PSA: Freak accident kills man

For privacy reasons I'm leaving out the family name etc, but this is a reminder that pulling stuck vehicles can be very dangerous and in this case deadly. I wouldn't know how to do this properly. Perhaps a pinned thread some place on proper attach locations with images etc is out here somewhere.

A family is mourning after the father of three was killed in a freak accident after trying to help strangers stuck in the mud following a storm in the area. Never recover with a tow ball hitch. It’s weak. It’s not made for recovery, it’s made for towing.

 

Damn.

 

I saw this story as well... to add some context, they attached a tow strap to a cheap drop hitch and the hitch sheered in half, flew through the windshield, folded the steering wheel in half and nailed the driver, killing him instantly. Truly tragic.

Always use rated recovery gear. Never attach to a tow hitch. Always use caution and safery measures, no matter how desperately you want to get unstuck.

 

☹️

 

The danger of good intentions, unfortunately. When in doubt get the person out. Hood up with recoveries is always solid advice. More metal between you and danger is never a bad thing. That truck is big and looks suctioned in to boot.

Peace to the family and the poor folks that were just trying to help.

 

A shackle hitch is cheap, buy one if you’re going to recover anything

 

Definitely don't cheap out on gear...
That said; knowledge and the proper use of the right tools and techniques would have saved his life.

If anyone is looking for good gear, I recommend products from OKoffroad.com. One of the few sites I've found who will publish working and shock load limits. For a shackle hitch, I have this https://okoffroad.com/stuff-receiverbracket-mega.htm with 1" Crosby D-shackle https://okoffroad.com/stuff-shackles-mega.htm ...stored in the tool box, not the hitch.

 

That sucks...

RIP

 

To make matters worse, his wife and kids were in the truck with him.

And unfortunately its not a freak accident, but a known danger, especially when yanking with a hitch.

Terribly, excruciatingly sad and completely avoidable.

 

The suction factor on that rig was insane. It might as well been set in concrete given the circumstances. What a shitty way to go.

These kinds of operations MUST be taken extremely seriously. For 30+ years as an owner/operator Arborist, I've been dealing with generally complicated rigging operations over high value targets / property which is not far off of these kinds of things and risk is never overlooked. Even the smallest risks. Slow down. Everybody involved needs to put their brain in gear and discuss the possibilities and expected outcomes along with the potential risks.

 

That's terrible. Glad his Wife and Kids were not hurt. Sorry to hear about their loss. Truck looks deeply embedded in the mud. Probably dug deep holes with the tires trying get unstuck. I'm no expert at vehicle recovery but think an experienced pro used to doing recovery (with the right equipment) with vehicles in this condition would be the right person to do the recovery. At least take a shovel and remove some of that dirt from in front of the wheels so it's an incline for the wheels to roll up to get out instead of pulling against a dirt wall they tried to get over.

 

Going by the pic, it looks like their truck was the one that was stuck and getting pulled out by another vehicle that the hitch broke on. Is that correct?

 

What a good video.

 

OMG. I’m so sorry

 

I just realized that I have almost none knowledge on recovery… what about these?
Can these be trusted? I bought one almost a year ago and have not used it yet but now I am hesitant….

 

Damn. I don't know if I would even trust a trailer to a draw bar with that kind of rediculous geometry.


It's a terrible tragedy, but I'm seeing a lot of unsafe decisions that culminated towards an unnecessary death.

 

I believe that is correct, and the OP isn't worded correctly.

 

A heavy jacket zipped up or a blanket tied around the strap can help if things go wrong too, a bit of a parachute to slow a broken strap. Soft shackles seem like an even better idea now too, they don’t have the mass of a wrecking ball.