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Old 07-03-2008, 10:20 AM   #1
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Tragedy on I-77 Virginia

Attached is a link of a news article of a tragic accident involving a family from Hamilton, Ontario travelling to Myrtle Beach this past weekend. So very sad...

This highlights the need for safety considerations when choosing trailer and tow vehicle.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/395798
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Old 07-03-2008, 11:26 AM   #2
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Man...I hate seeing things like this.Tragic accidents that can be avoided simply by informing yourself with all the knowledge you need to do the task right. A real eye opener. Be safe out there folks!
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Old 07-03-2008, 04:09 PM   #3
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An 05 Durango pulling an 8000 pound empty trailer. It's amazing the truck made it out of the driveway. Of course it doesnt say if he had that specific truck when he bought the trailer, but this is cause for dealers to be more honest about actual weights and to not oversell to a customer that has a vehicle that cannot pull what they are looking at.
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Old 07-03-2008, 07:19 PM   #4
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tragic

prayers for those two little girls who lost their mommy and daddy...........
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Old 07-03-2008, 08:12 PM   #5
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That was definitely a very bad accident. It occurred within our area. The TV video was absolutely horrifying. Here is the link to one of the local stations:

http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/n...atality/13200/
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Old 07-04-2008, 12:55 AM   #6
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I'm not trying to make light of the situation,but if you watch the video one of the witnesses says the durango was pulling a fifth wheel trailer. now we all now that is an impossibility,but it just goes to show that when it comes to people who witness different events it's no wonder why you'll get 5 different conflicting stories from 5 different people.
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Old 07-04-2008, 04:01 AM   #7
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Accident questions

I wonder how police figured out trailer was overloaded, 35' long(Pretty rare unit to be that big), one account mentions it is 5th wheel??,Sure would be nice to know exactly which unit, weight etc. Did they pick up all the pieces and weigh it all?? I feel for the families. From my own experiences trailering can be pretty hairy at times.I can go 3 days and barely notice trailer behind us and another when it is all over the road. One must drive with extreme care when pulling one of these units.We did a 5300km road trip last year in 2 weeks and most days drive was fine but a couple days were white knuckle drives. As to why I cannot explain other than strong cross winds
I cannot understand so called investigation reports that seem to blame the father who was the driver. Did they do complete investigation to discover unit was overweight and newpaper reports an SUV Dodge Durango pulling a 5th wheel which is totally impossible. Perhaps a tire blew?
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Old 07-04-2008, 08:50 AM   #8
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I'm betting it wasnt weight that caused this,not that it helped im sure, but rather the wheelbase of the durango being too short to tow 33 feet. I'm betting he started getting some real bad sway and overcompensated and just lost total control of the truck.
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Old 07-07-2008, 01:17 AM   #9
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This item was also posted on RV.net (by our Virginia friends). Needless to say, it generated lots of discussion of the causes of sway. A very useful piece of information that I took away from it was to use to the brake controller manual override to apply the trailer brakes alone to bring the trailer back in line should the trailer start to sway. Thought that I should share that tip here.
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Old 07-07-2008, 05:18 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Dave_Monica View Post
A very useful piece of information that I took away from it was to use to the brake controller manual override to apply the trailer brakes alone to bring the trailer back in line should the trailer start to sway. Thought that I should share that tip here.
Yes.

With one caveat. Unless you practice emergency braking you WILL NOT remember that override button.
As an example… I ride a motorcycle and I practice low-speed control and emergency braking weekly. That practice has on more than one occasion saved my hide. I practice emergency braking almost daily on my scooter. Dry and wet. I also practice rear wheel skids with a piece of plywood to slid on to make sure I know the different ways the bike will react.
Practicing emergency braking with your TV and trailer combo is just as important. I admit that I do not practice it as much as I should. But you can bet your sweet 4th point of contact that I will now and I will also make my wife practice it as well as she does tow also. While I have a 5’er and it has NEVER had any type of sway I can see where knowing what to do in an emergency situation should the TV brakes fail or what have you and being able to react quickly to the problem at hand could save our lives.
Very good tip. But unless it is practiced and practiced and practiced. It will do you absolutely no good.
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Old 07-09-2008, 06:21 PM   #11
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Yes.

With one caveat. Unless you practice emergency braking you WILL NOT remember that override button.
As an example… I ride a motorcycle and I practice low-speed control and emergency braking weekly. That practice has on more than one occasion saved my hide. I practice emergency braking almost daily on my scooter. Dry and wet. I also practice rear wheel skids with a piece of plywood to slid on to make sure I know the different ways the bike will react.
Practicing emergency braking with your TV and trailer combo is just as important. I admit that I do not practice it as much as I should. But you can bet your sweet 4th point of contact that I will now and I will also make my wife practice it as well as she does tow also. While I have a 5’er and it has NEVER had any type of sway I can see where knowing what to do in an emergency situation should the TV brakes fail or what have you and being able to react quickly to the problem at hand could save our lives.
Very good tip. But unless it is practiced and practiced and practiced. It will do you absolutely no good.
Worth saying again. Amen.
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Old 01-21-2009, 12:52 PM   #12
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I just discover this site, and I'm very happy I did. We just came back from Disney's campground a couple of days ago, and the wind was terrible. Add to that some really crazy truck drivers and the 2 1/2 hours coming back felt more like 4 hours. At one point a big semi drove by us so fast and so close that it pulled me toward him so qiuck I didn't have time to react and came very close to hitting him. All I can say is thank you Equal-I-zer hitch and thank you Silverado 2500HD. With a big TT like our Cherokee 30F, you need the proper equipment to pull this things, and I have to thank sites like this one and the carrying people that are willing to help others for that.
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Old 01-21-2009, 07:20 PM   #13
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I had the samething happen to me 3 years ago heading to Myrtle Beach on 95 at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, I was in the right hand lane next to the Jursey barrier wall, the bridge and all the roads in the area were under constuction as the 18 wheeler past me it pulled me into him and I was within inches of ower trailers from hitting each other, we were traveling with camping friends and they were behind us pulling there camper. they thought the trip was all over. I think it was a freak thing between the road conditions and the positions of both my rig and the 18 wheeler. Never had a problem since.
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Old 01-21-2009, 08:34 PM   #14
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I am in tears after reading the article and watching the video, my family just returned from our road trip to Florida and took that same highway from Ontario, we had thought about towing our trailer down with us and decided not to, because we are newbies and don't have the experience yet to tow on a long journey.

My heart goes out to the family, so sad for those little girls.
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Old 01-22-2009, 09:15 AM   #15
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I'm truely saddened by this. One tragic moment and 2 little girls will never know their parents. Thankfully they had grandparents to take care of them.

I believe that everyone that tows anything should be required to at least know the basics of towing.
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Old 01-26-2009, 08:53 PM   #16
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Seeing the way some folks tow their RV's, I think many of these types of tragedies are caused by over confidence on the part of the tow vehicle drivers. I have had many a quarter ton truck or SUV blow past me moving at 70 to 80 miles per hour with 25 to 30 foot trailers in tow. That just shows a total lack of due caution. I tow a heavy 34 foot trailer with a 3/4 ton diesel pickup. I limit my speed in excellent conditions to 65 mph. I have a solid setup using an equalizer wd hitch. But when traveling lengthy down hill runs or in poor driving conditions I keep one hand very close to or on my brake controller so that I can apply the TT brakes in case of a problem.
Just my two cents worth.
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Old 01-27-2009, 05:50 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by jj moore View Post
Seeing the way some folks tow their RV's, I think many of these types of tragedies are caused by over confidence on the part of the tow vehicle drivers. I have had many a quarter ton truck or SUV blow past me moving at 70 to 80 miles per hour with 25 to 30 foot trailers in tow. That just shows a total lack of due caution. I tow a heavy 34 foot trailer with a 3/4 ton diesel pickup. I limit my speed in excellent conditions to 65 mph. I have a solid setup using an equalizer wd hitch. But when traveling lengthy down hill runs or in poor driving conditions I keep one hand very close to or on my brake controller so that I can apply the TT brakes in case of a problem.
Just my two cents worth.

You are right, over confident and lose of concentration, not to mention the improper tow vehicles and hitch equipment, and I give credit to the RV sales department for that just to make a sale. Before I bought my Rockwood I was looking at a Jayco, the salesman told me that I would have no problem towing a 7,100 lbs (dry weight) camper with a Suburban that was rated for 7,500 lbs max well I guess not, but I would have to take another vehicle just to carry all my gear and kids. We all learn as we go.
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Old 01-27-2009, 09:15 AM   #18
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We try to keep the kids busy watching a movie in the back seat or reading books etc... I even tell my wife not to turn the volume on the tv's to high. Concentration and caution is key.
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Old 01-27-2009, 08:09 PM   #19
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I have learned a lot, and I mean a WHOLE LOT just by reading this site and incorporating the combined knowledge of the people who post on here. I tow a SV291 with a Z71. I now limit my speed to 60 MPH when traveling. I used to tow at 70. Never more. Only fools or the inexperienced tow beyond their capabilities. I believe, and promote, the common since rule that states "When in doubt, do without, speed that is".
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Old 01-30-2009, 01:06 AM   #20
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I have had many a quarter ton truck or SUV blow past me moving at 70 to 80 miles per hour with 25 to 30 foot trailers in tow.
This happens to me often on the road. You know, it seems to me that these people think they are "showing" you something when they pass, like, "see, I can out pull you, my rig's better than yours." I may be wrong, but it sure seems like that is the case at times, and many of those times, it is people that have a marginal setup that I could probably out run. It really makes me feel bad for them, because they apparently do not know the meaning of the words "safety first." They are also people that will, probably never read about a story such as that in this thread.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had the same feeling about some of those cowboys on the road.
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