Another SRW bites the dust.

[Crazy Horse]

Anyone driving an SUV and towing a long box trailer clearly knows nothing about the potential hazards or how his vehicle will react to them.

I agree with that wholeheartedly!!! I see these 1/2 ton and smaller rated vehicle towing way out their range every time I go out on I-85 down here. I can't believe some of the combo's . I keep a real safe distance between me and them when I see em.

I've logged over 300,000 miles pulling RVs, plus I have a lot of miles pulling my own and have never heard a trucker say anything like that over the CB, and you have heard many of them say it? Remarkable.

I agree, I don't think the truckers want any part of getting near these people who are dumb enough to venture out onto the highways with not having a clue about a vehicle's load rating. In my travels this problem really multiples the farther east you get of the Mississippi, primarily around the flat lands. The correction isn't always simple like a police warning. All it takes for anybody with a brain is one white knuckle experience.



Something like this usually happens.

 

[CUMMINZ]

I have... I've logged a lot of seat time, and heard that exact statement many times.



I don't think a SRW was the cause... I've seen plenty DRW trucks piled up towing less. Driver error was probably the main issue.



I agree with Harvey that the sway bar was probably set up to high, which would have unloaded the rear suspension.

With this rig which I saw dangling just off the highway bridge, I am as sure as I am sitting here that single rear wheels played a big part in the in-stability of this rig. The big factor which caused the wreck was the trucker, number two was standing on the brakes and the RV wanting to lead this pony show. The weakest link were the tires. When they failed to hold the truck in position the rest of the rig failed to perform.

 

[NIsaacs]

We don't have enough information about this wreck to even make an educated guess. However it looks like the trailer brakes were not working good enough, for whatever reason. They should have been able to stop the whole outfit. For all we know the trailer cord was still wrapped around the jack or maybe even the plug was not locked in and it fell out and was dragging on the ground. I don't think a set of dual wheels would have helped that little SUV much tho.



Nick

 

[DennyDay]

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.

Harvey, - - - The commercial drivers have changed in the past few years, and not for the better. Tuesday of this week I traveled south through Virginia on I-81, and between the WVA line and Staunton, I was cut off twice by big rigs and one truck from Richmond got beside me and moved over rapidly into my lane and then back trying to make me loose control. I was traveling 65 mph (posted speed limit) I have a Hensley Hitch and didn't have a problem, but this crap cannot continue. Having been a truck driver my self, (started on a LF Mack and a 40 foot trailer years ago) and then as Safety Director for a large carrier, I am beginning to compile a list of safety directors and their phone numbers for a quick call and a camera handy to get pictures.



I'm sorry that it has come to this, but these new young drivers just don't know or just don't give a damned.



Guys, ain't always the four wheeler that caused the problem:-{}

 

[Grizzly]

We don't have enough information about this wreck to even make an educated guess. However it looks like the trailer brakes were not working good enough, for whatever reason. They should have been able to stop the whole outfit. For all we know the trailer cord was still wrapped around the jack or maybe even the plug was not locked in and it fell out and was dragging on the ground. I don't think a set of dual wheels would have helped that little SUV much tho.



Nick

This makes more sense than anyone else has said, especially the DRW theory.



george

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I bet it was a combonation of global warming, the oil leak in the gulf and loose lug nuts.



Just my . 02... .

 

[steved]

I saw another version of this tonight on the way home...

I followed a Hummer H2 (with 20"+ wheels) towing an approximately 30 foot long camper... not that that in itself is all that bad, but I was running 80mph+ to even remotely keep up with him! (I was in my car, with 118mph rated BFGs) The trailer would lean and sway passing every truck, but he just keep pushing it.

So much for those crappy speed rated trailer tires...

 

[Matt400]

Comon now... we all know this Jeep would have handled that trailer

#ad

 

[DennyDay]

I bet it was a combonation of global warming, the oil leak in the gulf and loose lug nuts.



Just my . 02... .

Nope!!! You know very well it was Bush's faultOo. Oo. Oo.

 

[EricBu12]

This is why I bought the hensley hitch when I had my 28' Toy-hauler bumper pull. . this thing was absolutely the best thing. . it has a built in device that makes a BP feel like a 5th wheel.



Trailer Sway Elimination Guaranteed - Hensley® the ONLY trailer hitch guaranteed to totally eliminate trailer sway.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Nope!!! You know very well it was Bush's faultOo. Oo. Oo.

You're right .

 

[steved]

I saw something interesting yesterday... two DRWs had gotten tangled up, and crashed and burned on I40. Both were towing these huge (what looked to be) a 5x8 utility and a 2-horse trailers... I cringed as the SRW towing the 30+ foot RV drove by them...



My point is the driver, and not the truck, makes or breaks you.

 

[AABEN]

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.

I am on the road 6 month a year with my fifth wheel and I have seen more than I want to see of truck drivers that will cut you off jest to keep from getting slowed down. Some times I think they are on the PH or half a sleep or they can not juge ther speed. I had one come on to the interstate that put me in to a car. I was running 70 and he came on at about 60 it was rear end him or push the car over that was passing me. I got his passanger side mirror and the truck keep going. Driver of the car did not see the truck he said I should had not pulled over on him. I ask him if he was supperman and could see throw my trailor this cooled him down.

 

[d6c]

I am on the road 6 month a year with my fifth wheel and I have seen more than I want to see of truck drivers that will cut you off jest to keep from getting slowed down. Some times I think they are on the PH or half a sleep or they can not juge ther speed. I had one come on to the interstate that put me in to a car. I was running 70 and he came on at about 60 it was rear end him or push the car over that was passing me. I got his passanger side mirror and the truck keep going. Driver of the car did not see the truck he said I should had not pulled over on him. I ask him if he was supperman and could see throw my trailor this cooled him down.

I don't really know what the LAW says about merging, but my logic dicatates that it is a shared responsibility. The truck forced his way in (BAD) you drifted left into the other lane to avoid the truck (BAD) The car in the left lane was the real innocent in this situation. When there is 3 lanes to be had the center lane can be the safest spot to be, if available of course.

 

[BIGNASTY]

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.

thank you harvey

 

[CUMMINZ]

I have attached a video I took today of approach to wreck site at I-85 and Yadkin River. I was traveling at speed limit and being passed by ever vehicle. This is normal. Note how narrow the road gets at approach and sharp curve. Also note the roughness of the road and how small the side of the road is. Will play with Windows Media Player.



Approach video

 

[Jim W]

This looks just kike the roads in IL. At first I thought this was filmed in IL, then I reread the post. Sorry Cumminz, could not pass this up. The roads in IL are terrible, state is broke so.

 

[surfbeetle]

Can't help but chime in on this one having had a CDL for 21 years now... If the camper and expedition had been using the proper following distance and been driving defensively, he would have had room to slow down. Its better to get there a little late than to die trying to be early.

 

[HBarlow]

I don't really know what the LAW says about merging, but my logic dicatates that it is a shared responsibility. The truck forced his way in (BAD) you drifted left into the other lane to avoid the truck (BAD) The car in the left lane was the real innocent in this situation. When there is 3 lanes to be had the center lane can be the safest spot to be, if available of course.

In Texas and, I believe, all other states as well, the vehicle traveling on the interstate or other highway has the right of way and the entering vehicle must yield. Normally a standard yield sign is posted for the access ramp lane.

However, driver courtesy and common sense would tell the SUV driver that a big truck cannot (and should not) drive out to the end of the ramp and wait for a clearing before entering the interstate and is not capable of accelerating briskly into a small clear space so most of us either move over one lane, slow to allow the semi tractor trailer to slip in ahead of us, or we accelerate so as to clear the outside lane before the big truck enters the highway.

CDL semi drivers know and understand that if they bully their way into a highway in front of an oncoming SUV with a trailer and cause an accident they and their company will be held responsible for damages and the driver can and will lose his license and his livelihood. Few semi drivers are going to do that. I'm not saying it could never happen, but I think it is not the normal behavior of a semi driver.

Not all semi drivers are professional but I would bet my money on the big truck driver any day over the amateur fool in the SUV with a long trailer.

If the semi driver really caused this accident why wouldn't the SUV be able to identify the big truck? If a big truck ran me off the road I'd sure as heck be able to remember the truck's company name, tractor color, etc to advise the highway patrol officer who responded to the scene.

 

[d6c]

Good post Harvey, were on the same page on this one.