Trailer safety is life or
death
LawnBoss gets serious about
something important
In less than three years, the Pittsburgh
area has been shocked and saddened by two fatal accidents
from trailering. The first accident resulted from a wood chipper
detaching from a dump truck and crossing traffic, killing a father and two
kids.
Then, two weeks ago, a
single-axle flatbed trailer detached from a pick-up truck and crossed
traffic, killing a woman and injuring her child and a second passenger. These two incidents point out
the life and death implications of towing a trailer.
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Father, 2 kids die in
Route 8 wreck
April 14,
2006 - A 4-year-old Cranberry boy was in critical
condition this morning, after being badly injured in a
freak accident that killed his two siblings and his
father, police said. A wood chipper came loose from a
dump truck, crossed the highway and struck the Morrisons'
minivan.... |
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Trailer jumps
median, kills woman
December 16, 2008 - One minute, Michelle Kott was
smiling and waving out the window of her car to a
friend who pulled up behind her at a red light on
Route 19. A few minutes later, Kott, 36, of
Ellsworth, PA was killed when a utility trailer came
loose from a pickup truck and peeled the roof off
her Ford sedan....
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Over the past decade, trailers have become more
commonly used by grass cutters and construction companies. Part of the reason
may be the boom in walk-behind mowers, since they have different
hauling requirements than smaller 21-inch lawnmowers. In our area it
has become commonplace to see landscape maintenance companies
pulling dual-axle, open trailers loaded with a couple walk-behinds,
several push mowers, leafblowers and weedeaters. Hopefully, trailer
safety measures are keeping up with the popularity of trailers. As the old
saying goes, “Safety is no accident.”
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Useful Tool or Deadly Weapon?
Both.
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Ever since the Pittsburgh woodchipper
fatalities, trailer safety seminars have become much more prevalent in
the area. Officials and experts from various companies and
organizations gather to explain and teach trailer laws and safety.
The slow winter season for landscapers is an excellent time to
muster the laid-off forces to attend one of these training seminars.
A second option would be to purchase a training video and conduct
in-house training for those employees who load or tow trailers. A
third option is learning from web sites and written brochures, like
the ones shown in the Links below. And finally, double checking all
trailer parts and connections on a daily basis will help ensure
their safety and reliability.
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Are these two Trailer Trained?
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TRAILER LINKS
NHTSA Brochure - "Towing a Trailer" - (PDF)
(HTML)
Dangerous Trailers.org
Trailering your Boat
Horse trailer safety
Trailer Towing Safety Course (DVD for in-house
training)
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