Do I Need Trailer Brake?

[Reb954]

If the trailer becomes detached while towing, it is no longer considered part of the combination, therefore gets treated the same as if it was parked. the question that I asked my insurance was if the trailer becomes detached from my truck while towing down the highway, is the trailer still covered under the vehicle insurance policy, and was told no. this same question has been discussed with other people that I know, and was told the same answer by their insurance also. I know it is a grey area, but comes down to if it becomes unconnected is no longer considered being towed.

I suspect an insurance company would have a hard time defending that if challenged in court.

Something I haven't seen mentioned though, safety chains will/should keep the trailer "attached" to the vehicle.

 

[fried1765]

If the trailer becomes detached while towing, it is no longer considered part of the combination, therefore gets treated the same as if it was parked. the question that I asked my insurance was if the trailer becomes detached from my truck while towing down the highway, is the trailer still covered under the vehicle insurance policy, and was told no. this same question has been discussed with other people that I know, and was told the same answer by their insurance also. I know it is a grey area, but comes down to if it becomes unconnected is no longer considered being towed.

I respectfully submit that you are wrong.
What would be the need to even offer extended liability coverage for the trailer?
Using your logic, if you were hauling a tractor on the trailer, a chain broke, the tractor fell off killing someone, there would there be no coverage, because the tractor was no longer attached to the (vehicle) trailer.

 

[My Gym]

If you have a properly designed trailer with an correct hitch, correctly attached safety chains, and it comes loose from the tow vehicle. You can bet the least of your worries will be insurance. You have been in a very bad wreck. It is like if a meteor destroys the earth, will my insurance cover it. If a trailer comes loose from a tow vehicle, you have done something wrong. Improper hitch, lack of maintence, improper attachment of safety chains.

 

[fried1765]

If you have a properly designed trailer with an correct hitch, correctly attached safety chains, and it comes loose from the tow vehicle. You can bet the least of your worries will be insurance. You have been in a very bad wreck. It is like if a meteor destroys the earth, will my insurance cover it. If a trailer comes loose from a tow vehicle, you have done something wrong. Improper hitch, lack of maintence, improper attachment of safety chains.

Not quite true!
There is also a condition known as "metal/structural fatigue".
Somewhat rare.... but it CAN, and does happen!

 

[goeduck]

Exactly. Here in NC, the Legislature passed a law that allows bicycles to no longer stay to the right. Last year while pulling my 18' tandem loaded with Mahindra 5035, 4n1 bucket with Leinbach gang harrow attached, I come around a curve on the two lane rural road and meet four bicyclists. The two in the rear were far to the right, while the two idiots in the front were taking the whole lane. With a car coming, I had to lock up the trailer brakes for the idiots and they cussed me till I was out of sight. Stimw hit the nail on the head, the roads are full of idiots and they will get you killed. Emphatically yes, hook up the trailer brakes, pull the wheels, clean and check pads and wiring inside wheels.

Bicyclists are some of the worst. While they are doing good to not pollute and get exercise, they rarely follow traffic laws which in my State they are required by law to do. But they do not. Cops look the other way constantly endangering both the bicyclists and the motorists.

Why the heck did NC pass a law that allows bicyclists to no longer stay to the right? Sounds nuts for both the rider and the motorist.

 

[Grumpa Wally]

Bicyclists are some of the worst. While they are doing good to not pollute and get exercise, they rarely follow traffic laws which in my State they are required by law to do. But they do not. Cops look the other way constantly endangering both the bicyclists and the motorists.

Why the heck did NC pass a law that allows bicyclists to no longer stay to the right? Sounds nuts for both the rider and the motorist.

I assume that cycling special interest groups lobbied legislators to do 'something' after a couple vehicle-bicycle fatalities occurred in the last five years. One of the incidents was a well known cyclist that was probably in the same group that uses our local country roads. This group of people are aggressive and I received threats over the phone after my close call. They evidently circulated my contact info to others in their group to harass me. I was towing the tractor with my plumbing van which has an ad wrap with phone number. They even filed a report with the NC State Trooper Investigative Division and had a video of the incident. The investigation was conducted by a Trooper detective and after watching the video from the cyclists gopro camera he said I did nothing wrong. These fanatics are now emboldened and dangerous to motorists in NC.

 

[cat fever]

Not to hi-jack the thread, but a big Congratulations cat fever!
EDIT: Oops, read last shift of career not last night shift of career. So congratulations anyway, but as Big of a congratulations.

Thanks Square1,
I am now down to 7 day shifts and I'm done refining oil. :dance1::drink:

I sure hope the OP has decided to just wire up the brakes since it's minimal cost anyways.

True story here;
I was pulling my 27' enclosed snowmobile trailer, headed for Wyoming, it was dark. It was snowing but not laying down yet. Utah salts the roads and they were fine. I was going 65mph when I crossed the Utah/Wyoming border. I-80 in Wyoming was pure ice but I didn't realize it until I felt a little jerk on my truck. (98 Dodge Ram 2500 cummins 4X4) I looked in my passenger mirror and the trailer was at about a 45 degree angle from the truck. Scared the crap out of me. I let of the throttle and just tapped the trailer brakes. Like a split second of time and the trailer just went right back behind the truck. Luckily did not swing to the other side. Slowed way down after that.
Moral of the story is I could not have done this without the trailer brakes.

 

[Deere Dude]

GMC dually with 37fth WH and neither the truck brakes or the trailer brakes were worth a crap. Going 50 mph on a Country road I came upon a stop sign with 3-4 cars stopped. I jammed on everything i had and slowed down considerably but not enough. I squeezed to the right and finally run the gravel shoulder and grass until I was even with the car in front.

You don't need brakes to get going, but panic stops will do you in.








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[timswi]

Bicyclists are some of the worst. While they are doing good to not pollute and get exercise, they rarely follow traffic laws which in my State they are required by law to do. But they do not. Cops look the other way constantly endangering both the bicyclists and the motorists.

Why the heck did NC pass a law that allows bicyclists to no longer stay to the right? Sounds nuts for both the rider and the motorist.

I agree--I was hit by a bicycle rider who blew out of an ally at full speed. He hit my drivers side near the front, slid across the hood and then across the street and ended up under a van. He lived. If I wasn't going 15 MPH in town, he probably wouldn't have. Hauled away in an ambulance.

Of course I got stuck with the deductible on my truck damage ($3500 in repairs) and the cost of a rental for a week. Rider had no insurance and supposedly no assets. All I could do is file a lien against him for the $1000 that I'm out. Police reassured me on-site that the bicycle rider was clearly at fault.

If bicycle riders have the same road rights as vehicles, it must come with the same responsibilities--Insurance, ID and observation of traffic laws.

For crying out loud, I have to have a plate on my quad and voluntary liability insurance--and it's not allowed on public roads here.

 

[KennyG]

As a bicyclist, I hate to see all this antagonism. Sure there are bad cyclists, but the number of bad drivers far outnumber them. The public roads are for any legal wheeled traffic. If you can't stop when you unexpectedly come up on a bicycle, what are you going to do when you come up behind a farm tractor?

I try to avoid impeding traffic and stay to the right but in my years, I have had people run me off the road, try to grab my arm, run a stop sign and hit me, and even had a guy stop in the middle of the road to yell at me because he "had to pass me in a no passing zone because I wasn't on the shoulder". (The shoulder was about a foot wide and covered with large gravel.)

Remember when we were kids and rode our bikes everywhere? Now a lot kids aren't allowed off their block. Mostly because of bad drivers.