Manslaughter charges for improper towing equipment.

I had an incident last summer that could have been disastrous but ended with me being VERY lucky.
The bumper of my Class C broke off. I was towing my car. The tow bar appeared to be connected to the frame but was only connected to the bumper supports. All cables were also attached to the tow bar/bumper as well as the Brake Buddy emergency stop.
The VERY lucky thing was I was just pulling away from the gas pump and doing about 5 mph. Otherwise, I would be in prison for manslaughter now. I consider myself very fortunate.
This was an older, used Class C and I'm guessing the tow bar was dealer installed.

The video dialogue makes it sound like someone might've forgotten to tighten up the latch on the hitch coupler. Nothing appears to be broken. I've seen that happen a couple of times. Once to me, and once to my friend. Both involved towing bassboats. Mine had break-away brakes plus safety chains. I could tell right away 'cause it started swerving and slowing me up. Whereas on his, nothing was connected and the trailer took off to the right and speared a sand berm. His boat suffered fiberglass damage when it tore loose and impacted the winch on the trailer.

Ya'll realize no charges have been filed right? No law was broken? The police are "recommending" such charges, so lets keep that straight.

Pulling 450lbs the hitch rating is not the cause of this accident. So don't play the overweight game here. It's not valid unless someone can prove the trailer broke free because of this extra 450lbs, and even then....you're pressing your luck!

Where this person did go wrong, was safety chains and brakes. Had safety chains been properly fastened, the trailer would not have recklessly been lost. And if the emergency brakes we activated, that could have given people that extra second of response time needed to avoid the trailer.

All 3 of these criteria combined show a complete disrespect for safety, and safety of others on the road. This person does deserve to be charged, no doubt about it.



So who will follow this story? Who will post the follow up so we know what the real world result is? Will there even be a follow up article to post!?!? I bet none of the above, because its not "news" at that point.

popeyemth wrote:
I've said before and will repeat here:
It's not the cops one should worry about but the lawsuit for damages.
The judge might give a fine and/or a weekend in jail,tops.
The civil suit jury will devastate this person,and their future.

Let's just say the right front tire blew instead causing the accident. Wouldn't the results be the same?

Finally, proof for many on this forum that towing with equipment outside of manufacture specs can have legal consequences and not just a citation.

LarryJM wrote:

smkettner wrote:
No reference to over towing capacity of the van.
Issues stated; over hitch rating, safety chains inadequate, and no trailer brakes.
Very bad day for the Civic.

Ah but remember there IS NOT LAW covering illegal hitch weight just like GVWR and if it was found out that the Van was over GVWR that could just as well be a factor for the charge of manslaughter.

Those who say rating like GVWR, etc. aren't important or illegal should take note of this actual situation. Just because it isn't spelled out explicitly in some law doesn't mean it can't come back and bite you should something happen.

Larry

On second thought, never mind. Already to many wannabee attorneys on here. Delete post.

I've said before and will repeat here:
It's not the cops one should worry about but the lawsuit for damages.
The judge might give a fine and/or a weekend in jail,tops.
The civil suit jury will devastate this person,and their future.

but he came on here and asked "Is it OK if I tow this?" and the answer was, sure, just put better tires on, an air bag, and drive slowly.
and I thought that 3,500 lbs. was a fairly standard hitch rating.
oh Honda Odysseys and Pilots are rated for 3,500 lbs. for RVs.
bumpy

Sure and in this specific case the GVWR or towing capacity of the van was not reported as an issue.
Just reading the facts.

I don't know about hitch ratings in the law but I am confident proper use of safety chains and braking requirements are covered.

smkettner wrote:
No reference to over towing capacity of the van.
Issues stated; over hitch rating, safety chains inadequate, and no trailer brakes.
Very bad day for the Civic.

Ah but remember there IS NOT LAW covering illegal hitch weight just like GVWR and if it was found out that the Van was over GVWR that could just as well be a factor for the charge of manslaughter.

Those who say rating like GVWR, etc. aren't important or illegal should take note of this actual situation. Just because it isn't spelled out explicitly in some law doesn't mean it can't come back and bite you should something happen.

Larry