2:50pm Thursday 26th February 2009
A trailer being towed by a van came loose and smashed through a shop front in Heaton, Bradford, today.
Witnesses said the trailer, which was loaded with sheets of metal fencing, careered over a grass verge, before smashing into the premises of Sarhad Money Exchange & Travel in Toller Lane.
No-one was injured in the incident at 11.50am. Police and firefighters attended the scene.
Feb 27, 2009 8:49 am US/Pacific 
POSTED: 6:13 am PST February 27, 2009
UPDATED: 7:41 pm PST February 27, 2009
Louisiana State Police are investigating the incident, which happened some time before 4:30 p.m. - after the Mardi Gras parade - on La. 35, just south of Church Point.
The driver, 55-year-old James Young, was booked into the Acadia Parish jail for allegedly causing the incident.
Young faces charges of DWI second offense, driving under suspension, careless operation, fail to secure safety chains and seven counts of vehicular negligent injuring.
Investigators say the man lost of control of the 1985 Ford pickup truck that was pulling the float and caused the trailer to unhitch from the truck.
That's when the trailer overturned and injured those riding in it.
Floats are required to have at least two chains securing the trailer to the leading vehicle, according to police.
Five Acadian Ambulance units and an AirMed helicopter reported to the scene and transported eight people to local hospitals following the incident.
Two people were transported for moderate injuries, while six others were transported for minor to moderate injuries.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
State police are still investigating the crash.
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The Colorado State Patrol reports a Chevy Suburban headed north on I-25 in Huerfano County lost control and struck a guardrail. The vehicle rolled over and broke loose from a trailer it was towing.
Troopers say they found 587 pounds of marijuana in the trailer, each pound having a street value of approximately $1,000.
The driver, a 31-year-old man, and his passenger, a 27-year-old woman, both from New Mexico, were treated for injuries.
The man, who sustained serious injuries, was admitted to a Walsenburg hospital.
The woman, who was arrested, is charged with felony drug possession with a special charge for importing more than 100 pounds of marijuana. Her bond was set at $100,000.
State troopers are not releasing their names. I-25 was closed for two hours while the scene was cleaned up and investigators gathered evidence.
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Philip John Rathe was driving on I-5 just outside of Woodland when he lost control, causing his trailer to jackknife and get hooked on the guard rail.
The Woodland Fire Department, police and California Highway Patrol were called to the scene near the East Main St. on-ramp entrance.
CHP officer E. Robles said Rathe could have lost control because he was speeding. Rathe was driving 62 mph, 7 miles over the speed limit, at the time of the accident.
"All vehicles towing are restricted to 55 mph," she said.
An ambulance arrived but was called off since there were no injuries. No other vehicles were involved.
Woodland police officers help divert traffic from the incident.
February 2, 2009
By The American Quarter Horse Journal intern, Brittania Cassiday
Headed home to Ohio from a show in Oklahoma, Fred and Sue Mazzarini had been on the road for almost 500 miles when they decided to pull off at a truck stop in St. Louis to switch drivers.
The Mazzarinis’ friend, Justin Billing, was following them in his truck and trailer and decided to pull off as well. After they parked, Justin thought that the Mazzarinis’ trailer was sitting low to the ground. He called the Mazzarinis’ daughter, Kristin, over for a second opinion, and she noticed they had “a big problem.” That was when they found a fracture in the metal of the hitch underneath their motor home.
“Had we not gotten off the highway, the hitch would have broken sending our trailer with two horses careening on the highway” Sue says. “The safety chains would not have helped as they were attached to the metal hitch frame that was tearing away from the vehicle.”
Due to incorrect installation- the factory-installed hitch was missing stress bars that would have prevented the hitch from breaking like it did- the hitch metal split and almost came off from the Mazzarinis’ motor home.
“We trusted the folks since they were the ‘experts’ to do the right thing, and have a quality program that would have caught this oversight prior to the motor home leaving the factory,” Sue commented in hindsight.
By the time Fred carefully and slowly moved the motor home and trailer to a location that was out of the way of any vehicles, the trailer stand was dragging along the pavement and the hitch was inches from completely tearing off of the motor home.
The Mazzarinis were carrying precious cargo in the form of Turn It Blue, “Elle,” and A Certified Edition, “Wintson,” their American Quarter Horses. Elle, a 2004 chestnut Incentive Fund mare, found her home with the Mazzarinis in 2006 and has since earned a ROM. Winston, a 1997 brown Incentive Fund gelding, and Kristin have been a team since 2002 and have racked up 8 world champion titles and 4 reserve world champion titles in pleasure driving and hunter under saddle together.
With more than 400 miles left to go on their return trip home, Sue, her family and two horses were stuck in St. Louis. Luckily, Justin had an extra slot left in his trailer. Elle was loaded in the spare slot and finished her trip back home with Sue riding shotgun in Justin’s truck. Winston and Kristin hitched a ride with Barb Johnson and her daughter, Jessica, who are friends who had been showing at the same show as well, and were only four hours behind the Mazzarinis on the road. Fred stayed in St. Louis with the motor home and trailer to get the trailer towed and a welder to fix the hitch. He arrived home a day later.
As Sue started to share her story with other horse people, she discovered that there were a number of people who also had issues with hitches on either motor homes or trucks.
When asked for advice about purchasing or installing new hitches, Sue says,“Verify the installation and load limits on the hitch. Even though you purchase a new vehicle with the hitch, have a representative of the dealership verify installation.”
To avoid this and other potentially disastrous trailering situations, follow this pre-travel checklist provided by www.extension.org to make sure everything is in proper working condition:
Sue takes it one step further.
“Every time you stop along the road, take a moment to look at the equipment: trailer, truck, hitch etc.”
2 Comments on “A Close Call”
Defuniak Springs P.D. is investigating a crash that happened on Thursday, when a boat, that was in-tow un-hitched from the trailer of a truck at an intersection, and crashed into Miracle Cleaners on 370 U.S. Highway 90 East.
A 1986 Bayliner boat and trailer, being toed by a 2007 Ford Truck, separated from the towing hitch as it came through the intersection of State Road 83N, and collided with the storefront of Miracle Cleaners.
Several people were outside the business when the boat and trailer crashed into the stone support near the front door. An adult and child had to quickly move out of the way in order to avoid being injured from the collision.
The crash damaged the front glass, stone support, front door, and water outlet near the front door which required water to Miracle Cleaners be turned off for a couple of hours for repairs. Damage caused temporary interruption to operations and customers had to be re-routed through a side door. Damage to the trailer made it inoperable. The truck sustained damage to the rear passenger’s tail light whenever the boat jumped off of the hitch. The boat and trailer had to be removed by a tow truck. Miracle Cleaners resumed normal operations shortly after removing the boat and trailer, and will be open for business.
The driver of the truck, 46-year-old Victor Perez, advised that he had just purchased the boat and trailer from someone and did not have safety chains attached.
No other occupants were in the vehicle and no one was injured.
Victor Perez was found at fault in the accident and issued a traffic citation for violation of towing requirements by not having safety chains. Safety chains most likely would have prevented damage to other property in this incident.
Comments (0)
quarter horse
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Great article!!! :] I will definitely pass this along! We all know our horses are like our kids, they tend to be our best friends. We want them safe!
February 6th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
This came to me through my web site at http://www.dangeroustrailers.org
It looks like the problem to me is this. The particular coupler that is on that trailer is one that is rated for 20,000lbs. Companies only use these on trailers that weight over 14,000lbs because they are expensive. If that was the case here. You have a large trailer, probably 15,000-18,000lbs being pulled with a hitch (mounted on the motor home) with a weight limit of 5,000lbs like it is or 10,000lbs if it has a weight distribution system on it, which this picture shows that it don’t.
The driver of the motorhome needs a weight distribution system bad and doesn’t know it. This was most likely user error. Something a required class to tow would teach.