Sway or pothole: Wild Ride for a TV/TT I-70 EAST toward DEN (Loveland)

[Rhumblefish]

https://kdvr.com/news/local/video-i7...land-ski-area/


Wild crash, allegedly caused by I-70 pothole, caught on camera

DENVER (KDVR) — A man and his fiancée who were driving in the Colorado mountains say a pothole nearly cost them their lives.

The whole incident was captured on the dash camera of a vehicle behind them.

That hole, they say, caused the camper trailer they were pulling to spin out of control. To make matters worse, they are saying they were cited for driving carelessly, even though they say they were not breaking any laws.

‘I thought I was going to die’
The two told FOX31 they were heading east on Interstate 70 toward Denver, near Loveland Ski Area, when all of sudden they found themselves spinning out of control.

Leslie Brock was sitting in the front passenger seat.

“We were just cruising along and next thing you, know the trailer starts to jerk and it makes us lose absolute control and it was very scary. I thought I was going to die,” Brock said

Read more...

[BehindBars]

Even if the pothole had been there a while, probably hundreds or thousands of drivers passed through successfully. I doubt the pothole appeared instantly. It seems fair to cite the driver. The highways are full of hazards; you can’t assume roads are clear and safe. As the article suggests, they can have their day in court if they disagree.

Having just passed through on that piece of highway 2 months ago, I can imagine the traffic backup that may have resulted after that crash. Hopefully they could reroute on US 6.

Too bad they lost their camper, but good they were not seriously hurt.

[Chuck_S]

Truck and trailer seemed to be moving at or faster than traffic and in the left lane -- hard to see. Looked like too fast to me but I'm more comfortable running more conservatively when towing. Five under not five over. Doubt we'll ever learn anything more.

-- Chuck

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Chuck_S

Truck and trailer seemed to be moving at or faster than traffic and in the left lane -- hard to see. Looked like too fast to me but I'm more comfortable running more conservatively when towing. Five under not five over. Doubt we'll ever learn anything more.

-- Chuck

The presented video of the truck/trailer shows the trailer already in a sway at the start. It looks to me like the rig was in the right lane, but what all happened to the rig just before control was lost has been omitted in the newscast.

[HangDiver]

That stretch coming out of the tunnel eastbound going downhill is the perfect place to lose control of a trailer, particularly if the driver was going to fast exiting the tunnel. Glad no one was hurt.

[bikendan]

Has anyone seen any evidence of a WDH or sway control, in the video?
I would be interested if there was or not.

[Backcountryboondocker]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Has anyone seen any evidence of a WDH or sway control, in the video?
I would be interested if there was or not.

https://twitter.com/vicentearenastv/...-wrong-road%2F


From the picture, they had a WDH connected to the trailer.

Also, they were in the right lane and hit the pothole which then violently jerked them to the left.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Backcountryboondocker

https://twitter.com/vicentearenastv/...-wrong-road%2F

From the picture, they had a WDH connected to the trailer.

Also, they were in the right lane and hit the pothole which then violently jerked them to the left.

You have a good eye, because I can’t clearly see the pothole or them hitting a pothole in the video. In the first frame of the Twitter video, the trailer is directly and straight behind the truck, and the truck and trailer are angled to the center of the road apparently having come from the right lane.

If I was to make a wild, unproven guess from that one image, I’d say the truck veered to the left under the driver’s command, and that set off the sway that led to the crash.

In the second video, they show a pothole next to a white line. In the images that follow, they show a different pothole not next to a white line. And, where is the missing video segment immediately before the truck apparently left the right lane? There is more to this story than is being told.

[Reverse_snowbird]

This video shows a bit more of the pothole. Looks huge and it's obviously been repaired before. https://www.yahoo.com/news/tesla-das...224246426.html

I'm a little surprised that the trailer flipped and righted itself. Totalled obviously, but at least it wasn't splintered and in a thousand pieces.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

This video shows a bit more of the pothole. Looks huge and it's obviously been repaired before. https://www.yahoo.com/news/tesla-das...224246426.html

I'm a little surprised that the trailer flipped and righted itself. Totalled obviously, but at least it wasn't splintered and in a thousand pieces.

Oddly, there still seems to be a brief gap in the video at the critical moment around the 12 second mark.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Oddly, there still seems to be a brief gap in the video at the critical moment around the 12 second mark.

I noticed that. However, if you pause it right after that gap, you can see a pothole on the right hand side. It might be an optical illusion, but it looks to me like it takes up 1/3 of the lane on the left hand side of the lane. It would be really hard to see it with the other patch on the road. It looks like a rectangular patch is missing.

[jlynn721]

Originally Posted by Rhumblefish

https://kdvr.com/news/local/video-i7...land-ski-area/


Wild crash, allegedly caused by I-70 pothole, caught on camera

DENVER (KDVR) — A man and his fiancée who were driving in the Colorado mountains say a pothole nearly cost them their lives.

The whole incident was captured on the dash camera of a vehicle behind them.

That hole, they say, caused the camper trailer they were pulling to spin out of control. To make matters worse, they are saying they were cited for driving carelessly, even though they say they were not breaking any laws.

‘I thought I was going to die’
The two told FOX31 they were heading east on Interstate 70 toward Denver, near Loveland Ski Area, when all of sudden they found themselves spinning out of control.

Leslie Brock was sitting in the front passenger seat.

“We were just cruising along and next thing you, know the trailer starts to jerk and it makes us lose absolute control and it was very scary. I thought I was going to die,” Brock said

Read more...

I would like to know how fast they were going. I skimmed the article but didn’t see the speed.

[ER17453361]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

You have a good eye, because I can’t clearly see the pothole or them hitting a pothole in the video. In the first frame of the Twitter video, the trailer is directly and straight behind the truck, and the truck and trailer are angled to the center of the road apparently having come from the right lane.

If I was to make a wild, unproven guess from that one image, I’d say the truck veered to the left under the driver’s command, and that set off the sway that led to the crash.

In the second video, they show a pothole next to a white line. In the images that follow, they show a different pothole not next to a white line. And, where is the missing video segment immediately before the truck apparently left the right lane? There is more to this story than is being told.

In my opinion it's pretty obvious he jerked the wheel left to avoid the hole, then back right. That set the RV up for the vicious sway sideways. Once the RV started around no amount of sway control would help. The only way out of it was to instantly lock up ONLY the RV brakes. I don't think he would have time. I saw a semi do it 50 years ago and he was 90 degrees from the trailer and it straitened right out. I learned 65 years ago never to swerve for anything. Hit it and ride it out. You may blow a tire or break a spring but nothing like this. Actually they got lucky. It could have been far worse. Makes me wonder if it might have been a 1/2 ton truck too. A WDH takes a lot of weight off the rear axle.

[fanrgs]

I drove US 6 for 10 years before there was an Eisenhower Tunnel. And I have come through that tunnel towing a travel trailer, a fifth wheel, and, now, driving a motorhome. The speed limit in the tunnel is 55 mph, while the eastbound lanes east of the tunnel are 60. But very few drivers, even those in RVs, go 55 in the tunnel. So when they come out of the tunnel, the downgrade immediately speeds them up, many to speeds >65. Between the curves, the onramp from US 6, and the poor condition of the pavement, accidents are common.

So, why don't they keep the road repaired, so there are no big holes? Try repairing asphalt (that must be applied hot) in winter at 11,000' above sea level!

[Jim S JR]

They were also cited for unsafe driving. Speed had a lot to do with this.
They were going downhill. Most jackknife happen when going downhill if a trailer is overweight or improperly loaded. Were the trailers brakes adjusted properly or was there too much braking on the truck and the trailer jackknifed? They said they were new to hauling a trailer.
It is obvious the pothole is a big factor. But, excess speed, improperly adjusted trailer brakes, trailer improperly loaded, are probably all contributors.

[theHookers]

The gap in the video makes it very hard to really see what happened. I'd like to see the whole video, unedited.

I've been across 70 more times than I can count. The road always sucks and is in poor repair. The "road heaving" signs are my favorite. We have that here on the way to vegas on 93. Instead of fixing the road, they put out permanent sign "road damage ahead". Ha ha ha. Not cool.

Anyway, enough digress. It appears to me that the truck/trailer combo makes contact with the vehicle in the L lane and then over corrects or is forced back to the right and then the loss of control. They maybe saw the pot hole and were not aware of the pass occurring. Maybe they hit the pot hole and it forced them to move to the left. For whatever reason, they cross the lane separator lines and appear to make contact with the vehicle in lane 1 and then lost control to the right. I don't see any sway issue. I suspect that the unedited video would clarify things a bit.

[Qwkynuf]

My dad was among one of the first groups of trainers when the Motorcycle Training Foundation was founded in 1973. When he was teaching me to ride, he had several mantras that he would repeat, which are deeply engraved on my psyche - even 50 years later.

The one that comes to mind when I saw this story is this one:

"If you are on a motorcycle, and you are involved in a collision, it is *your* fault."

Full stop.

That was it. His position was that when you get on a motorcycle, you voluntarily make yourself vulnerable. There is *nobody* on the trail or on the road who will be looking out for you. You have to take 100% responsibility for your safety and not allow yourself to be in a situation where you can be harmed.

I think that the same is true when driving/towing an RV - you have voluntarily given up visibility, maneuverability, acceleration, and stopping power. And by drastically increasing your mass, you are magnifying the potential harm to yourself and others if you do find yourself in a collision.

In this case, the driver failed to operate his/her vehicle safely. Whether they hit a pothole or not is irrelevant. Their job is to maintain control of the vehicle that they entered the roadway with. You can bet that if they crashed into another driver during this wreck, that other driver sure isn't going to be suing the pothole.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Qwkynuf

My dad was among one of the first groups of trainers when the Motorcycle Training Foundation was founded in 1973. When he was teaching me to ride, he had several mantras that he would repeat, which are deeply engraved on my psyche - even 50 years later.

The one that comes to mind when I saw this story is this one:

"If you are on a motorcycle, and you are involved in a collision, it is *your* fault."

Full stop.

That was it. His position was that when you get on a motorcycle, you voluntarily make yourself vulnerable. There is *nobody* on the trail or on the road who will be looking out for you. You have to take 100% responsibility for your safety and not allow yourself to be in a situation where you can be harmed.

I think that the same is true when driving/towing an RV - you have voluntarily given up visibility, maneuverability, acceleration, and stopping power. And by drastically increasing your mass, you are magnifying the potential harm to yourself and others if you do find yourself in a collision.

In this case, the driver failed to operate his/her vehicle safely. Whether they hit a pothole or not is irrelevant. Their job is to maintain control of the vehicle that they entered the roadway with. You can bet that if they crashed into another driver during this wreck, that other driver sure isn't going to be suing the pothole.

Well said. I am a motorcycle rider as well as an RV driver. I take full responsibility for my equipment and my actions out on the road. If I fail to maintain control, it’s my fault, and I suffer the consequences.

[camper_Lucy]

a few days behind here, but I see no sway bars on this setup, glad they are ok.

[BSHGTO]

I see the little white car behind him then he`s in the left lane tailgating him going down the mountain. Classic case of break check by the little white car with over reaction from the truck. And what is he doing in the left lane going down the mountain? Just another meathead trying to bully people. This why he got the ticket. The pot hole is bull, if he claims the pot hole did it he`s not at fault and his insurance company won`t cancel him. Or now he can sue the state for the road hassard. Why wasn`t there a pic of this large pot hole? We are on a long trip now and I see bullies pulling campers in the left lane tailgating at very high speeds all the time, I get tailgated by them in the right lane to trying to get around so they can get back in the left lane again. This is the way they drive in their pickup or roller-skate car commuting so why not pulling a camper.
Just remember if your not speeding and tailgating in the left lane you're not driving fast enough so get out of my way. (Pinhead by words of the times)