Talk about dodging a BULLET !!!

Wow, lucky outcome...This time.

Travelon

This was one was discussed extensively on IRV2 and it seems the entire baseplate came off the car taking the front of the car with it. In most cases (including both my toads) the breakaway switch is mounted to the front car fascia and would not have activated the breakaway mechanism. The general consensus was that this particular baseplate was not mounted properly or there was a catastrophic failure of the car frame/uni body where the baseplate was mounted.

Another factor was the coach driver saying he did not 'turn on' his rear view camera until after he heard some noise and saw that his car was gone. I leave my camera on all the time and check the monitor frequently, as often as I glance in my rear view mirrors.

Executive wrote:
Please consider installation of a readybrake on your towed vehicle. THIS accident could and should have been prevented. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed....although the owner probably needs a new pair of undershorts......:).....Dennis

Motor Home driver loses toad

when the whole basepate comes off, how is a ready brake going to prevent that.

Probably a believer now in towing braking systems, a break-a-way cable and a alarm/light on the dash, hopefully would have stopped him in under two miles. To get real scary I would wonder how far the bumper/towbar was from the stopped vehicle.

Executive wrote:
Please consider installation of a readybrake on your towed vehicle. THIS accident could and should have been prevented. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed....although the owner probably needs a new pair of undershorts......:).....Dennis

Motor Home driver loses toad

Front bumper detachment!

It has happened with another brand of car or van. That manufacture changed and said that their vans can not be towed anymore.

While the frame is strong enough to hold up the front bumper, it is not designed by the manufacture to pull the car. It is designed to 'crumple' in a crash. Strict government requirements require it to crunch in a certain way, and that the engine roll under the passenger compartment during a high speed crash.

It is up to the tow bracket installation company to design a bracket that will attach to 'solid' parts of the car, and stay with the majority of the car long term.

A braking system with break-A-Way cable would have helped. Hopefully the breakaway system would not be attached to both parts, and the braking system not detect that it has disconnected from the RV completely!

Good luck,

Fred.

The electronic braking systems, like the Brake Buddy that are mounted inside the vehicle, and depress the brake pedal itself, would have applied the brakes in the event of a disconnection. They do not need a front bumper.
The disconnect activates the electric motor that applies the brakes in the toad, regardless of any missing parts on the front end of the toad.

GM,
lol
Please I'm just joking...

I'm curious why the poster turned it into a promotion for ready brake?

The ReadyBrake alone would not have stopped the car, although in this case, it likely would have slowed it down before the cable tore away. NSA's optional "ReadyStop" breakaway device would have stopped it if properly installed. Highly recommended. The entire incident would not have occurred if the base plate had additional safety cables installed from the base plate to the frame as Blue Ox supplies with their base plates. I understand Demco includes reinforcing plates with their base plates for this model car that tie the bumper mount stubs to the main frame where the welds broke. I don't know if the plates were left off in this installation, or if the installation predates Demco including them.

Too many unanswered questions;
WHY did the entire front of the car separate?
Would any kind of braking system have actuated, given the failure, and stopped the car?
WHY was the front of the car found 2 miles back? Shouldn't the safety cables/chains have kept it attached to the coach?
What failed that allowed the bumper to drop onto the highway and just lay there?
IF a braking system had been installed (the article did not say one wasn't installed), and the breakaway had actuated, bringing the car to a stop in the highway, would it have resulted in a multi-vehicle pile-up?
If so, how many would have been injured or killed in said pile-up?

Wasn't the end result the optimum one could hope for? The car went off the road, and was stopped by bushes. No injuries or fatalities, no damage except to the car and some bushes. Seems to me that is the best one could hope for!