Another SRW bites the dust.

[CUMMINZ]

Traffic moving again after camper jackknifes on southbound I-85 | Salisbury News









Here is the updated text from that news article

Quote:



Posted: May 28, 2010 8:57 AM PDT Updated: May 28, 2010 11:29 AM PDT



SKY 3: Camper jack-knifes on I-85 bridge



By Jeff Rivenbark - email



DAVIDSON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - A camper which jackknifed on the I-85 bridge between Davidson and Rowan counties caused a major traffic backup for about two hours during the middle of the day on Friday.



William Smith and his wife, both of High Point, were in a Ford Expedition traveling south in the right lane of I-85.



According to Trooper K. Y. Britt, a tractor-trailer, also traveling southbound in the left lane, attempted to merge into the lane in which the Smiths were traveling in.



William Smith applied his brakes and the camper jackknifed.



When SKY 3 flew over the scene around noon, the camper was lying on its side blocking both southbound lanes of I-85. One end of the camper was resting on the concrete bridge railing.



There is no information about the driver of the tractor-trailer who continued heading south and did not stop.



The Smiths were not injured, Britt said.



Both southbound lanes of I-85 reopened at 1:30 p. m.



Copyright 2010 WBTV. All rights reserved.





A semi cut them off and he braked. Looking at the road, it might have

a bit of a curve in it going up hill from right to left from this image







Plus, from the looks of it, the coupler is still hooked and the tongue

of the trailer buckled. See the scrap marks on the pavement and think

that is the bent tongue 'helping' to slow down the setup. Or maybe

the coupler let go and the safety chains are what held it together.



I'd say the TV slowed down faster than the trailer and that caused

whatever slight mis-alignment from straight ahead to get worse till

it jack knifed.



Size/weight 'might' have had something to do with that mis-alignment

becoming a jack knife. Plus the trailer braking not as high as the

TV at that time. I'd guess that an Explorer would have been tossed

over the other side



Of course all speculation.

 

[d6c]

Way to much trailer for short wheel based tow vehicle, merge??? Sounds to me like he was cut off by a semi. doing a lane change. Who knows, with enough tow vehicle and good enough trailer brakes he might have had enough "whoa" to get rear ended and still get into trouble. Just for clarification my heavy towing is done with a 12. 5k (lightweight) dually.

 

[HBarlow]

I see rigs like that on the highway all the time and have seen several of them lying on their sides like the ones in Cumminz's photo. I saw one identical to that one several years ago in Florida, Furd Expedition and long box trailer.

The driver probably braked hard and jerked the wheel and began the cycle that caused the trailer to roll over.

People should never tow a long box trailer like that with an SUV. It is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[GHerrmann]

I saw a Dodge Dakota unhooking about a 24' 5er in a CG a few years ago .



It takes all kinds. Did your mother have any kids that lived?

 

[CRuth]

Why the heck are they referring to it as a "camper"?

 

[CumminsBu]

Guess Ferd Trailer Sway Control really works?

 

[InfernoB]

I sure hope the local detail shop is open... ... ... If not, maybe they have vinyl seats.

 

[GaryOwen]

Why the heck are they referring to it as a "camper"?

Down south most of us refer to any vehicle used to go camping with as a camper as opposed to a travel trailer.

 

[GAmes]

Isn't it strange that the driver blames a semi and most everyone believes him? Kind of like blaming the ice if you slide off the road. IF, and I mean IF there was a semi it was still the fault of the Expy driver. Too much trailer, insufficient driving skill, too fast for conditions, failure to maintain, etc. , etc.

 

[HBarlow]

Isn't it strange that the driver blames a semi and most everyone believes him? Kind of like blaming the ice if you slide off the road. IF, and I mean IF there was a semi it was still the fault of the Expy driver. Too much trailer, insufficient driving skill, too fast for conditions, failure to maintain, etc. , etc.

Very true. I had the same thought. It is very rare to see a big truck driver who doesn't check his mirrors well before making a lane change.

"The semi-truck made me do it" makes a convenient excuse for an unskilled driver with bad equipment.

 

[THerber]

I have to chime in here, I know I am opening my self up to be bbq here but here it goes.

I have found that there are many truck drivers now days that are very inconsiderate, the truck driver could have been in some hell fire hurry and got ticked off cause he was being held up for a few seconds and just cut him off. I have been cut off by 18 wheelers a couple times and there is just no excuse for it. One of the times I called 911 and had him stopped by a trooper for a little talk.

 

[d6c]

There are a lot of inconsiderate drivers on the road today, small cars to big trucks no difference. All any of us can say for sure is the rv'er didn't have enough tow-rig when it hit the fan, however it came about. Very lucky no one was hurt, could have been real bad for lots of folks.

 

[EGroeneveld]

I think the bigger question is was the camping trailer and truck set up properly. I think it has to be set up pretty badly, overloaded, or very unbalanced to jacknife just by braking in this situation. I think a semi is to easy to blame for stupid.

 

[jeepit]

I see rigs like that on the highway all the time and have seen several of them lying on their sides like the ones in Cumminz's photo. I saw one identical to that one several years ago in Florida, Furd Expedition and long box trailer.



The driver probably braked hard and jerked the wheel and began the cycle that caused the trailer to roll over.



People should never tow a long box trailer like that with an SUV. It is an accident waiting to happen.

Ditto... tow vehicle way too small. .

 

[Wooter]

Do you really need a sway Control??????

Had a good friend loose one in a similar situation! When I asked him why the sway control didn't help: His reply was, What sway control, The trailer dealer told me that "I didn't need one"!! He was serious about the whole situation and tried to blame it one someone else!! "DUH"

 

[AH64ID]

I wouldn't say it was a SRW issue... but it was a improper TV and electric brake setup.

All too common you see TT's behind rigs that they shouldn't be attached to. . but its within the MFGR tow rating... Hell that trailer is probably under the 6500lbs my Toyota Tacoma was rated to pull, just seems crazy that they can rate them for that. There is a LOT more than weight that makes up a safe tow.

 

[Grizzly]

I don't believe anyone has touched on this, but it seems to me that the Furd Expedition may have had a faulty brake controller, or improperly adjusted controller or no controller at all. I have experienced and have know of many who also experienced a jackknife because of a bad or misadjusted brake controller.



Another thought is that perhaps the brakes on the TT were not adjusted properly and did not provide enough braking for the trailer. An Expedition is not a 3/4 ton truck, but it should be capable of handling that size TT.



My 2 cents, george

 

[EGroeneveld]

I don't believe anyone has touched on this, but it seems to me that the Furd Expedition may have had a faulty brake controller, or improperly adjusted controller or no controller at all. I have experienced and have know of many who also experienced a jackknife because of a bad or misadjusted brake controller.



Another thought is that perhaps the brakes on the TT were not adjusted properly and did not provide enough braking for the trailer. An Expedition is not a 3/4 ton truck, but it should be capable of handling that size TT.



My 2 cents, george

But handling it ''when properly equiped and setup'' is one thing real world is another. One person could drive that for 100,000 miles properly setup with no issues. But then another person could could wreck in 10 miles. Pulling trailers is a learned skill that takes education and practice. And when dealing with trailers maybe at the max limits the setup of sway control, brake control, and weight distribution is much more critical then if the same trailer is attached to a dually crewcab F350.



P. S. we have a family friend that wrecked in a similar fashion with a 27' foot travel trailer pulled behind a Ford Expedition.

 

[CUMMINZ]

I did not go into any detail.



Where this accident happened is on the approach to a very long narrow out of date I-85 bridge over the Yadkin River. The NCDOT can not raise the 300 million to update it. Obama has given 560 million to NC to update the Railroad from Charlotte to Raligh for high speed rail but we can't get the 300 million to build a new bridge. The northern approach is in a sharp curve and is narrow. Only inches of road off the side of white lines. Cars and truckers come around this curve all the time doing 70 in a 55. It gets real harry when you come up on this curve and small bridge when someone is passing you. Just the other side of this bridge is the long narrow main bridge over the Yadkin. There is a pileup on this bridge almost weekly.



An Expedition is on a 3/4 ton frame with 17" wheels.

 

[AH64ID]

An Expedition is on a 3/4 ton frame with 17" wheels.

Thr expedition and F-150 were in the same class. . The Excursion was the 2500 version. . . The Expedition has a 5 link coil rear, which is not great for sudden weight changes. . like when slamming on the brakes. . It can create rear steer, and a very unstable platform.

It does have 17's from the factory, but they are P rated.

Standard tow is 6K, Max tow is 8,650.

The rear suspension is very soft in the ones I have driven, I wouldn't want to tow a TT with one.