Truck towing overloaded kills, driver gets felony charges.

[Username Taken]

So if published reports are all fake news, the truck weighs 19k lbs, and the boat weighs only 19k lbs the guy was 'within the truck's tow rating' and shouldn't need trailer brakes? Who would expect otherwise and blame the size of the load, esp behind an F350 duallie?

btw, when a trailer of wood pushes a tractor down a hill, why don't more operators just ease into the brush to slow down or out onto a field to not jack-knife the whole bit?

"Survey says" just because the brakes didn't work anyone should still be able to steer off the road, like we'd have done by reflex. Heck, this guy could have had a whole ten seconds to realize what we see as obvious in the wisdom of not being there.

I suspect the driver lost his brakes long before the accident. Probably heated them up to the point of non-functioning coming down that grade.

I also suspect the trailer brakes went first. Probably drum brakes. And then the TV (tow vehicle) brakes started to fade. Fast. Which is why I think I see smoke coming from the rear brake. The rear brakes will go last.

 

[MossRoad]

This is why I accused whoever submitted this POS to his/her/xer/xis editor for publication of journalistic malpractice. (that's a knee-slapper)

None of this discussion would be necessary had the original article bothered to tell us the make, model and length of the boat.

IF this is a Riva, they make a bunch of them. In the same lineup. Like the Aquariva goes from 6,300 lbs dry to 66,000 lbs, depending on model/length.

I look at it and I see what is probably a 35 foot boat, or less, with a 9 foot beam weighing in at a max of 25,000 lbs or less.

How are we to know?? I guess we're just supposed to suck on it and like it.

That's interesting what you see VS what others see.

I see a boat that's several feet wider than an 8' wide dually, twice as long as it's 20+ foot long tow vehicle, on a 5 axle trailer.

The cop said was a 44' yacht. The boat I found is listed as a 44' motor yacht at 12.9' wide and 34K pounds.

Several other sources on several other websites have now identified it as the boat I think it is.

It's not a skinny go fast boat.

And it doesn't have gas engines.

Let's face it. The cop was right. The reporting was right.

 

[Username Taken]

That's interesting what you see VS what others see.

I see a boat that's several feet wider than an 8' wide dually, twice as long as it's 20+ foot long tow vehicle, on a 5 axle trailer.

The cop said was a 44' yacht. The boat I found is listed as a 44' motor yacht at 12.9' wide and 34K pounds.

Several other sources on several other websites have now identified it as the boat I think it is.

It's not a skinny go fast boat.

And it doesn't have gas engines.

Let's face it. The cop was right. The reporting was right.

Like I said, all this could have been avoided if the 'journo' had bothered to tell us the make, model and length.

 

[dodge man]

You have to realize 99.9% people that read the news don’t care about the details like people on the forum do.

 

[4570Man]

You have to realize 99.9% people that read the news don’t care about the details like people on the forum do.

Even then most people only care about the details that matter. Rather it was a 37,000 pound boat or slightly less it was clearly too much for the F-350 to stop.

 

[DieselBound]

Then this article says this:

“It was overweight. This boat was a five-axle trailer that weighed about 38,000 pounds and there was no reason for this trailer to be on the road."

Pretty much sounding like with Moss's glean showing the boats' weight to be about 34k lbs that that plus say 5k lbs for the trailer put the towed package at around that 38k lb mark. BUT, all is viewed as CGVW, and toss in say another 9k lbs for the truck and that CGVW is around 47k lbs! That truck had NO chance.

 

[MossRoad]

Like I said, all this could have been avoided if the 'journo' had bothered to tell us the make, model and length.

Just own up to it that you got things very wrong. All of us do from time to time.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

btw, when a trailer of wood pushes a tractor down a hill, why don't more operators just ease into the brush to slow down or out onto a field to not jack-knife the whole bit?

I don't have an answer for you. I have been in a situation of heading down a mountain pass in tractor with a loaded "trailer of wood" with fading brakes with a small town at the bottom of the grade. Barreling through that town without brakes wasn't even on the list of options I considered.
Looking at the highway on Google maps, there is a runaway ramp about a half mile from the intersection. It is unlikely that this was sudden catastrophic brake failure on the trailer, but rather brakes already badly faded and over heated from controlling all that weight down a long grade, a 3000' descent over 10 miles. With that weight over that grade and with the brakes in the condition mentioned in the article, I will make an educated guess that his speed was out of control well before the runaway ramp and definitely well before that intersection.

 

[timswi]

I have a good friend that had a similar boat moved from Louisville to Pittsburgh. This required road permits and all that goes with it. If memory serves, a semi pulled it not a pickup.

A personal experience with surge brakes...I pulled my dad's 66 Elcamino on a U-Haul car trailer with surge brakes with a 1997 Chevy 1500 4x4. These trucks weren't really known or their stopping power although it was normally sufficient. On steep hills, I couldn't generate enough "shock" to engage the surge brakes properly making for an interesting trip. Granted there may have been adjustment issues on the trailer being a rental but that experience kinda turned me off. If the driver in this episode had a similar experience, I can see how this could happen (fully understanding that this appears to be an overweight situation). I do agree that he should have dumped the whole rig in the desert if that opportunity was a possibility.

 

[Username Taken]

When I'm given the make, model and length of the boat, we can talk. Until then, this is all BS guessing.

I hate hypotheticals, but if the jorno would have done its job and said, for instance, "A 44 foot Aquariva with a 12'9'' beam weighing in at 37,000 lbs" I would have been jumping up and down with the rest of you. String him up.

But they didn't. And since the weight of the boat was what DIRECTLY caused the accident, I believe the make, model and length of the boat are -- You know....... Relevant??

And since the jorno didn't bother with that information (too much bother, doncha know) I am not willing to lynch this guy in the Court of Public Opinion.

We have NO clue even what make the boat is. IF it's even a Riva. And Riva makes a BUTTLOAD of different boats that have very similar looks with very different displacements.

We'll find out if/when this goes to trial. Which I don't think it will. Maybe.

And after what I've seen from Cops and the media recently, I'm going to automatically assume everything they say is a lie.

If you do that, you'll be right about 90% of the time.

This will disappear down the memory, believe it.

If it turns out I was wrong, I will admit it. Sure won't be the first time. But I'm not going to kow-tow based on pure speculation.