Man Hit And Killed By Runaway Trailer On the 605 Freeway
A 48-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man died after a trailer being towed by a truck on the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in Baldwin Park came loose and resulted in a four-vehicle crash. Gil Tae Kim reportedly died on the scene of head injuries he suffered in the crash, according to a news article on NBC News’ Web site.
Michael D. Brown, 45, of Long Beach was the person towing the runaway trailer in a Ford-350 truck. The trailer then suddenly detached itself from the truck, bounced over the center divider wall onto the southbound lanes of the 605, according to a California Highway Patrol accident report. A tire from the trailer apparently struck the windshield of Kim’s 2007 Toyota Camry on the driver’s side.
The impact of the tire crashing on his windshield reportedly caused Kim to lose control of his car, which slid to the center divided wall and came to a stop on a grassy patch on the side of the freeway. Two other drivers, who were also injured, were only treated for mild to moderate injuries.
This is yet another example of how runaway trailers can cause devastating crashes resulting in serious injuries and fatalities. This happens way more often than any of us realize. Although the government does not supply numbers about runaway trailer crashes, the Los Angeles Times recently reported that there were about 540 runaway trailer accidents between 2000 and 2007. These accidents reportedly resulted in hundreds of injuries and at least 164 deaths. Who knows how many incidents were not reported by news sources or didn’t find their way to court records?
A majority of people who get injured or killed in these crashes are reportedly motorists, but passengers, bicyclists and pedestrians have also been seriously hurt and killed. Some of these accidents occur because negligent truck drivers don’t take the time to make sure the trailers are secured properly. In other cases, the use of old or outdated trailer equipment can cause it to come loose or a trailer towing vehicle may be traveling at too high speeds.
Most of these accidents may have been prevented if those who use these trailers get proper instruction about how to use and hook up the trailer when they buy or rent one. Employers who use these trailers must also train their drivers on the proper way to attach these to their vehicles. There is, however, no rule in any of the 50 states that mandates a person towing a small-to-medium trailer to have any special training or instruction. Such a law would no doubt help save hundreds of life each year.
Comments
Please take a moment and go to
www.dangeroustrailers.org
I have been keeping track of these types of accidents for almost 5 years... we have a problem... these trailers are unsafe and are killing people!!! Please read my ABOUT US PAGE and see...
I work in a department store.... and have no way benefitted by my law. In Virginia I enacted a law to require REFLECTORS AND REFLECTOR TAPE TO BE APPLIED TO THE BACK. The industry does not like it so they have spent over $10,000 in Virginia trying to kill my law.
Ron
Posted by: Ron Melancon | February 13, 2008 10:16 AM
Dear Mr. Bisnar:
I was the person who contacted the L.A. Times and worked with the reporters for over 6 months providing the info for them.
Ron
Posted by: Ron Melancon | February 13, 2008 10:18 AM
Another Accident just happen in Orlando Florida..
Man Hit By Utility Trailer
Sunday, February 10, 2008 11:32:06 PM
A Kissimmee man is facing charges after troopers said his mistake led to a pedestrian being sent to the hospital in serious condition.
Investigators said Benito Lopez was driving his truck on U.S. 192 Sunday when the trailer he was pulling detached, jumped up onto a sidewalk, and hit a man who had just gotten off the bus.
Pedro Danchez, 47, was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Troopers said Lopez didn't properly secure the trailer to the truck before he started driving, and was issued a ticket.
I have the pictures...
Posted by: Ron Melancon | February 13, 2008 10:19 AM
Glen Allen man seeks federal trailer rules
Safety quest continues up ladder four years after collision with dark trailer
Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007 - 12:08 AM
By JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Sometimes Ron Melancon thinks about giving up his four-year fight for safer trailers on the road.
Melancon, a 42-year-old manager at Macy's in Regency Square mall in Henrico County, successfully lobbied the General Assembly in 2004 to require trailers of less than 3,000 pounds to have two or more reflectors or 100 or more square inches of solid reflective material in the rear.
He says the trailers are unsafe because without reflectors, drivers can't see them at night. They can also come loose and cause wrecks.
"When I want to give up, I always go back and say, 'Ron, you always fought back,'" he said. "So, how callous of me would it be if I chose to stop and something happens to my family? How hypocritical would that be?"
Melancon now wants the federal government to set national standards, which currently vary by state. He also wants the government to require a class on safe towing for trailer owners and inspection for trailers less than 3,000 pounds, and to set standards for homemade trailers.
"A trailer in Virginia should be a trailer in New York and a trailer in Massachusetts," he said.
Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, added some amendments to tighten the legislation passed by the assembly. He said the federal government should be doing an investigation and collecting data on trailers coming loose and causing wrecks.
"I've not seen anybody come up with the technical changes that would be needed to change or require change in those trailers' hitches," Watkins said. "I'm not sure whether they are being improperly hitched to the towing vehicle, or whether the flaw is in the engineering or the design of hitches."
It would be difficult to enforce state restrictions, or mandate a safety course or inspections, because trailers are universal, Watkins added.
"I think [Ron] is a man with a cause," he said. "It is obviously important to him, and it should be important to anybody."
Melancon, who lives in Glen Allen with his wife, Dawn, and children, Zachary, 8, and Megan, 3, began his battle on trailer safety after he hit the rear of a trailer with his minivan at night in 2003.
"I was paying attention," he said. "I wasn't on the cell phone. I was looking ahead of me. I saw this truck, but I didn't see the trailer."
Melancon contested the following-too-closely charge that resulted from the collision, and a Henrico County judge dismissed it.
Since then, he has spent thousands of dollars and countless hours -- sometimes until early morning -- maintaining a Web site on trailer crashes and disseminating information about trailer hazards to public officials, newspaper editorial pages and anyone else who will listen.
. . .
In Virginia, trailers weighing more than 3,000 pounds are required by state law to have brakes and to be inspected, but those weighing less are not.
The Virginia Crash Investigation Team, based at Virginia Commonwealth University, issued a detailed report last year of a trailer that came loose and killed a driver in 2003 in Virginia and urged training for law enforcement to identify violations on trailers.
It also advised the Department of Motor Vehicles, state police and members of the General Assembly to review the current administrative code.
State troopers get some training in identifying obvious violations and hazards. A specialized unit also assists troopers in accidents involving trailers.
"However, the Virginia code is silent as to any design or construction specifications for these vehicles or for towing chains and hitches," the report states.
Worn tires and lights that don't work are common problems on trailers, said Trooper A.J. Puckett with the Crash Investigation Team. "There are a lot of problems with them."
Statistics on the number of accidents and deaths specifically caused by trailers are not collected.
But in 2004, the most current year for which statistics are available, there were more than 65,000 crashes in the nation involving passenger vehicles towing trailers, which resulted in 358 deaths and 17,617 injuries, according to the National Highway Safety Administration. The number of accidents, injuries and trailer-related incidents resulting in property damage increased by 20 percent from the previous year.
Melancon gathers news reports from across the country about trailers coming loose and causing fatalities.
Manufacturers recall food, vehicles and tires when they cause deaths, he said.
"Excuse me: 400 people are killed a year due to a manufactured product that comes unhitched, runs along the highway and kills people," he said. "How many more people have to die for you to do something?"
John Slavnik, who has been a salesman at Trailer World in Gloucester Point since it opened 10 years ago, said visibility at night is a big issue for trailers. They should have reflectors on the side too, in case a back light is burned out, he said.
"The more reflectors they have, the better," Slavnik said.
Dawn Melancon has mixed feelings about her husband's cause. It takes a lot of his personal time, she said.
"It's a good thing if it makes a change or saves somebody's life," she said. "But a lot of times he keeps going and going, and you say, 'Oh my gosh, is he going to get anywhere?'"
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or jlizama@timesdispatch.com.
Go Back
Posted by: Ron Melancon | February 13, 2008 10:21 AM
And Two days After Christmas
this happens in Las Vegas!!!!
Dec. 28, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
INCIDENT INVESTIGATED: Three injured at bus stop
Trailer comes unhitched from truck passing by
By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Three people were seriously injured Thursday when a trailer broke free from a southbound pickup and crashed into a bus stop on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The pickup's driver, Cedric Banks of North Las Vegas, was not injured. The 46-year-old man watched somberly from a distance as Las Vegas police conducted their investigation at the accident scene.
"I wish this had never happened," Banks said.
He said he was driving his pickup on Martin Luther King when the trailer "just popped off."
"It's just a freak accident," Banks said. "That's all I can tell you."
But Sgt. Monty Hall of the Las Vegas Police Department said the two-axle trailer was not properly hitched to the truck and lacked safety chains. He said Banks probably would face charges in connection with the crash.
"Anytime you set anything in motion on a roadway, you're responsible for the actions of that vehicle," Hall said.
Banks said three men were injured at the bus stop, between Balzar Avenue and Lake Mead Boulevard. He said he held the man who was most seriously wounded until help arrived.
"He said he was hurt, help him, and I was holding his hands," Banks said.
Banks said the man had leg injuries.
Banks recognized another victim as an acquaintance but did not know his name.
Hall said all three victims were taken to University Medical Center after the 8:30 a.m. crash.
He said one victim had potentially life-threatening wounds, which included leg injuries and injuries to his "upper extremities."
According to police, the three victims were waiting at the bus stop on the west side of Martin Luther King when the trailer separated from the truck and veered onto the sidewalk. The trailer struck the victims and came to rest straddling the sidewalk and a wall.
Two of the victims, a 41-year-old Las Vegas resident and a 41-year-old North Las Vegas resident, were listed in serious condition after the crash. The third victim, a 51-year-old North Las Vegas resident, was listed in critical condition.
Police would not release the victims' names until their relatives had been notified.
The southbound lanes of Martin Luther King were closed for at least two hours at the accident scene as police conducted their investigation.
Banks said he does "side work" cleaning up yards and was headed to a friend's house to do such work when the trailer came off his 1971 pickup.
"I don't drive fast," he said.
Hall said police had no evidence that Banks was speeding. Banks said he lives a couple of miles away from where the crash occurred.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0264.
Ron Melancon wrote on December 29, 2007 09:16 AM: If you choose not to wear a seat belt and hit a tree and you go through the windshield so be it.
If you choose to tow a trailer and nobody showes you how to do it.. Or a retail business sells one to you and just hands you a book... or you build one... or the insurance industry does not ask....what you are towing.. who is responsible???
When you choose to tow.. the decisions you make affect the person behind you or on a bus stop.
Ron Melancon wrote on December 29, 2007 09:12 AM: After reading the comments...
We are all human...
What if the trailer hit a school bus?
How about a bunch of rich people down the LAS Vegas strip?
What if it hit and killed a family? They already have!!
These trailers are unregulated... very few people know what to do with safety chains, hitches and lights.
around 400 to 500 people are killed every year due to this type of accident.
Should people who are sitting on a bus bench get the same respect as a child who gets run over by one of these un safe utility trailers?
IN MY BOOK THEY DO... So lets cut the undertones... a man lost his leg...
Ron Melancon wrote on December 29, 2007 09:09 AM: This is not a freak accident!!
Go to www.latimes.com in the search button
type in melancon.
Go here to view the videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-lfdRVMLTQ
and here to see an article on me.
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-12-25-0055.html
Thanks...
Lori G. wrote on December 28, 2007 01:10 PM: This man likely does not carry enough insurance to compensate 3 victims. (state minimum requires only 15/30, I think) You know they will go after the city, just like that other accident by Smoke Ranch or wherever it was that the 3 people died.
Unfortunately this is just an accident caused by an individual citizen and I hope they don't waste more taxpayer money filing suit.
But I do have to say I actually feel bad for the driver. He may have been negligent, but you can't tell me it was intentional.
Jim Hart wrote on December 28, 2007 11:19 AM: "Freak accident"? Its the hood. Everythings a freak accident there. Its a freak accident if they get through the night with less than 10 murders.
Jim Hart wrote on December 28, 2007 11:19 AM: "Freak accident"? Its the hood. Everythings a freak accident there. Its a freak accident if they get through the night with less than 10 murders.
Les wrote on December 28, 2007 06:16 AM: This accident may have been racially motivated.
Sid wrote on December 28, 2007 03:56 AM: If all else fails at least be certain you have safety chains, holding it to the vehicle towing it.
Seth wrote on December 28, 2007 02:33 AM: Imbecile needs to learn how to hitch a trailer-probably dosen't have liability insurance.
Posted by: Ron Melancon | February 13, 2008 10:22 AM
The Industry is Fighting me!!
They do not want to add any regulations on trailers that weigh under 3,000 pounds so they all make them weigh 2,995.
Can you believe it??
Posted by: Ron Melancon | February 13, 2008 10:23 AM
Dear Mr. Binsar: Your law firm has touched on a hot topic for me. Please go to www.dangeroustrailers.org to view the information I have gathered. Just the past week I have received 3 accidents with these types of Utility Trailers. I have posted one of them onto my web site and will put the other two. These utility trailer manufacatures make them weigh just under the 3,000 pound magic number and by doing this they can avoid FEDERAL OVERSIGHT. You know why because if they weigh over the 3,000 pound magic number they need to have brakes and have a breakaway cable and be inspected in most states. So by making them just ONE pound under they are not regulated.
When you buy one or borrow one very few people really show you how to tow a trailer all that is given is a manual even the pin that goes into the hole is not standard.
My point is very few people take the time to read a manual to understand how to tow. Don't believe it? Then why can't people program the VCR,,, its because they don't read the manual. My core belief is this... We all want less government in our lives but if you choose not to wear a seat belt and hit a tree and go through the windshild and pass away so be it,,, you made the choice. If you tow a trailer and don't hook it up correctly, plug the lights in, put the pin in, use the right size ball with the hitch, keep it maintained and it becomes unhiced the life you are affecting is the person behind.... you are still alive.
If it was not for Law firms like yours then we would still have cars without seat belts and have gas tanks that explode when hit in the rear.
The industry has made it clear that they want to fight any regulation to the trailer class under 3,000 pounds... Its about time they start to lisen.
Here are some headlines:
Man Hit By Utility Trailer:
CHP: Loose Trailer Caused Fatal Crash In Baldwin Park:
Driver facing homicide charge:
Manatee school bus crashes with loose trailer, nobody hurt:
A trailer broke away from the truck pulling it, rammed into a power pole:
Driver killed by unhitched utility trailer
Do I need more evidence...
see for yourself at www.dangeroustrailers.org
Posted by: Ron Melancon | February 13, 2008 1:45 PM
Interested parties need to contact their state representatives to push Federal DOT Officials to actually enforce their regulations. FMCSA states that companies that operate a vehicle that has a GVWR or Combined GVWR of over 100,001 lbs be DOT Compliant.
Most companies that operate pickups and trailers are using 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. These trucks have high eanough GVWR's that even a 2000 lb trailer will put them over the limit.
With being DOT Compliant, these companies will be required to train and document the operator of that vehicle and ensure that that operator can safely operate that vehicle as it is designed (w/ a trailer).
DOT also has very specific guidelines as to how that vehicle and trailer is to be maintained and fashioned (light, markers, brakes, etc.). These vehicles and trailers are also required to be inspected by only qualified individuals, helping to ensue that both truck and trailer are safe to be on the road.
Enforcement is the key in this endeavour.
I have never seen, nor can find, any information seperating out the percentage of accidents caused by company owned vehicles, but if it is close to the percentage I have figured for my local area, we have a serious problem posed to the public.
Posted by: Dustin Austin | March 11, 2008 10:24 PM