DRIVING home from Proserpine to Cannonvale, James Lang was enjoying the peaceful journey.

That is, until he was all of a sudden faced with a large metal object lying on the road.

Mr Lang was between the Gregory Cannon Valley Road/Shute Harbour Road intersection and the Great Whitsunday Walk turn-off when he came into contact with the object, which he was unable to avoid, forcing him to drive over it.

"I hit it and pulled over straight away,” he said. "I thought it was a shopping trolley.”

Taking a look at the object, Mr Lang said it looked like a tall bag stand which had been severely battered and dented in the collision.

A few hundred metres ahead was a car which Mr Lang said he had been following.

"I noticed the car way in front put their brakes on and turn around,” he said.

"The vehicle came back and sat opposite on the other side of the road and I wondered why they stopped. I went to approach them and as I did, they took off.”

Mr Lang managed to take note of the car, which he said was similar to a Toyota dual cab with a chrome roll bar over the cab and burnt orange or brown in colour.

As a result of the collision, the front bumper and side pillar of Mr Lang's car was significantly damaged as well as a puncture on the passenger side door with a 120mm gash.

Mr Lang said he simply wanted the person responsible to contact him on 0402 479 483 to exchange insurance details.

Whitsunday Police said anyone driving with an unsecured load could be fined $243.