Towing wreck - overloaded hitch

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

proxim2020 wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

I could go into court and say "he was almost over the legal limit and that is why he wrecked" and it would have as much weight as being over weight on the door sticker.

That didn't make any sense. What legal limit are you talking about?

Some people on here think the door sticker is a legal limit. It's not. It's just a recommendation from the manufacture and a guide line for warrantee purposes only. If the manufacture catches you towing a 35 foot 10,000 TT with your 1978 Toyota Hilux and you blow the clutch out of it Toyota is going to say, too bad, you went over the door sticker, no warrantee for you.

If the po-po catches you over the weight of your door sticker there is not one thing they can do about it as long as you up to that weight on your tag and are not over the axel ratings of the truck.

The bottom line of the bottom line is this:

Cross the line in my state and kill someone while towing a 15,000 lb trailer with your 1/2 ton pickup and you're going to do a big boys time out.

BUT at the same time

Tow a pop up with a Peterbuilt and cross over that same line in my state and kill someone you're also going to the big boys time out.

Why? Because they don't need to prove anything about weight as some would have you believe. They have a law called manslaughter and they will use it.

In fact, that happened in my county not too long ago. A cop crossed the line while on a call and hit a car head on and killed a young woman. He gets to go in front of a man with black robes and 12 of his peers soon. The charge? Manslaughter. The DA is going to say that the cop was going too fast for the conditions. Pretty easy case to prove in my mind. Why? He crossed the center line and killed someone so he obviously was going too fast for the conditions and his driving ability.

In my post I mentioned that you can't be prosecuted for exceeding the limit so I think we're thinking along the same lines there. However, the sticker is more than just a recommendation; it's a certification. The sticker shows what weights the manufacturer has determined can be carried or pulled safely based off the design of the vehicle. Once you've exceeded the designed limitations of a vehicle then you've pretty much reached the level of negligence.

In your case of the 1/2 ton carrying 15,000 lbs, depending on how far the ratings were exceeded, the user might reach the level of gross negligence and definitely would face some charges. In the case of the cop, once again this would be negligence. Although he was responding to a call, he still has to do so safely. Yes he has the benefit of lights and sirens, but that doesn’t mean he could 90 mph down wet switchbacks or fly through red lights without at least checking for oncoming traffic. If a tower crane operator was operating well under weight limits, but didn't account for high winds and the crane collapsed then that could be considered negligence as well. In all these situations if there wasn't a disregard for safety or absent-mindedness then there's a good chance that none of these catastrophes would have happened. That’s why people in these situations get charged with crimes.

Crossing the center line doesn’t automatically equate to negligence. Let’s say there's a truck that's rated to carry 9,000 lbs. The driver is hauling a trailer that is 8,975 lbs and within all rated limits. The vehicle has been maintained and inspected by the manufacturer according to specs. The truck snaps an axle and crosses the center line and kills someone. This is not negligence (at least on the part of the operator). Why? The manufacturer has already certified the vehicle to carry that amount of weight and the operator has a reasonable expectation that the vehicle will perform within those specs the manufacturer gave. Now that's not to say that the operator is totally absolved of all responsibility, however the operator wouldn't face any criminal charges. Not every accident ends up with someone getting a citation.

Lawyer people - I’m no lawyer, went to no law school, and haven’t passed any bar exam so if I said anything wrong then feel free to correct me.