How the pro RV transporters tow
If you travel Interstate 90 through Ohio, PA, and NY you see a *LOT* of professional RV transporters moving units East this time of year. I paid close attention any time one passed by and tried to gat...
Forum Discussion
NMace...
Good point. I don't have any facts to support my claim, or I guess as you point out, my fear.
I'd endeavor to find some facts to support what seemed to me to be a common sense logical argument, but I'm not an attorney, nor in an educational environment where I can afford full access to Lexis Nexus.
In the liability conscious environment that we have all seen slices of in the various paths of our lives in the last century, it is hard to imagine that there would not be some search for culpability if overloading is suspected.
Good point about how unrealistic it might be to sweep all the scattered pieces off of the roadway to weigh them. However, the presence of, or lack of, a weight distribution system on a hitch is easy enough to determine without such measures. And even an empty RV trailer weighs something, and if that something makes for a trailer tongue weight that is greater than the weight carrying capacity of the hitch, then that easily determinable fact presents enough primae facia evidence to further an investigation into negligence on the part of the person who chose to exceed the rating.
Whether that negligence is limited to only insurance claims, civil liability, or criminal negligence I suppose would depend on the facts and circumstances of the case. I too, would be very interested to find some precedents that provided a pattern of what courts have found in such cases. However, I suspect that most of these matters are settled out of court, between insurance companies.
It doesn't seem likely that even Lexis Nexus would have access to how much any given insured person had their premium raised, or had further coverage denied, and for what specific reason. But again, I don't have the access to know.
I wish I did though. It certainly would be informative for the entire RV community, as well as the Good Sam insurance company that owns this website. Perhaps a Good Sam representative would care to join in and comment about how they might regard an RV'r who ignored the hitch ratings?
I have one receiver hitch that is rated for 600 lbs tongue weight carrying. The same hitch also has a 1,500 lb. tongue weight rating using weight distribution. If I towed a trailer that had a 1,500 lb tongue weight with that hitch, but without weight distribution, then I would have exceeded the ratings of that hitch by a large margin. I've tested this on private property, and have seen the difference mechanically.
If I tested this on the public road, I cannot see how I could not be held liable for not exercising a reasonable and prudent standard of care, given that the label with the weight ratings is staring me in the face every time I hook up. Surely this concept has been tested in a court somewhere over the last 80 odd years?
Good point. I don't have any facts to support my claim, or I guess as you point out, my fear.
I'd endeavor to find some facts to support what seemed to me to be a common sense logical argument, but I'm not an attorney, nor in an educational environment where I can afford full access to Lexis Nexus.
In the liability conscious environment that we have all seen slices of in the various paths of our lives in the last century, it is hard to imagine that there would not be some search for culpability if overloading is suspected.
Good point about how unrealistic it might be to sweep all the scattered pieces off of the roadway to weigh them. However, the presence of, or lack of, a weight distribution system on a hitch is easy enough to determine without such measures. And even an empty RV trailer weighs something, and if that something makes for a trailer tongue weight that is greater than the weight carrying capacity of the hitch, then that easily determinable fact presents enough primae facia evidence to further an investigation into negligence on the part of the person who chose to exceed the rating.
Whether that negligence is limited to only insurance claims, civil liability, or criminal negligence I suppose would depend on the facts and circumstances of the case. I too, would be very interested to find some precedents that provided a pattern of what courts have found in such cases. However, I suspect that most of these matters are settled out of court, between insurance companies.
It doesn't seem likely that even Lexis Nexus would have access to how much any given insured person had their premium raised, or had further coverage denied, and for what specific reason. But again, I don't have the access to know.
I wish I did though. It certainly would be informative for the entire RV community, as well as the Good Sam insurance company that owns this website. Perhaps a Good Sam representative would care to join in and comment about how they might regard an RV'r who ignored the hitch ratings?
I have one receiver hitch that is rated for 600 lbs tongue weight carrying. The same hitch also has a 1,500 lb. tongue weight rating using weight distribution. If I towed a trailer that had a 1,500 lb tongue weight with that hitch, but without weight distribution, then I would have exceeded the ratings of that hitch by a large margin. I've tested this on private property, and have seen the difference mechanically.
If I tested this on the public road, I cannot see how I could not be held liable for not exercising a reasonable and prudent standard of care, given that the label with the weight ratings is staring me in the face every time I hook up. Surely this concept has been tested in a court somewhere over the last 80 odd years?
