Trailer Emergency Brake Incident

[Soundguy]

just a general observation here.. but:

is it just me.. or are there ? 2 people? on this thread that are more concerned about someone's feelings being hurt ( apparently not the OP.. he seems quite ok with t he advice and moving along fine ).. than about a possible trailer accident that could kill others?

hmm.. feelings... death.. HMM..

makes ya wonder a lil

just saying.


soundguy

 

[Hillman314]

THe FACTS are:
The cable CAUSED his trailer to go into a dangerous skid which easily could of "cut off a school buss full of kids, running them off the road, killing a few, injuring many, and in the process, 4-5 other vehicles are involved in this accident."

The emergency cable DIDN"T save his unhooked trailer from "cutting off a school buss full of kids, running them off the road, killing a few, injuring many, and in the process, 4-5 other vehicles are involved in this accident."

My point being: Most insurance isn't free. There is a cost.

 

[GolfAddict]

just a general observation here.. but:

is it just me.. or are there ? 2 people? on this thread that are more concerned about someone's feeling being hurt ( apparently not the OP.. he seems quite ok witht he advice and moving along fine ).. than about a possible trailer accident that could kill others?

hmm.. feelings... death.. HMM..

makes ya waonder a lil

just saying.


soundguy

Go back and read your first response to the OP. Show us in that post where you actually helped educate him in any way on WHY this was a bad idea, possible ramifications of that action, etc. - something that would help him really understand and therefore always use his cable from here on out. All I saw was a big insult. Your subsequent posts (trying to justify your first) seemed pretty darn good, btw.

 

[somefireman]

Just answer the question, don't be so pompous and insulting.


sheeesh.......

 

[aczlan]

on non commercial.. i bet once the lawyers flocked in tot he side of the road.. I can't see a good ending to disabling a safety device.... just no good legal or safey wise could come of it. and yeah.. i see lots of personal financial responsibility there...

Disconnecting it on purpose (and posting about it online) would be just asking for major punitive damages before a jury if you get into an accident and it goes to a jury trial... Something about Intentional Torts comes to mind.

The key difference between intentional torts and negligent torts is that the plaintiff must prove the additional element that the defendant acted with the specific intent to perform (i.e. acted with a mental state of intentionally performing) the act which was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries. "The concept of 'intention' in the intentional torts does not require defendants to know that their acts will result in harm to the plaintiffs. Defendants must know only that their acts will result in certain consequences". Under doctrines such as transferred intent, the plaintiff need not always prove that the defendant acted with the intent to bring about the specific injury that actually occurred.

Aaron Z

 

[JJZ 109]

In the end, I think the OP now gets it and didn't appear to be insulted by any of it. Obviously, we don't all approach it from the same angle, but he came away with a better understanding of his issue. Hopefully any future risks to himself or others can be avoided.
Now he's learned one of the positives of TBN.

 

[Hillman314]

Can anybody quote any studies on dangerous skids caused by emergency brakes versus dangerous runaway trailers stopped by emergency brakes? 'Cause so far the only cases I know about have the score as 1-0.
Perhaps a wider sampling is required.

 

[aczlan]

THe FACTS are:
The cable CAUSED his trailer to go into a dangerous skid which easily could of "cut off a school buss full of kids, running them off the road, killing a few, injuring many, and in the process, 4-5 other vehicles are involved in this accident."

That happened because it was routed in such a way that it could be snagged and he chose not to avoid a piece of road debris... There is a reason that the FMCSR part 393.43 says that they are required:

(d) Breakaway braking requirements for trailers. Every trailer required to be equipped with brakes shall have brakes which apply automatically and immediately upon breakaway from the towing vehicle. With the exception of trailers having three or more axles, all brakes with which the trailer is required to be equipped must be applied upon breakaway from the towing vehicle. The brakes must remain in the applied position for at least 15 minutes.

There is also a reason why 42 states and DC require that trailers registered for 3k# or more have brakes on at leas one axle and breakaway brakes (of the remaining states, 5 require breaks at 4k, 4.5k, 5k or 10k pounds of registered trailer weight and the last 3 require that "Combination of vehicles must be able to stop within legal limits")
Trailer Brakes | AAA/CAA Digest of Motor Laws
Auxiliary Brake Laws
The reason is that it is far more likely that your trailer will come loose and crash into someone else than that the breakaway brakes will apply when they shouldn't.

Can anybody quote any studies on dangerous skids caused by emergency brakes versus dangerous runaway trailers stopped by emergency brakes? 'Cause so far the only cases I know about have the score as 1-0.
Perhaps a wider sampling is required.

See Dangerous Trailers.org for a guy who is obsessed with trailers coming loose and has many stats on the subject.

Aaron Z

 

[Soundguy]

Go back and read your first response to the OP. Show us in that post where you actually helped educate him in any way on WHY this was a bad idea, possible ramifications of that action, etc. - something that would help him really understand and therefore always use his cable from here on out. All I saw was a big insult. Your subsequent posts (trying to justify your first) seemed pretty darn good, btw.

post #8, 2nd sentence...i said to re-route the wire. that should help. no?

insult? I don't see any. Opinion.. sure. sarcastic remark. sure.

op seems fine with it.

If I hurt your feelings and made you grab a tissue.. sorry.

would you like to swap ignore listings too? I'll assume yes

don't want to upset you again with all the big boy 'strong' talk here .

 

[Dr Dave]

I read half these responses and could not read anymore, Most are wrong. I work on 3 to 5 trailers a week, for a living.

First off the trailer emergency brake is to activate the brakes if the trailer comes off the hitch ball or pintle hitch, the cable must be shorter than the chains.
Then the brakes are applied to slow the trailer for a controled stop, chains are ment to keep the trailer behind you. If the brakes are not applied, this could lead to possible chain failure, truck trailer damage, or worse. All trailer brakeaway switches, come with a long cable, they must be cut to length, and a snap hook should be installed, get the hook and the cable crimp type clamp from a hardware store, its easy to do.

The chains must be the proper length also, not dragging or twisted, they should be crossed at the tongue, to cradle tongue, if hitch comes unhooked, this prevent it from digging in and possibly breaking chains or worse. The chains and hooks should be heavy enough, not to break, many are not!

I would bet 75% of the trailers and pickups on the road are not properly set up, hooked up or maintained. Take 10 min. and go check yours, it could save a life.

Have a safe day

Dave