someone dropped it out the back of their pickup when they attempted
a jack-rabbit getaway from the light

I actually did something like that myself about 20 years ago... I was
building a small shed and had my utility trailer loaded up with plywood,
framing lumber, and roof shingles. Foolishly, I did not tie down the
load, despite the trailer just being a flat bed... I stopped at a traffic
light, and pulled away "slowly" when the light turned green. The load slid
backwards, lifting the front of my trailer and the back of my car into the
air and the entire load was left sitting in the middle of the road.
Thankfully, the guy behind me watched the whole thing and helped me reload.

The most surprising thing to me was how easily the whole load slid out at
such a low speed. I guess objects at rest "do" tend to stay at rest. I
just drove out from under it all...

But, I apparently did not learn my lesson from that little mishap... About
5 years ago I was delivering a small load of firewood to my in-laws. My
sister in-law wanted me to take a couch along too so I layed a tarp on the
firewood, and sat the couch on top. The couch sat at least a foot down in
the trailer, so I wasn't real worried about it. I drove all over town and
about 20 miles that way with no problems. As luck would have it, I went
over a small hump in the road about a mile from my in-laws house and the
couch and tarp lifted up out of the trailer and went flying through the
air! My sister in-law was following behind us, and my wife just kept
screaming "you killed my sister!". Surprising, the couch landed softly
on the side of the road, still sitting on top of the tarp. No harm done,
but I finally learned my lesson. I tie down EVERYTHING now, no matter how
small or heavy the load.

I'm older and hopefully wiser now, but my family never lets me forget the
day I "flew a couch"...

Anthony