Ken / Claudia
02-28-2020, 10:08 PM
This was printed in a national crash reconstruction journal that I found was interesting. The article was about how the hitch failure fooled the pickups computer that recorded the crash data. It did not cover many normal details about the crash. It was a T bone type of crash, truck impacting driver door. That tells me it was likely a fatal.
Unknown new model pickup, weight at time of crash 9,805 lbs
Trailer was a work style Flat bed. It had a pintle type hitch. 16,350 lbs
Passenger vehicle 2,903 lbs
Truck hitch was pushed 20 inches forward and under truck and the hitch tube was ripped but the mounting bolts held and the hitch ended up at a 90 degree angle to the truck. The pintle stayed connected.
The computer data showed the truck hit the car at 50 to 54 mph. But, damage evidence showed it should have been a slower speed. The computer thought the crash was over, but the trailer keep moving forward and that was not recorded on the computer. That was when the hitch folded up under the truck.
The data was gone though again and showed the computer stopped due to a delayed impulse, but they found the real truck speed was 41 to 43 mph at impact.
Talk about a big change in the possible truck driver liability with those two different speeds.
And wow the hitch and trailer did not detach from the truck.
Hope no one is involved in a crash while towing but, if the hitch or heavy cargo shifts in/on the truck. Unless the investigators know about this delayed impulse you could be thought to traveling much faster than your real speed.
Unknown new model pickup, weight at time of crash 9,805 lbs
Trailer was a work style Flat bed. It had a pintle type hitch. 16,350 lbs
Passenger vehicle 2,903 lbs
Truck hitch was pushed 20 inches forward and under truck and the hitch tube was ripped but the mounting bolts held and the hitch ended up at a 90 degree angle to the truck. The pintle stayed connected.
The computer data showed the truck hit the car at 50 to 54 mph. But, damage evidence showed it should have been a slower speed. The computer thought the crash was over, but the trailer keep moving forward and that was not recorded on the computer. That was when the hitch folded up under the truck.
The data was gone though again and showed the computer stopped due to a delayed impulse, but they found the real truck speed was 41 to 43 mph at impact.
Talk about a big change in the possible truck driver liability with those two different speeds.
And wow the hitch and trailer did not detach from the truck.
Hope no one is involved in a crash while towing but, if the hitch or heavy cargo shifts in/on the truck. Unless the investigators know about this delayed impulse you could be thought to traveling much faster than your real speed.