Motorist captures video of trailer rollover on U.S. 23
A motorist traveling behind a trailer that rolled over on U.S. 23 Friday morning shared video footage of the accident with AnnArbor.com Friday afternoon.
A woman was critically injured in the crash that destroyed the camping trailer she was hauling with a Ford Excursion.
The motorist who shared the video, Hideki Scion, was traveling northbound on U.S. 23 at some distance behind the trailer in the left lane. The trailer is traveling in the right lane ahead of a semi truck.
"We were just a few cars behind the SUV with a camper which started swerving and later rolled over ...," Scion wrote in an email to AnnArbor.com.
In the video, the trailer is visible going in and out of both lanes and toppling onto the right shoulder of the expressway near Joy Road. The crash caused significant traffic back-ups.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
thinker
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 : 11:54 p.m.
Any updates on the driver's condition? Did she make it?
aarog
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 9:51 p.m.
They should've just stayed for the hash bash.
jns131
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 : 4:39 a.m.
Doesn't Canada have legalized marijuana?
MorningGlory
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 3:56 p.m.
I hope we get an update on the driver's condition.
L'chaim
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 1:23 p.m.
That's a bummer, man.
flyer76
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 12:14 p.m.
Slow down, slow down, slow down!!! Especially if your pulling something, and then make sure your vehicle is properly equipped...thanks for posting this video, it just might make people stop and think.
Ann English
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 11:58 p.m.
Makes me wonder if a slow, reasonable speed for someone hauling a trailer might be under 55 mph. Another comment poster said that drivers hauling trailers cannot drive safely at the same speed other vehicles do.
Craig Lounsbury
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 12:12 p.m.
I'm not going to bag on the trucker driver whether he/she stopped or not. At least 4 cars did stop. Any one of which may have had medical training, something the truck driver probably didn't have.
AfterDark
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 3:42 a.m.
would be interesting to see how that trailer was hitched - too much sway for one properly hitched with stabilizers bars/sway bar
jns131
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 : 4:38 a.m.
That may be true. But even if you do one of these things? You still have to check it every so often. Sorry, but I'd like to know how many hours of driving this person had. Also, if this person had this many hours of drive time with it? Then they should have felt something wrong and started hitting the brakes to slow the vehicle down. We did with outs and this is when we realized our sway bars failed due to stupid husband negligence. So glad men will be gone in 5 million years. Can't wait.
TerriA
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 1:16 p.m.
She had both stabilizer bars and sway bars and has driven this trailer and years of experience driving it all over the region and Canada every week or 2.
hmsp
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 2:28 a.m.
@ Davidian, re: " it's best not to fly off the highway and into the median yourself." I don't know about "fly" –– the median is, of course, more uneven than the pavement, so that car did bounce a bit there, but the median is WAY safer than the shoulder, which many cars will use as a lane to continue their full-speed commute uninterrupted. If you are going to try to help, as it is pretty clear that this driver planned to do, then you need to get as far away from the pavement as you can safely get. That driver did the right thing, and I'm sure went on to do as much to help as he/she could.
brian
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 2:18 a.m.
So who stopped to help?
hmsp
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 1:18 a.m.
Speaking of the common foreign use of dashcams, ever see "The Luckiest Truck Driver In Russia" (or the entire world, in my book!)? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqDrnR2bWk4 You really have to see this!
Local Yocal
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 3:38 p.m.
I can't believe he was not wearing his seat belt.
5c0++ H4d13y
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 2:09 a.m.
I love that one!
cibachrome
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 12:05 a.m.
All the traits of a tow vehicle with a flat or low pressure rear tire. Maybe a slow leak froman object picked up in the lane crossover at the construction south of Ann Arbor ? I saw a few northbound vehicles with flats near there Tuesday.
MommaM
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 12:02 a.m.
Did that semi actually drive right on past this accident without stopping? The video stops just as he moves into the left lane. I hope this woman will be alright.
Paul
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 10:41 p.m.
Had to watch that twice to see it. She is lucky that semi was paying attention and did not slam in to her. Riding on a bus, I have seen those semi truckers reading a newspaper on their steering wheel.
pvitaly
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 10:36 p.m.
Did the trucker seriously just keep on going?
jns131
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 : 4:34 a.m.
Agreed. Knowing a few truckers there is no safe place for them to stop or pull over. But if they see more people then necessary to stop and help, they will continue on. His plate is dully noted and the police will call this trucker to see what he can tell them from what he saw. Glad this did not hit the truck. What a mess that would have been.
5c0++ H4d13y
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 12:45 p.m.
Yes because stopping a huge truck (or any vehicle) on the highway is dangerous.
DBH
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 10:41 p.m.
From the video, it's impossible to tell. The truck driver may have driven past the accident (it is difficult to safely slow down when driving a semi) and then stopped. The duration of the video is insufficient to know what the truck driver did.
Pehnny
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 10:10 p.m.
Pretty neat vid, cant believe it got caught! Nice to see the driver ahead get right out to help... The trucker though was outta there lol.
Billy
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 9:58 p.m.
Hooray for the dashcam!! So I see a TON of dashcams posted online today. Mostly from other countries because insurance there REQUIRES you to have one (there is an INSANE amount of insurance fraud in china, eastern bloc, etc.) There was something that happened in this incident that I hardly ever see happen in most of those dashcam accident videos. People stopped to help....which was very refreshing to see for a change. I haven't looked into it yet, but I'd like to see if insurance companies in the US might be offering discounts for having a dashcam. They're VERY inexpensive, you can get one that clips to your rearview mirror and even has a video display for around $100. If there's a policy discount for having one, you could just subtract that discount from the camera cost.
roadsidedinerlover
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 10:27 p.m.
Where did you see them "help"? The other cars pulled over and that XtraLines semi-trailer kept on going! I thought state law says you have to stop and then talk to police when there is an accident. Maybe the driver thought he did have to or thinks he is above the law?
WalkingJoe
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 10:11 p.m.
Billy, now that you mention how much dashcams are used in other countries I remember most of the videos I saw of the meteor strike in Russia were from dashcams.
Davidian
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 9:55 p.m.
when you witness an accident that is hundreds of feet away, it's best not to fly off the highway and into the median yourself. People that panic like that - they are among the scariest drivers out there.
Brad
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 11:49 a.m.
Looked like a smart move to me. It may start out hundreds of feet away, but once it started rolling you'd close that distance in no time.
5c0++ H4d13y
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 2:08 a.m.
I didn't see any evidence of that. You never really know what's going to happen in front or behind you so best to safely get out of the stream of traffic.
Homeland Conspiracy
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 12:34 a.m.
I thought that myself
WalkingJoe
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 9:50 p.m.
Kyle, thanks for answering the question I thought of when I viewed this. I thought it was too steady for a hand held device. And no I don't have a dashcam but sometimes wish I did because I think I'd get rich recording some of the "amazing" things people do while driving. I used amazing because if I used the word I was thinking this comment might get removed.
Tom Joad
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 9:46 p.m.
That Ford Expedition doesn't have sufficient wheelbase to tow such a large trailer. You can plainly see the swaying (wave amplification) increase as the trailer begins fish-tailing. Most likely it was caused by improper weight distribution in the trailer.
Dave
Mon, Apr 8, 2013 : 7:31 p.m.
Wheelbase has nothing to do with towing. A F-350 crew cab cannot tow as much as a F-350 regular cab. It all has to do with weight.
Chaser
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 : 3:07 p.m.
So the biggest SUV ever made doesn't have enough wheelbase to tow a trailer that was designed to be towed by a SUV. And I'm sure the place she bought the trailer from didn't check to make sure she was able to tow the trailer safely. I know this person and been in said trailer, this wasn't the first time she pulled it down the road with this vehicle. Maybe an accident is just an accident and simple minded amature accident reconstruction analysts who have zero facts besides what they read in an article should sit there and look stupid rather than start typing and removing all doubt
jns131
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 : 4:31 a.m.
Here is a link to the towing capacity of the Ford Expedition. This one comes from Ford Motor. http://www.ford.com/suvs/expedition/specifications/towing/ So from the looks of this video? Sway bar and inexperience towing. IMO
Trumpet
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 1:12 p.m.
I absolutely agree with Tom Joad and Fat Bill. too many people assume that because they have an SUV, they can tow anything. NOT TRUE. And their mistake makes it dangerous for them and everyone else on the road. I haul a horse trailer and when loaded, it is 4 ton of trailer, with the bulk of the wight 3 feet off the floor and often shifting.....I use a Ford F-250 with a whole frame hitch and weight stabilizing bars.... and I NEVER have any trouble. But then, I researched the SAFEST way to tow before I hooked up my trailer.....
Fat Bill
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 11:56 p.m.
Kyle, an Excursion is on a 3/4 ton chassis, that was a 35 foot travel trailer, pulled by the bumper. Bumper pull trailers are not nearly as stable as 5th wheels. With a load in the excursion and a large trailer like that, I would have to say Mr. Joad hit the nail on the head. Especially if she was going 70 instead of 60 like so many do when they pull campers. You start to sway, make too radical of a counter steer, start going back and forth each time a little farther, and the result is frequently what you see here.
Kyle Mattson
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 11:09 p.m.
The SUV was an Excursion. I'm not sure if you can get any larger of an SUV than that. The trailer was a typical (non 5th wheel) camper, so doubt it was due to that combination.
Kyle Mattson
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 9:27 p.m.
Hi all- This is the first time we've had a reader send in a dashcam video of an accident they witnessed. Does anyone else regularly record video from their vehicle?
jns131
Sun, Apr 7, 2013 : 4:29 a.m.
In Russia they do due to the large number of insurance claims. As for me? Nope.
zigziggityzoo
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 6:27 p.m.
I've been wanting to get a dashcam for some time now.
a2cents
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 2:17 a.m.
Handy for bicyclists in vehicle encounters... prosecution aid.
5c0++ H4d13y
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 2:06 a.m.
I will start soon.
Phil K.
Sat, Apr 6, 2013 : 1 a.m.
Occasionally. GoPro and Contour both make inexpensive (-ish), small, easy to use cameras that make dashcam recording pretty simple. They're fixed focus cameras, and all the settings are only adjustable when connected to a computer. The only trick is getting a mount, so I use a Monsterpod flexible mount that I can stick on the dash and remove later. (IMO the contour is easier to mount, since it has a standard 1/4 20 thread hole.) Notably, some Russian insurance companies have started mandating their use due to the high instances of insurance fraud. I made a habit of recording my drive on days where the weather was lousy. Just in case I got in a fender bender. The cameras are great in the summer for taking out to the lake or knocking around with in the pool. I wouldn't have bought the camera *just* for dash cam recording, but since I've got one,. I do it.
justcurious
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 9:25 p.m.
There are so many reasons that this could have happened, one being a mismatch between the trailer and the vehicle towing it. The hitch must be of the right type and at the right height and the vehicle must be able to pull the load correctly. I certainly hope this woman will be able to recover from this. I hope her dogs will be cared for.
WalkingJoe
Fri, Apr 5, 2013 : 9:21 p.m.
Wow.