I know this has been "beaten to death but I can't help but comment. First, I've never experienced a trailer separation at speed. I have though experienced varied "emergency situations" in my life while driving, boating, and flying. I will say that you can train for SOME emergency procedures to the point of burning the reaction into your muscle memory. Remaining calm under pressure can be a matter of training but I think it's mostly an inherent trait.
When NASA choose the original 7 astronauts they wanted college edjucated test pilots. They knew that the field consisted of mostly engineers that had proven skills in analytical thinking during high mental and physical stress. You don't take a recreational pilot out of the seat of a Cessna 152 and expect them to fly a F16 without EXTENSIVE trailing. Similarly, it's unreasonable to think think that you could take a recreational boater and plunk them down in a modern container ship and expect a safe voyage. Again this requires the "operator" to train extensively in how the systems operate, why the vehicle reacts to inputs and what to do incase of a "catastrophic event.
I know this is lengthy but bear with me. The point is that I'm not aware of ANY training or simulator available to train for this event, or for that matter even the most common of events, a tire failure. So telling someone who likely has little experience in towing that they should react in an emergency with a safety device disabled is not helping them.
It's been my experience that Murphy rarely strikes in ideal conditions. Now speaking from the position of considering myself pretty calm under fire I wouldn't want this to happen while I'm driving. Let's imagine Murphy's Law strikes, not while you're going down a straight and level divided highway on a clear summer day but rather on a two lane highway in the rain. Something triggers a sudden and radical maneuver to avoid an accident
While your in the middle of an emergency maneuver the trailer breaks loose. The truck lurches violently and your wife and passengers scream with fright. Your brain is filled with thoughts of survival and then what just happened. You've never experienced the uncontrolled violent movements, the sounds, and never thought about how to react much less trained for it. If anyone thinks they have the reflexes and muscle memory to control this situation IMO you're either overly optimistic about your response or you are a very, very rare individual. I don't think anyone can say with certainty how they would react as every event would be different.
If you possess the skill to analyze, process, and react to an event like that then good for you, but I don't think the "average" person does. Safety devices like this are implemented for a reason, they effect the the outcome in a positive way. Things like anti-lock brakes, roll over fuel shutoff, collapsible steering columns, seat belts, etc. are engineered as a response to real life studies of crash data and testing. While we may not like or agree with all of the safety devices and precautions I understand their implementation. I don't see the brake disconnect switch like cya lawyers lable and personally would never advise someone to disable it.
JMO, YMMV
