Video of TT flips over on Parkway Monday

afidel wrote:
Unless my understanding of physics is wrong slamming on the brakes is the exact wrong thing to do. It's the same situation as a blowout, you want to gently accelerate to put the dominant vector in the proper direction (forward), hitting the independent trailer brakes also helps to align the vectors through the tow vehicle, just in a smaller total momentum, so the ideal solution is likely to gently accelerate AND hit the trailer brakes, none of that would visibly illuminate the taillights.

This is exactly how I avoided disaster when I had a similar incident. My first instinct was to hit the brakes, but I could hear the salesman in the back of my head telling me the way to correct sway was to give it gas, not to brake. I wasn't experienced enough towing with a brake controller (was first non-local trip) to use the manual override and I wanted to keep both hands on the steering wheel.

My incident occurred when a tractor trailer passed me right after I hit a pot hole. I-476 back then was full of pot holes and I could feel the trailer wiggle every time I hit one. The passing truck just pushed it over the edge.

I had to accelerate from about 60 mph to 80 mph, but the trailer finally straightened out and I was able to slowly pull over. My undies were clean, but I was shaking for a good 10 minutes. I was fortunate that traffic behind me gave me room and I didn't have to worry about hitting anyone. My incident lasted a good bit longer than the driver in this video, but I imagine speeding up helped prolong my incident.

I was surprised to see this video on USAToday.com yesterday. It would be nice to find out exactly what happened and what caused the sway.

-Michael