ElFaro - 5-17-2008 at 09:28 PM
In the 1st part I related to you all about the accident and death of the other driver and possible jail time for my friend's son, etc., etc. I now
have more information via an "update" sent to many on an E-mail distribution list about the cause of the accident and some related technical issues
involving towing.
My friend tells us it was a dolly that disconnected from my friend's son's truck. He had apparently rented the dolly from a rental yard in TiJuana.
The dolly was attached to the truck by the man at the rental yard. And get this...this was the third accident in a month caused by a dolly from this
same rental place. The other two accidents had less dire bottom lines...accidents indeed but no lives lost.
My friend says there is yet to come perhaps a lengthy and complicated legal process. Worse case scenario means money to be paid out and loss of the
pickup truck. Acquaintenances of my friend have inquired about his son's frame of mind given his involvement in an accident resulting in the death of
the other driver. He says in the E-mail that his son believes the loss of life was not caused by his negligence or lack of caution.
A couple points to consider here...
1st...it appears it was a tow dolly I'm assuming for a car?? So the son was towing a car with a dolly on the Tijuana-Rosarito free road. No utility
or travel trailer being towed here.
2nd...the dolly was rented from a rental yard in TiJuana. I could not even begin to speculate on the condition of the dolly rented nor if the rental
yard has ANY conditions under which they would NOT rent/hookup a tow dolly to anything with 4 wheels and an engine to make a buck.
3rd...the third accident in a month involving a dolly from this rental yard!! How are these dollies assembled, maintained, tested, checked for
damage, repaired is anyone's guess.
In a way I see where the son is coming from...he assumes when the dolly is rented it is in rentable condition (whatever that is), is hooked up to the
truck properly, and should accomplish the job with the truck he provided. No negligence or lack of caution on his part as he sees it but on the
rental yard man who rented it to him.
And yet...I get the feeling he is using the paradigm of renting equipment in the USA and applying that to rental equipment in Tijuana. To which I
say...what minimum standards are there in Mexico for rental towing equipment?...probably as long as it makes it through the next tow its OK but if
your the one lucky enough to have it fail on you...oh well. If I'm towing anything I will check the equipment out and not rely on anyone else to see
things are properly setup. Remember... you only get one chance!
BTW...there were no women killed in this accident. That one happened on the toll road...this one was on the free road.
Gadget - 5-18-2008 at 02:55 PM
Thanks for the update lighthouse.
I would agree with your final assessment that it is the responsiblity of the tow vehicle operator to make sure the unit is safe and secure.
If you do not know how to make sure that something you are towing is attached properly and in good working order, then I think you should have someone
along who does, or not tow anything until you have learned that info.