Don't Do This!!!!

I run right at 40,000 lbs., 450 HP and 1250 ft lbs. of torque and my towed is a 3/4 ton RAM 2500 Longhorn. We always test before we pull out; wife watches and I roll forward a few feet. One time it was pouring down rain and in the "hurry" one of us forgot to check/release the emergency brake. Rear wheels only on the emergency brake, but, with a wet road (we don't know if the operator started out in the rain) I could feel nothing amiss dragging that 7800 lb pickup truck. If I didn't have her always check, I could merrily have started towing in the rain, the spray would hide any smoke and once up to speed all would have been good. My camera, while good doesn't show a lot when doing 60 mph in pouring rain; a lot of spray, droplets coming and going on the lens and very poor detail. That is just one instance where it isn't the operator's "stupidity", just a bad combination of things not being done thoroughly enough. Maybe it was raining, and he was solo...? I would have been at a loss, if I were alone, to notice anything amiss... Don't think, without the facts, we need to crucify the driver. Live and learn; sometimes our "learning" costs little, sometimes a lot.