Runaway pontoon trailer

[DECK SWABBER 58]

This happened near me. Notice the last sentence.


RUNAWAY BOAT, TRAILER CAUSE CRASH ON RT.34

By Linda Rush, The Southern

Patricia K. Adkisson, 30, of Cave-in-Rock suffered major injuries Tuesday when the car she was driving was hit head-on by a runaway pontoon boat and trailer on Illinois 34 just north of Karbers Ridge Road in Hardin County.

The boat, which was being towed by a pickup truck when it became unhooked, also struck a third vehicle.

Illinois State Police based in Ullin said the boat and trailer were being towed by a Dodge Ram pickup truck northbound on 34. The driver, Barry R. Vickers, 64, of Herod, told police they became separated when he crossed a small bridge.

The trailer and boat crossed the center line and hit Adkisson's car head-on in the southbound lane. Her car came to rest in the southbound lane, on top of the boat trailer. The boat landed upside down on the road, police said.

Adkisson was taken to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Ind., with major injuries. Her car, a BMW, had major damage, police said. Vickers was uninjured.

The third driver, Jonathan R. Anderson, 22, of Creal Springs, who had been northbound behind Vickers, suffered minor injuries when the boat hit his Ford van in the side. All three drivers were wearing seat belts, police said.

Vickers was cited for unsafe equipment and for improper or
no safety chains, police said.

 

[642mx]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

Thats the kind of stuff that happens in Southern Illinois....lol. My wife is from there, so I can't say too much!

 

[nimmor]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

I still don't understand why there are people who won't use safety chains. $20 is a small cost for safety.

 

[rentprop1]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

my trailer came with some el-cheapo coiled safey cable, I replaced that immediately, I can't for the life of me understand why some cheap POS coiled cable like that would be allowed or pass as a safety device

 

[sailors hornpipe]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

absolutely un forgivable for anyone not to use safety chains- it is horrifying that some people will get on the road and tow a boat without the proper safety equip- i had a terrifying experience of my own about three weeks ago- bought my first boat -sales man hooked it up and it came off the ball going down the freeway at 60 miles per hour- if not for the safety chains , theres no doubt in my mind that some one would have been seriously hurt or killed- to know the whole story look at ( terrifying first experience! first time boat owner) by ( sailors hornpipe) the whole story is still unfolding!

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

Thats the kind of stuff that happens in Southern Illinois....lol. My wife is from there, so I can't say too much!

And where this happened is VERY close to the IL/IN border.

Better watch out for the crazies from S.IL.

What town is your wife from?
We live in Makanda, near Giant City State Park. 5 miles south
of "sin city" (Carbondale).

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

And, as always seems to happen, the fool who caused the thing,
IS UNINJURED.

 

[Low dsrt jon]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

The driver of the boat and trailer is a complete idiot who through his negligence almost killed someone even though it was by mistake. His license to operate a motor vehicle should be revoked . Why didn't he use safety chains? At his age he should have known better or has he been courting disaster all these years that he has been towing boats? LDJ

 

[642mx]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

And where this happened is VERY close to the IL/IN border.

Better watch out for the crazies from S.IL.

What town is your wife from?
We live in Makanda, near Giant City State Park. 5 miles south
of "sin city" (Carbondale).

She's from the big city of Carmi...lol. She went to school in Carbondale.... those where fun times, I used to spend every weekend there. I've been to Giant City park before.... its a nice place.

Do you boat on the Ohio river?

 

[oldgradywhite]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

A similar thing happen in nh wear saftey chains are required by law. Because some the man didn't latch the trailer down to the ball didn't even conncet the chains or lights for that matter that the trailer was equiped all this saftey equipment a young child in the back seat of the suv died when the trailer and boat went though the door. Theres a differnce between and accident and stupidy. The man driving the truck was aressted. To me all these kind of accidents could be stop if people could use some common cents.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

"There, but for the grace of God, go I."
Did occur to you angry people that the driver made a mistake and simply forgot to hook up the chains, rather than intentionally decided not to use them? It's not much different than forgetting the plug. There are lots of steps in the boating process, and lots of distractions, and anyone can forget something. And I don't care how strict a protocal you have, and how long your laminated check list is, it can happen to anyone.
The lesson to take away is that the seemingly small steps and the back-ups are important, because their failure can have grave consequences.

Those of you who think you are perfect are annoying those of us who are.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

Home Cookin -- I, and I'm sure others, understand your point. All of us make mistakes in our lives but that does not dismiss the fact people were injured through carelessness. Two things are wrong with this story. 1) No safety chains in use as was pointed out. 2) I'm betting that the coupler was not latched onto the ball either. Note that I said coupler was not latched "on the ball". Even a two inch coupler on a 1-7/8 ball will not come off if properly adjusted for the 2-inch ball and latched. I will tell this story again for which I was chastized since it involved an irresponsible son-in-law (now ex for good reason). I'll make this short and to the point. My wife and I met daughter #1 and #2 and their families in a parking lot at a shopping center for a 150 mile road trip to a lake cabin for a week of fishing and relaxation. I asked if everyone was ready to go and the response I got was yup -- let's do it. I quickly replied no you aren't and someone better check the hitch-up on this rig. Neither family could figure out what was wrong. After watching this for several minutes I walked over, picked up the trailer tongue and dropped it into the safety chains. Coupler was latched but it was not down on the ball. That is about as obvious a mistake as you can get and I'm betting that's what happened in this episode.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

my trailer came with some el-cheapo coiled safey cable, I replaced that immediately, I can't for the life of me understand why some cheap POS coiled cable like that would be allowed or pass as a safety device

There is nothing wrong with properly-rated cables.

 

[skysurfer2010]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

A shame he wasn't using or didn't have the safety chains latched. I also throw a lock on the trailer tongue latch not only for security, but to keep that latch from being able to get unhooked unintentionally somehow.

A simple 45 second walk around to ensure all lights are working, all tie downs are secure, the bow is tightly latched, and then a tug up on the trailer tongue is all it takes to make sure you're ready to roll. Anything less is irresponsible in my opinion.

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

"There, but for the grace of God, go I."
Did occur to you angry people that the driver made a mistake and simply forgot to hook up the chains, rather than intentionally decided not to use them? It's not much different than forgetting the plug. There are lots of steps in the boating process, and lots of distractions, and anyone can forget something.
The lesson to take away is that the seemingly small steps and the back-ups are important, because their failure can have grave consequences.

Those of you who think you are perfect are annoying those of us who are.

A shame he wasn't using or didn't have the safety chains latched. I also throw a lock on the trailer tongue latch not only for security, but to keep that latch from being able to get unhooked unintentionally somehow.

A simple 45 second walk around to ensure all lights are working, all tie downs are secure, the bow is tightly latched, and then a tug up on the trailer tongue is all it takes to make sure you're ready to roll. Anything less is irresponsible in my opinion.

Home Cookin -- I, and I'm sure others, understand your point. All of us make mistakes in our lives but that does not dismiss the fact people were injured through carelessness. Two things are wrong with this story. 1) No safety chains in use as was pointed out. 2) I'm betting that the coupler was not latched onto the ball either. Note that I said coupler was not latched "on the ball.

YES, There, but for the "grace of God go I".
Or not.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

Often people just don't consider all the things that could go wrong when towing. Here in the beautiful southern U.S. I've seen some pretty interesting (frightening) towing setups. We refer to it down here as southern engineering.

 

[HappierWet]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

I am sorry for the misfortunate experience. I am not sure if the accident is the same event as the OP or merely similar. However, since it has been posted and we can all learn from someone else's misfortune. NOW, would be a good time to point out that this was preventable.......Slow down, double and triple check your rig. Follow basic safety regulations. I'm pretty sure CHAINS are required in all 50 states.
I'm glad no-one was killed.

This could have been much worse.

 

[RL Gman]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

There is nothing wrong with properly-rated cables.

Good question...anyone?

I have properly rated cables, and they seem like they would do just as well as any chains...

 

[jtexas]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

YES, There, but for the "grace of God go I".
Or not.

been there, done that. When I was a "less-experienced" tow vehicle driver. It was actually the result of a series of mistakes.

I put the drawbar into the receiver, I didn't push it all the way in, and the locking pin went *behind* it, instead of through the holes. Plus which, I just plain forgot to hook up the chains. Luckily, I never made it out of the neighborhood. Friction held it in place for a couple blocks (the "downhill" leg), but then a boat & trailer that looked just like mine passed me on the left.

Like firing a missle -- it's gone and you are powerless to stop it.

It missed parked cars and brick mailboxes, went right up a driveway and came to rest in a neighbor's lawn. The divot was relatively small, all things considered.

"No distractions" is the rule when prepping for the trip to the lake.....

 

[QC]

Re: Runaway pontoon trailer

Good for you to admit jtex. Can only strengthen this message. I missed my tie down straps just two weeks ago. I was only going a couple of blocks because it was not the trip home, just the trip off the lake, but still. I never miss that and I do a walk around every trip. It made me really mad at myself as this was not inexperience; it was a casual approach as I wasn't going far . . .