowing down, hoping to avoid having the ad fly off the door. It’s not that I cared much about the ad – it wasn’t that expensive. But I didn’t want it hitting another car and causing an accident. Or worse, hitting a motorcyclist who, because of Indiana’s laws, would probably not be wearing a helmet. A sheet of plastic hitting you at almost 70 mph would not feel good to your face. Or at the very least, I would get a fine for littering. If the ad caused an accident or became litter, there would be no doubt as to the culprit, because our contact information is printed on it. As I slowed down, I am sure I annoyed the vehicles that I had just passed, as they now had to change lanes to avoid me. But I pulled over, brought the ad inside the van, and we continued on our way.

So if you see our van, you’ll know why the ad is missing from the driver’s side sliding door. And if you have a magnetic sign on your car or van or truck, check the leading edge of the sign to ensure that there are no gaps to catch the wind.