Terrifying trailer driving

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Mooseontheloose

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I was just coming down the A14 between Newmarket and Bury this afternoon in an ordinary vehicle, running on the speed limit (or maybe a tiny bit over!) when I was overtaken by a black mercedes jeep - pulling a bright pink trailer with a horse in.
It then proceeded to weave in and out of the lanes with no indicators or brake lights and went off into the distance.
I thought I would try and catch it up so I could get the number, but it was too fast for me!
Who does think it appropriate to drive a trailer at that speed? Apart from the legal limit being 60 mph, poor horse.
 
No it is not and ludicrous to do it, I had one pass me doing 70 when I was doing 65. Why do it and risk killing your horse or killing others in the process, shame you don't have a dash cam or got the number. Poor horse
 
I came across something similar on the M5 many years ago. The car and trailer pulled off at Worcester (late for the races?). I duly pulled off myself at the same junction and called in at the police station to report him. Truly shocking driving, well over 70mph at times and overtaking in the outside lane at times too. I have no time for eejits like that.
 
Well, It could have been someone else's life or death emergency carrying on like that. They were driving away from Newmarket so I suspect not.
Even in an emergency it's not safe to drive at that speed, and with an injured stressed or sick horse? Really?
 
Stupid idiot. Unfortunatly I know of people (generally the ones who haven't had to do a trailer test) drive with a trailer in exactly the same lunatic fashion they drive their cars
 
Antw23uk said:
Perhaps it was going to the vets in a life or death emergency?
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Well if that was an emergency would you not want to at least make sure the horse arrives in one piece, weaving from lane to lane will make the horse swerve from side to side and that will not do any good in an emergency specially if a fracture involved and if it ends up upside down in a trailer will it!!

Any number of accidents could have been caused by reckless driving.

Remember my vet coming to look at a horse and said RVC now!!!!!!! I drove the horse up sensibly and in one piece. No excuse for speeding how ever much you need to get there, I am sure others agree.
 
Our YO was driving down the A419 and was overtaken by a trailer/4x4, it then flipped over. He stopped to assist. Miraculous that no one, not even the horses, were hurt. It is so dangerous to drive that way
 
please note, LEGAL SPEED LIMITS towing ANY trailer are 50 mph on any road when out of restricted(30 + 40 mph areas) including big wide A roads, and 60 mph on dual carriageways and motorways.
 
well I was going down the A11 a few weeks ago and was doing 70 in the inside lane and a 4 x 4 pulling a trailer came past me in the middle lane really fast, and was almost out of sight in a couple of mins. I was shocked to see a horse in the trailer and really worried that they would have an accident. I came off at the next junction so hope it was all ok. what a nutter!!!!!!!
 
If it was on the A 11 could have been the one that over took me, though you wouldn't have missed the pink trailer!
No, I didn't call the police, don't have a hands free and not sure police are terribly interested. They're often stationed on the A14 in places, in fact on my way to Newmarket one had pulled over a transit.
It was a dual carriageway, but only two lane at that point, so 60 would def have been the limit. Even that's quite fast with a horse on board, I feel.
 
I was driving on that same road a few years ago when a tatty transit with a loaded trailer came flying down a slip road in the Newmarket area, acting in exactly the same way.

Sheer lunacy.
 
Mooseontheloose said:
If it was on the A 11 could have been the one that over took me, though you wouldn't have missed the pink trailer!
No, I didn't call the police, don't have a hands free and not sure police are terribly interested. They're often stationed on the A14 in places, in fact on my way to Newmarket one had pulled over a transit.
It was a dual carriageway, but only two lane at that point, so 60 would def have been the limit. Even that's quite fast with a horse on board, I feel.[/QUOT
definately not a pink trailer, I am sure I would have noticed, I cant imagine what speed he must have been doing, poor horse....
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Mooseontheloose said:
I was just coming down the A14 between Newmarket and Bury this afternoon in an ordinary vehicle, running on the speed limit (or maybe a tiny bit over!) when I was overtaken by a black mercedes jeep - pulling a bright pink trailer with a horse in.
It then proceeded to weave in and out of the lanes with no indicators or brake lights and went off into the distance.
I thought I would try and catch it up so I could get the number, but it was too fast for me!
Who does think it appropriate to drive a trailer at that speed? Apart from the legal limit being 60 mph, poor horse.
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Its OK for you to break the law ,yet you can be judgemental about others driving please!!
Before I get shot down you stated in the other post you were doing over 70 pot and kettle come to mind.
It is really their business.
 
popsdosh said:
Its OK for you to break the law ,yet you can be judgemental about others driving please!!
Before I get shot down you stated in the other post you were doing over 70 pot and kettle come to mind.
It is really their business.
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with a horse on board i think its ok for us to be judgmental. i am a boring person who always keeps to the speed limit but can understand how someone driving a car can be a bit over. however if the limit for a trailer is 50mph then 70mph is excessive IMO!!!!
 
Yes Poshdosh, I was probably doing about 72-3. Oh shame on me. I'll go and hand myself into the nearest nick straight away!
However I'm an HGV driver and a trailer driver and I have my WATO qualification and my CPC, so I think I do feel I can be judgemental in this case.
Had I got a hands free I would have called the police and I would have freely admitted the speed I was going.
And before you say I should have pulled onto the hard shoulder to do it, I really wouldn't want an arctic up my backside!
 
Having had a trailer accident at 50mph I think it is madness speeding while towing a trailer, I mean come on - it should be your pride and joy in the back worth thousands of pounds and priceless sentimentality. It only takes one idiot to brake hard or have a blow out for the car towing to brake suddenly and then snake. I had one pass me doing over 70mph on the motorway and I was doing 68mph.

Question is why???? what is so important than you risk your horse's life speeding. We hear of these accidents on the news, and just because the driver is an idiot and reckless why should the horse be the one to pay since he is the one more often than not with no travel gear - no seat belt - and in a transport notorious to flipping over once it starts to snake. He trust the human when he goes into this dark claustrophobic mode of transport so why let him down and risk his or her life.

My trainer recently was driving 3 horses for her boss when and I cannot reveal what happened, but needless to say it resulted with a mare in foal dying lots of claret and a nightmare for her. This was NOT speed related but still resulted in death, no one was to blame. So why do others gamble with their horses by speeding as the old saying goes


Better to arrive late than not at all.
 
You are all judging it as being dangerous! Personally horse trailers travelling at 40 mph on fast roads are more likely to be involved in an accident. Some drivers should not be towing at any speed. Slow speed does not make it any safer.
I tow regularly(10k a year) and it indeed is most comfortable and safer in my opinion at near the national speed limit on any road. If what your towing does not feel safe at those speeds frankly something is wrong and you shouldnt be towing full stop.
 
It is not only dangerous to those involved but those around. I don't agree and I am sure others won't as your more likely to snake it at speed due to to other large vehicles around increasing the risk of snaking.


I wonder how many caravan turn overs were due to going too slow - I doubt many I tow many times a year and it is far safer driving around 50 than going faster specially if you have to brake quickly due to a car in front blow out.



Also remember some cars towing caravans are classic cars going to events those cars wont tow at speed as the cars are worth thousands, they could be left hand drive vehicles on a right hand side road so they for example drive more carefully due to foreign country.


Horse trailers IMO are more likely to wobble due to the horse inside moving and causing instability specially if he panics in there and starts the chain off, in an emergency with a horse in the back I would much rather drive at a sensible speed


S P P E E D K I L L S!!!!


maybe ROG could give us some examples of safety towing at the correct speed.
 
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I think Rog would agree that you should be travelling to keep up with the flow of traffic whenever possible .Holding up HGVs on roads is a recipe for disaster in my book In my experience most snaking is caused by outside factors such as badly adjusted tow hitch levels or tyre inflation which are the drivers responsibility to correct before setting off. In all the miles I have travelled towing I have only ever had one trailer overturn and that was on the back of a tractor towing cattle and due to a mechanical failure on an IWT at about 12mph. I never nowadays suffer any snaking since going away from Land rovers of any description also by travelling at a decent speed and avoiding running in the tracks on the nearside of dual carriage and motorways as much as you can . This is easily achieved by just altering your position in the road slightly.

The main reason I came in on this thread is because what do speeding vigilantes achieve apart from winding everybody up the exact same effect a trailer travelling at 50mph on a motorway causes.
 
Mooseontheloose said:
Yes poshdosh, most of us on this thread consider towing at nearly 80 mph dangerous. Don't you? Or was it you driving, perhaps!
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Perhaps I consider trailers travelling at 50 mph when the speed limit is 60 just as dangerous. I will horrify you but I have towed at in excess of 90 mph however not illegally.
I am sorry but two peoples perception of dangerous is always different what they did is not what I would do but then I probably do things you or they wouldnt. Coming from that area I can guess who it was and you may have been wrong in one important assumption of the situation,enough said.
 
When towing a horse trailer the driver should tow it within their ability as well as being SAFE, legal and progressive - in that order

If the drivers ability is lacking then my advice is to get some help
 
Well ty but I will continue to tow my trailer and caravan at 55mph - 60mph .

Type of vehicle comes into it too as not all towing vehicles are 4 x 4 and this can reflect the towing speed and some of the cars as I said are classics and owners will not risk their car.



Also driving faster while towing means you have to over take more slower vehicles which in itself is more dangerous trying to go fast enough to over take which upsets other road users.

I prefer others to overtake me than me trying to get out into fast moving traffic to get past an old guy driving.

enough said..............



Speed limits

You must not drive faster than the speed limit for the type of road and your type of vehicle. The speed limit is the absolute maximum - it doesn’t mean it’s safe to drive at this speed in all conditions.
 
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