Breakaway trailer incident stats?

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

those laws are not usually retrospective unless you let the rego lapse.
So if it was legal when it was built you'll likely find it still is

Just going on my memory of major accidents and fatalities that made the news over the last 5 decades - but I don't recall trailers coming adrift as being a major problem in those figures.

I have had substantial numbers of "first-person" stories repeated to me, of major near-misses.
Those near-misses were usually having to avoid errant vehicles that came over to their side of the road, due to various factors - and near-misses that largely comprised taking steps to avoid lost loads, or heavy items that had come adrift.

I have never known or spoken to anyone who has collided with a trailer or van that had come adrift. I do know of a number of accidents where people were killed by single wheels, or complete dual wheel assemblies, coming off trucks.
I know of one major accident where a truck lost a large dog trailer on a busy SW hwy, and it collided head-on with a bloke in a car, who was killed as a result.

The reason for the trailer coming adrift in that accident was a broken towbar assembly that had been cracked for a long time and had never been inspected as part of regular maintenance.
The trailer came adrift with the hitch and chains intact, but with the centre portion of the towbar still attached.
The truck owner was charged with manslaughter and convicted, but the penalty was relatively low, I thought - a suspended sentence and a heavy fine.
The judge severely castigated the truck owner for his poor maintenance and the truck owner deflected the criticism by stating that the cracking would have been difficult to detect.

I don't believe that for one moment - and we now have "chain of responsibility" obligations in trucking today - designed to pin the exact person responsible for any neglect.
I believe that that "chain of responsibility" obligation could easily be extended to operators of all road vehicles by a smart prosecutor.

In todays litigious and heavy road-rules transgression penalties, I believe its wise to ensure you are abiding by all the relevant road laws, particularly if the potential result is the possibility of injury and death to other road users - which has the potential to break you financially and emotionally, if it ever does happen.

Gotta agree with all that you say, Phil. Too many "safety features" that take control away from the driver only results in lower and lower driving and handling skills.
I would prefer to see driving skills enhanced, and more compulsory education for people who want to drag large 'vans and trailers, as to the dynamics of rig handling, and the correct methods of loading the rigs being towed.

If you have a basically stable setup, it should be capable of being controlled in adverse conditions with ease, without the need for complex controllers that involve sudden and unusual steering and brake applications, that might surprise the driver.

Hi Ron,
Good points. When I first experienced trailer sway many years ago, it scared the hell out of me. I could have been killed because I was moving house - with a loaded L300 Starwagon and hire trailer loaded to the hilt and no trailer brakes. Some regulations have made a big difference in preventing this scenario, but I learnt to respect what could happen. And now I like to drive in a manner that prevents it from happening.

Ron N

I agree with your comments and wish for the same however that is never going to happen in this Country.
I currently work on a very large LNG Project where there are many Japanese.When they arrive they go and open a bank account an transfer their driver licence.
Most of them cannot drive very well at all, they can barely reverse into a parking area.When you speak to them they openly state "I don't drive in Japan, no car'
This is also the case with visitors allowed to drive on International licence, drive down the incorrect side of the road and kill people. If they want, they can skip the country because the Police cannot hold their Passports until the matter is cleared up.
It has become very evident that our rules are being diluted to appease other countries.
Many tourists die on our roads every year because they think they are driving around the city block.

Actually your 'old' mate is correct in some aspects , the amount of workplace health and safety changes that are dreamed up by people trying to justify their obscene salary is laughable ,

agree with ac/t
If he is just towing down the gravel road around his farm, big deal really.
If he is tearing all the way round the state then maybe its worth alienating your neighbour.
Maybe just try and get on with him, and stay out of the way when he heads out.

Andrew ,as you say , 'Its easy for some to bag bureaucrats as making work' …and that an attempt should be made to stop an accident from happening again , perhaps we should legislate that all forms of motorised and non motorised transport be banned after seeing the photo of a pushbike hit by a car or a train derailed when hitting a cow or a horse rider after a fall ……. remember that laws and legislation ,road rules particularly are made by bureaucrats looking at statistics which in no way reflect the 'real' world …IE. 18% of road accidents are caused through speed and drink driving so we ban and focus on both , never mind that the other 82% are just as much a problem or even as the 'statistics' show are a much bigger problem..