Accident...

rambotheshark wrote:

Ozlander wrote:

rambotheshark wrote:

I figured to keep from jackknifing or worse I could only do a real slow deceleration, even if only a few miles per hour before impact and just plow through it. Try to keep everything going straight and come to a controlled stop. Really not much you else can do.

You posted on a public forum that you didn't really try to stop.
What were you thinking?
Her lawyer could take you to the cleaners.

There was not a snowballs chance in hell I could have stopped my truck and fiver in less than three seconds or so. She literally pulled out right in front me. It would have been flat out impossible so I tried my best to slow down as much as I could without making the situation worse for everyone. Locking the brakes up, potentially jackknifing, and going headfirst into oncoming traffic in the next lane seemed like much, much, much worse alternative.

And she is lucky I was able to slow down even just a little as that allowed me to hit her rear passenger quarter panel area and not the dead center of the car.

Mashing the stop pedal to the floor is the quickest (and best) way to shed speed in a panic stop if everything is adjusted correctly. That, or mashing it just short of the point the anti-lock engages.

The truck's anti-lock brakes would have allowed steering and the trailer brakes aren't supposed to be adjusted hard enough to allow the tires to skid on a dry road. And from the picture it appears the road was dry. You won't jackknife if the trailer tires aren't sliding.

If your trailer skids in a panic stop the brakes are set up too aggressive.