Death by dangerous driving

[Fts1]

Hi

 

[doobin]

I presume your employee just dropped the hitch onto the truck but failed to actually open it and lock it on?

Ultimately you are responsible for your load. I guess dangerous driving is a catch-all.

Was the breakaway cable attached? Did it work? What side of the road was the trailer on?

 

[Fts1]

I presume your employee just dropped the hitch onto the truck but failed to actually open it and lock it on?

Ultimately you are responsible for your load. I guess dangerous driving is a catch-all.

We believe it was fitted correctly as we can see this from the cctv.

 

[doobin]

We believe it was fitted correctly as we can see this from the cctv.

How did it fail then?

You need an expert witness engineer if it’s mechanical failure.

 

[Shovelhands]

We believe it was fitted correctly as we can see this from the cctv.

So how did it come off? What failed?

Was it a very worn hitch? I’m going to guess it’s a fairly old trailer if it’s got a Bradley hitch? Nothing wrong with old kit essentially, but was the hitch worn out?

 

[hiluxman]

So was it you or your employee.

 

[Lancs Lad]

Only time I've heard of it was a 16ft flat that came off a transit on M1 carrying unistrut...didn't hit a thing ended up on top of central reservation... incredibly didn't hit anyone ...
They had it proven that the ball had worn enough for it to pop off..but dint think they got prosecuted.

I'd deffo be getting a very experienced lawyer.. obviously...and expert engineers etc .

 

[Brendan]

Not going to be very helpful but pickups are exempt from tow ball heights.
If your employee hooks it up it's still on you, the driver to check it is correct.
Part of the trailer test is to ensure the trailer is properly hitched to the trailer by winding the jockey wheel down to ensure they are hitched correctly.
Your going to need to get an expert witness just make sure they are an actual expert and not some "engineer" with zero relation to the field

 

[Fts1]

So how did it come off? What failed?

Was it a very worn hitch? I’m going to guess it’s a fairly old trailer if it’s got a Bradley hitch? Nothing wrong with old kit essentially, but was the hitch worn out?

We don’t know how it’s come off.

A specialist has viewed the trailer and vehicle.

The trailer is 20+ years old, the hitch is an old style Bradley double lock.
How do we check for wear? The handle lifts 10mm with the safety catch on?

The vehicles tow ball is 528mm from the ground which is apparently 110mm above the recommendation, would this cause an issue?

 

[Smiffy]

Not going to be very helpful but pickups are exempt from tow ball heights.
If your employee hooks it up it's still on you, the driver to check it is correct.
Part of the trailer test is to ensure the trailer is properly hitched to the trailer by winding the jockey wheel down to ensure they are hitched correctly.
Your going to need to get an expert witness just make sure they are an actual expert and some "engineer" with zero relation to the field

I think you would need evidence the check had been done by the employee. Has the employee had suitable recorded training to hitch up the trailer ?? As that would help

 

[Fts1]

Only time I've heard of it was a 16ft flat that came off a transit on M1 carrying unistrut...didn't hit a thing ended up on top of central reservation... incredibly didn't hit anyone ...
They had it proven that the ball had worn enough for it to pop off..but dint think they got prosecuted.

I'd deffo be getting a very experienced lawyer.. obviously...and expert engineers etc .

Thank you for this.
Mine was also a 7ft-16ft flatbed, it was also empty.

The insurance has provided the lawyer and expert engineers.

 

[Shovelhands]

We don’t know how it’s come off.

A specialist has viewed the trailer and vehicle.

The trailer is 20+ years old, the hitch is an old style Bradley double lock.
How do we check for wear? The handle lifts 10mm with the safety catch on?

The vehicles tow ball is 528mm from the ground which is apparently 110mm above the recommendation, would this cause an issue?

Towball height is irrelevant in my opinion. And if it’s high then it can only aid the thing staying on as far as I can see!
You can measure the towball diameter easily, but I’m guessing that’s not the old worn out bit?

Measuring the hitch head is going to be much harder for the average person. But possibly fit it to a vehicle and then try jacking it up and seeing if it pops off as Brendan suggests.

 

[Smiffy]

We don’t know how it’s come off.

A specialist has viewed the trailer and vehicle.

The trailer is 20+ years old, the hitch is an old style Bradley double lock.
How do we check for wear? The handle lifts 10mm with the safety catch on?

The vehicles tow ball is 528mm from the ground which is apparently 110mm above the recommendation, would this cause an issue?

No in my experience quite the opposite. As you will be increasing the drawbar weight. I have seen a twin axle plant trailer come off on a speed bump the van went over fine but when the tfirst axle went over the rear axle lifted off the ground pulling the tow hitch off. The correct morning test had been done but the van was empty so lifted with the trailer. Obviously the weight in the van was enough to pull the coupling apart.

One last thing weren't some of the Bradley hitches imperial??

 

[Shovelhands]

Sadly, I feel all you will be proving is that you were driving/towing a defective vehicle. I can’t see how that is going to ease your pain?

 

[Fts1]

Is this how to measure a certain amount of wear?

 

[Shovelhands]

Is this how to measure a certain amount of wear?

Don’t think so. I think you’ve got to measure the actual jaw that sits against the ball, not an easy thing to do properly

 

[craig]

Is this how to measure a certain amount of wear?

I was just going to put about the safety catch to measure wear, if I remember correctly the should be a gap at the bottom of the catch when attached.

 

[Lancs Lad]

We can suggest everything under the sun...but in this case do your homework and find the very best lawyers and experts you can whoose advice and opinions will carry weight in court. I don't say it lightly and I can't stress enough get the right guys on the case your going to need it...
Genuinely feel for you and it's a wake call to any of us that tow to double check

 

[Giles]

Eye opening to check when ppl think they’re helping by hitching up for you etc

 

[Storrsy]

We can suggest everything under the sun...but in this case do your homework and find the very best lawyers and experts you can whoose advice and opinions will carry weight in court. I don't say it lightly and I can't stress enough get the right guys on the case your going to need it...
Genuinely feel for you and it's a wake call to any of us that tow to double check

However it came detached. Shouldn't the breakaway cable lock the brakes on? I've often wondered why a suitably rated chain isn't a requirement in the event of a breakaway too but perhaps there a reason for that
Makes you wonder now they have cancelled the trailer licencing how do you prove you have had adequate training to tow/hitch a trailer in the event of something like this....