According to Dodge's website, the current Dakota can tow up to 7000 lbs., still much less than the 247/trailer combo. This looks like an older model so I wouldn't be surprised if its towing capacity is less. I actually thought the machine looked like it was loaded correctly, it sits just ahead of the center of the two axles which would put a fair amount of tongue weight on the trailer. This is about the same point I load my machine for the best handling. You can cause poor handling by putting too much weight on the tongue, your steering becomes less responsive.
I'm aware of what our laws have become, I made my statement about responsibility based on common sense, not law. I'm sure some attorney would be able to convince a jury that the yard the machine was towed from was somehow at least partly responsible for this accident. But think about this a minute, the driver of the vehicle will be the one receiving the tickets for this accident, not the yard personnel. They might become involved in a civil suit, but not the V & T portion of it. This was my point.
Our justice system has become a playground for greedy attorneys looking for a fast buck. As I see it, many laws which are passed these days are not so much to improve public safety as they are to give attorneys another avenue to bring a lawsuit by, thereby making it easier to fill their pockets. We all pay for this in one way or another, either by increased prices of a product, higher insurance rates or increased taxes if it is a public entity that must pay a claim. This is not to mention the inconvenience of using a tool that has had a "safety feature" added to it after losing a suit to some idiot that has used their product incorrectly.
Look at what has happened to many of the products we use in daily life. Small homeowner type lawn mowers are difficult to start and must be restarted every time you need to move debris out of its path. Why? Because too many idiots stuck their hands under the machine while it was running and came out with detached appendages. McDonald's has had to adjust the temperature of their coffee and snowblowers are as difficult to run as mowers now too. All due to idiocy of the public who had accidents misusing them.
Our government was not formed to protect the citizens from themselves and their own stupidity!! It was formed to protect our God given rights, which are slowly being chipped away by the government itself. If this trend continues, how long will it be before we are not able to buy circular or chain saws? Will knives only be allowed a certain degree of sharpness? I'm willing to bet that 100 years from now, many of the tools we use as contractors will no longer be available for safety's sake.
How long before this "protection" extends beyond physical safety? Will the government become involved in protecting us after making stupid investments? What if our feelings get hurt if we must sit through a prayer we might not want to hear? Wait a minute.....that's been addressed.....prayer in schools have been eliminated.
In this case, HeyUvaVT says the yard personnel warned the driver of the risk he was taking in towing this machine. I wasn't there to hear it, but I'll take his word for it. This driver chose to disregard their advice and paid the consequence for it.He is responsible for his own actions, no one else. And yes, someone, even an innocent bystander could have been hurt or killed.....but they weren't. Life is a series of lessons learned, and this appears to be one of them. I doubt this driver will attempt to do this again.
Did anyone notice the boom operator standing under the boom while loading the wreck on the flatbed? If the boom fails and injures this guy, are the bystanders responsible for his injuries because they didn't make him move? How about the manufacturer of the boom for building such a hazardous tool? Maybe the driver of the wrecked truck is responsible, since without his stupid move the operator wouldn't need to be there in the first place!
Sorry for the rant guys, I see this "Land of Opportunity" slowly becoming a land of sterility through its protectiveness.
ointhead
