# Be Careful Whilst Towing!! (now With The Story)



## Tim P (Jul 29, 2007)

If you tow an RV, you should watch this link. These poor folks were probably just trying to get some cash before the holiday weekend (date tag). It is a wake up call to all Outbackers and SOB's!!!

http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn47/Ti...nt=camera21.flv

FROM SHELBY COUNTY TODAY: At approximately 3 PM, Tuesday, July 2, a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500, pulling a new travel trailer, hit the corner of the Texas State Bank Drive-In on Tenaha Street, causing the complete awning to come to the ground. Luckily, the driver of the Dodge, Mickey Miller, of Garrison and his 10 year old son were able to exit their vehicle uninjured. According to Miller he was circling the bank to park on the other side when the corner of his travel trailer caught the corner of the bank awning. Next thing he heard was a rumble as the awning started falling against his driver's side door. Somehow he was able to unbuckle the seat beat and exit the other side of his truck as it was falling. Mark Ivy of Texas State Bank stated that the main lobby would be open for business while the drive-in is being repaired.


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## mrw3gr (Feb 19, 2006)

Looks like a DEPOSIT instead of a withdrawal! Hope nobody got hurt. I guess this is my reminder to figure out exactly how high the highest point of my trailer is.


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

Wow !!
That looked funny at first until I saw where the roof went. I am not so sure it was a happy ending.

Do we know any more?

Edit
I am glad it ended well for the 2 occupants


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Talk about a lapse of what he was driving.

Years ago my father pulled a 20 ft trailer making deliveries in Brooklyn every day. Maybe once a month, he had to have a 40 ft trailer. He used to tape a reminder notice on his windshield just so he remembered all day to make wider turns at corners so he would not have a 'stupid' accident.

John


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Holy cow!
I don't normally click Replay very often, but that one had me clicking Replay quite a few times.
Try it using the Pause feature...

Yep, that must have ruined what began as the start of a fun holiday weekend. 
I feel for them, but geez! They weren't even close to clearing that roof line...
If you're not sure of your clearance, GET OUT AND LOOK!


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## shaela21 (Aug 16, 2005)

OMG. That was brutal. We recently had a delivery truck pass by our house and he caught the power lines and pulled 2 power poles over. Luckily no one was hurt. But yeah, know your height and what is around you. What a crummy way to end a camping trip.


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## Camping Fan (Dec 18, 2005)

That sure reinforces one of my personal rules for towing - don't even try to go through drive-thrus, park it and walk in.
Hope everybody was OK, hard to tell from the video if the pick-up cab was crushed or just side-swiped.


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## wtscl (May 22, 2007)

WOW!!! It looked like just the driver side caught the roof. Hopefully, it was far enough over to not catch the driver. HOW TERRIBLE!


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

WOW. Hope no one was hurt but come on....look up. My co-worker who is our safety occicfer preaches the 6 sides to a vehicle, front,back,left,right, UP AND DOWN. I actually measured my TT and put it on the dash so I know my size. He probally misjudged where he was, needed a foot to the right. He almost missed it. Hate to be his insurance company....


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## Colorado Campers (Apr 20, 2004)

OMG







Talk about driving and not paying attention. I had to repeat it a couple of times myself. I sure hope no one was seriously hurt, that looked awful.


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## Tim P (Jul 29, 2007)

Here is the story:

FROM SHELBY COUNTY TODAY: At approximately 3 PM, Tuesday, July 2, a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500, pulling a new travel trailer, hit the corner of the Texas State Bank Drive-In on Tenaha Street, causing the complete awning to come to the ground. Luckily, the driver of the Dodge, Mickey Miller, of Garrison and his 10 year old son were able to exit their vehicle uninjured. According to Miller he was circling the bank to park on the other side when the corner of his travel trailer caught the corner of the bank awning. Next thing he heard was a rumble as the awning started falling against his driver's side door. Somehow he was able to unbuckle the seat beat and exit the other side of his truck as it was falling. Mark Ivy of Texas State Bank stated that the main lobby would be open for business while the drive-in is being repaired.


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## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

I happen to think that would be an easy mistake. Trucks clear, trailer was almost clear. What do you have maybe 1 1/2 feet outside of the truck if that. Guy seemed to be in a hurry which was clearly his un-doing. What a crappy and unstable roof design though.


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## Reverie (Aug 9, 2004)

When I was in my late teens I was taught a life lesson by my boss at the hardware store. One day he decided to make a delivery himself because he was heading right past the drop-off location. Since I was out in the usual delivery truck (An International Harvester Transall 1200 with flatbed trailer). He opted to take a Ford Flatbed Truck equipped with a dump bed. When we used that truck we would occasionally lift the dump bed to facilitate easier loading and unloading. This day he extended the dump bed for delivery and when he was done he retracted it. Normally we would "lock" the bed with a lever, preventing it from rattling against the frame. If you started driving with an empty bed without locking it down, the racket was loud and staccato, giving us a built-in reminder. The customer had given the boss a bag of tomatoes to take back to the boss' wife. Having nowhere else to put it, he hooked the handles of the bag over the Power Take Off (PTO) Switch, a pneumatic controlled push-pull control. Pull it out to raise the bed, push it in to retract the bed. Normally this wasn't a big deal because the switch is very rugged and the bed is tied down. On this day the bag was a little heavier than normal and it was the one day the boss violated his own rule and didn't check the bed lock.

As he cruised down the road the switch ever so slightly started pulling out. The movement was so subtle that he never noticed the bed rising, ever so slightly and ever so steadily. It continued to rise until it started snagging overhead power and telephone lines. The truck had lots of power so he never noticed the snags. It wasn't until a brave soul gunned the gas and used their pickup to pull the much larger truck over.

The score was 11 downed lines. I have no idea what our insurance company had to pay to repair the damage. To my boss' credit, he called all of us together and told us the whole story, unvarnished. His point was "If it can happen to me, it can happen to you" and always watch your entire vehicle, not just what is in front or to your sides.

Reverie


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

found this link that shows pictures when you find the story of the accident. At first some of the pictures were red x's but I refreshed a couple times and they all showed up http://209.85.141.104/search?q...gl=us


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## 5th Time Around (Jul 8, 2008)

This story couldn't have come at a better time for our family. We are leaving for a maiden voyage with our new 5th Wheel. We are not new to towing campers, but this is our first 5th Wheel and it is definately taller and the turning radius much different from TT's. Thanks to who posted this as a warning.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

*OUCH!!!*

THAT'S gonna leave a dent!

I can imagine the two words that would have been going through my mind at that moment!









It sure doesn't say much for the engineering of that drive through though. Having seen how lightly these TT's are made, I'm surprised it didn't just rip the roof off that Everest. From the looks of it, other than loosing the front cap, it came through the whole ordeal in pretty decent shape.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

PDX_Doug said:


> *OUCH!!!*
> 
> THAT'S gonna leave a dent!
> 
> ...


My thoughts exactly. I mean a tire tore up my OB pretty good. You mean a bank roof can't take a hit?!?! Didn't they design it for strong winds?!?! Very glad to hear that everyone was ok. It's a good reminder to use the mirrors very liberally.


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Glad he didn't get hurt.

I agree, pretty weak structure, should have stopped him cold when he hit it. What if someone had been underneath?

Mike


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## SmkSignals (May 2, 2005)

"2008 Dodge Ram 2500, pulling a new travel trailer"

new truck, new trailer .... I hate to speculate, but this sounds like a newbie mistake to me ... Man, how can you not be careful towing that rig, or any rig for that matter ...


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## jozway (Jan 28, 2008)

Perhaps it was just the overpowering cummins that tore it down







The architect and engineer ought to be shot for that quality structure.


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Ouch. New TT / new TV .... NOT a good day!

I don't feel so bad anymore about a few tree scrapes in the dark (yes....on the TT)


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## CanadaCruizin (Jul 3, 2004)

More pics


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

The 'more' pictures really puts into perspective how poorly that was built. At first you would think it was just a simple overhang but obviously not. It had a peak roof and was heavy.

As said, it could have been deadly if another car was under there.

John


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## anne72 (Apr 27, 2007)

What a wake up call, we had an accident six weeks into our new travel trailer, small and you would think not a lot of money to repair, honestly I was shocked when our insurance company gave us the final total. It can happen and it will the minute you let your guard down. We triple check ourselves now, you can NEVER be too careful!


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