Tragic accident

[Electra_Glide]

IMHO...this should be required reading for everybody on this site.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06105/682463-85.stm

Sad when something like this happens, no matter what time of year, but especially around the holidays.

There's a lesson that each of us can take away from this. Take nothing for granted, always do your pre-trip inspection, always have your equipment in good mechanical condition, do it right or don't do it, and never assume it can't happen to you.

Take care and be safe...

Joe

 

[digger242j]

this should be required reading for everybody on this site.

You're right, Joe.

It's not been revealed yet exactly what caused this accident, but, as I related in another thread, I once took off up the road with a 12 ton tagalong trailer just resting on the pintle hook. The same thing could've happened to me. All it takes is a moment's distraction, and you could be the one responsible for a tragedy. We all need to keep that in mind.

 

[Grader4me]

Even in my small part of the world we have had trailers come unhooked because of operators being in to much of a hurry and not taking the time to ensure proper hookup. Just a miracle no one was injured or killed. This is a very tragic accident and as digger242j pointed out it has not been revealed as to exactly why it unhooked, but we do know that life was lost and the driver has to live with this the rest of his life.
Take the extra few minutes.....

 

[xkvator]

about 30 years ago, a friend rented a 125cfm air comp. - he had no pintle hook...only a 1" x 2" bar with a ball on the back of his 1-ton dump.
so he took out the ball and used a clevis. he and another guy in the truck were traveling down rt. 51 in Pleasant Hills, when the clevis broke from all the shock it was taking( and no safety chains) and ended up down over the hill in a creek.
He told me he probably wouldn't have ever known what happened to it, but was in the passing lane and looked in his mirror to move to the right lane, when he saw it going over the bank.

 

[digger242j]

http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_108180901.html

I don't know how long this link will stay active. It's a TV news report form this evening, saying there were no saftey chains on the chipper, and that the emergency brakes did not engage.

That looks like a pretty big chipper.

Does anybody know, at what size does a piece of towed equipment require a breakaway brake system? I've never towed a big chipper, but I've towed compressors as big as 280 cfm, and they had no breakaway system, but every trailer I've towed has had one.

 

[Electra_Glide]

Does anybody know, at what size does a piece of towed equipment require a breakaway brake system? I've never towed a big chipper, but I've towed compressors as big as 280 cfm, and they had no breakaway system, but every trailer I've towed has had one.

Digger my man, Google reveals all...from the PA Code, Chapter 175, section 123: Braking Systems:

"(c) Breakaway system. A trailer operated on a highway which is equipped with brakes or which has gross weight in excess of 3,000 pounds shall be equipped with a breakaway system which shall stop and hold the vehicle automatically upon breakaway from the towing vehicle."

If you want to read the whole section:

http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/067/chapter175/s175.123.html

This is a very useful website for you PA guys. Basically it's all the laws of the Commonwealth. All the answers are in there, but some of them are not necessarily worded as plainly as this one.

Take care and be safe...

Joe

 

[Electra_Glide]

Well, the details of this accendent are finally coming to light.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06124/687368-54.stm

Sad...very sad...

Take care and be safe...

Joe

 

[digger242j]

I said earlier:

All it takes is a moment's distraction, and you could be the one responsible for a tragedy.

A moment's distraction, some oxycontin, half a bottle of bourbon, six percocets and a beer.

Unbelievable...

Nobody from this site had better ever be that stupid.

 

[digger242j]

Driver enters guilty plea.

Defense attorney Patrick Thomassey said his client is remorseful, but was adamant that drugs and alcohol did not play a part. Thomassey said his client lied to investigators about taking the painkillers, and that was evident from the toxicology reports.

"The most important aspect to this case is that drugs and alcohol had nothing to do with it," Thomassey said. "This was a horrible, horrendous accident that could happen any time."

More training is needed for drivers hauling heavy equipment on Pennsylvania roads, Thomassey said.

Despite what I said above, ("All it takes is a moment's distraction, and you could be the one responsible for a tragedy. We all need to keep that in mind."), I have a real problem with the defense attorney painting this accident as a result of poor training across our industry.

 

[Electra_Glide]

Well, it looks like the final chapter in this sad tale has been written:

http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18373943&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6

Take care and be safe...

Joe

 

[MKTEF]

Another story that should keep us all allert, to the things we are doing on a daily basis.


I can add a story from a firm i was employed in:
We did make a new road trough the valley i come from. This ment work on many locations, and travelling allong the exsisting road to get to many of the worksites.
We had one Hanomag 55C wheelloader that most of the time towed a Dynapac CH47 roller.(ap 6tonnes, 12000 lbs) The Hanomag did 50km/h along the road.(31mph) It has a travel gear inside the gearbox....
The roler was attached trough the towing hook in the back, a rather big and heavy bolt securing the roler.

One day a guy was travelling to a new worksite, along the existing road.
A bump on the road made the towing bolt jump up, and then the roller was free.....
This type of equipment is in perfect balance, because of the vibrating function.
The roller turned nicely into the opposite driving field...passing the wheelloader on the left side.
It hit the front left side of a Volvo 740.
Fortunately the driver managed to stear away so much that only part of the roller hit the car.
The roller came up over the enginehood, up on the roof and turned upside down on the road.
The driver got lightly injured, his wife got cuts in her face because of the brocken windshield.
The Volvo was a total wreck.

Cause of accident: Speeding in 40 km/h and no securing of the bolt.(25mph)
The driver did not work any more in the firm, police made a case on him and we made a steel over the bolt secured with bolts and nuts.
Normal people don't drive that fast with this type of "trailer".ointhead