Trailers and motorways

Having had a trailer and landrover written off by a lorry driving into the back of us on the motorway I would never again tow on the motorway, you don't realise how vunerable you are. The only reason the horse escaped with cuts and bruises was because the trailer came off and was fiblreglass and the front split open catapulting him out.
 
I have towed along motorways and I have to say I didn't think any different from driving on a dual carraigeway. I was 99% of the time in the lefthand lane keeping to the 60 mph speed limit.

I think its probably like most things. Accidents can happen anytime or anywhere for various different reasons. Sometimes you can just be blooming unlucky.

I wouldn't let the fact that accidents happen on motorways stop me from towing on them if I needed to. I moved from London to Yorkshire with my horse so it was a long enough journey without avoiding the motorway which was the shortest route. Coming back down again when we moved 3 years later we again had no problems at all.

There are thoughtless idiot drivers everywhere. I'm always getting cut up by some upstart who thinks he can overtake a horse trailer where its not safe to on an A road or pull out in front of you and then forcing me to hit the brakes. You just always have to have your wits about you and half expect people to do the most careless things.
 
I have never liked towing on the motorway; I hate the feeling of being 'sucked in' and spat out by passing lorries. Have also heard so many horror stories of trailer accidents that I have just bought a small lorry and feel so much more confident. Having said that, I am sure hundreds of people tow on the motorway every day with no problems.
 
I was in an accident with a trailer being towed by a discovery. We snaked, and flipped over (car flipped too). This was due to the ridges in the inside lane on the motoeway that are worn by the big trucks. We were not going more than 50mph at the time.

Both horses were fine thankfully, but I never liked trailers to start with, and I wouldn't travel a horse of mine in one. Taking my HGV test in Jan, so will be able to drive our wagin then, which will make life so much easier :)
 
I too will never drive a trailer again having stopped to help pick up the pieces of a trailer accident on the M25 in early October. The trailer was clipped by a car in the middle lane when the driver looked down to change radio station. Trailer was in the inside lane and doing no more than 50mph according to the trailer driver (horrid weather conditions). The trailer flipped and catapulted the horse out of the roof of the trailer and he somersaulted across all 3 lanes of traffic before getting up and running off along the motorway.

We were empty in the queue of traffic that ensued -motorway was shut and would have remained so for a few hours, but we spoke to the police and volunteered to pick up the horse and get it off the motorway. By some kind of miracle he was a saint - cuts and bruises (although I believe he went to RVC for a scan a few weeks later in case there were any fractures) was very mildly sedated by a vet on the scene and then calmly walked onto our lorry.......bless him.

As I say - I will never tow again - what I saw that night must be every horse owners nightmare.........
 
Hmm, what I thought :(. We're thinking of selling our lorry (costs a lot each year in repairs around MOT time and is always off the road for those repairs for ages), and replacing it with a trailer. There is a lot we can go to locally so motorways aren't necessary, but if any of them qualified for anything bigger, would then have to hire something I think. Probably cheaper than the £500 a year the lorry seems to cost though (not incl insurance and tax)!
 
I have to say a wheel fell off my trailer this year, driving home on my own from Wales and the West on the M4.
44848_427307258517_512583517_4671303_65553_n.jpg


44848_427307268517_512583517_4671305_3547816_n.jpg


the trailer never moved a bit at 60mph, except a little shudder, it stayed balanced during my cruise onto the shoulder and was stable whilst we moved my mare to the other side of the trailer ( when the Highways Patrol came to see me!)

40220_426944313517_512583517_4659992_3440572_n.jpg


after signing a disclaimer to say any death or injury would not be anybodys fault she was winched onto a high loader
40220_426944318517_512583517_4659993_1323841_n.jpg

secured

40220_426944323517_512583517_4659994_2850039_n.jpg


and taken 1/2 a mile to the nearest services where she was winched down, unloaded and reloaded onto a rescue transporters lorry.

The trailer was fixed and we continue to travel in it.

Yes its an Equitrek, but its what we have. It is also a braked trailer with a very well balanced chassis and stable axle. I hold my towing licence and adhere to all the rules, written and unwritten. The yellow tape doesnt just match the trailer to the vehicle, its reflective and we are adding red to the back to bring us in line with lorry regulations too so we look obvious.

There are horror stories about anything and everything, Ive been involved with a few trailer accidents, but I feel safe on the motorway with my horse- even safer than just driving down A and B roads TBH. I would rather a motorway journey over most other journeys!
 
There are horror stories about cars, trailers, lorries, etc etc.

If a journey needs to og on the motorway, then we do. Drive carefully, look ahead, plan your movements even more than you would when driving a car.

Its all well and good saying buy a lorry, but not everyone has the cash to buy a lorry and maintain it, whereas a trailer can be bought & maintained for far less each year.
 
I have towed 1000's and 1000's of miles up and down motorways and never had an issue.

imo accidents are caused by bad driving by the person towing or if someone crashes into you, it is likely they would crash into you regardless of what you are driving.

make sure you have a big enough and heavy enough 4x4 so you don't get sucked in by HGVs passing- we've never experienced that on the motorway but have a huge 4x4.
 
My friends horse was killed after a trailer flipped on the motorway only 2 months ago - the trailer smashed into pieces leaving the horses loose - the drivers horse survived - hers did not. It was a terrible tragedy. I hate driving my trailer on motorways but that happening made me all the more wary.
 
I don't like travelling on motorways full stop, trailer or not but one thing I would like you all to do is keep your top doors shut at all times on a motorway. It makes a huge difference, suckage wise when lorries are overtaking you; not many horses, even those very good in traffic like anything large following closely either and a friend, travelling with her top doors open got one hooked up on a lorries trailing rope which started pulling her around; only for a quick witted lorry driver overtaking that lorry and slowing him down stopped an horrific accident happening so please, keep your top doors shut.
 
I have driven up and down the country many times with both an Ifor, and laterly with an Equitrek. I agee with Millitiger, that most accidents are probably caused by an incorrect towing vehicle, and other drivers who would cause an accident regardless.

When I last changed my towing car, I hoped I would be getting an Equitrek, so both something that I knew was big and heavy enough to tow it, and the horses that would be in it.

I can't say I've ever had a problem, and dual carriageways must equally cause the same amount of accidents, as lorries are still winging past you.
 
I travel 35,000 miles per year on business and have done for over 30 years. In all that time I have NEVER seen a horse trailer accident, thank goodness. Yet I have seen dozens of flipped over caravans, hundreds smashed lorries, white vans, bashed cars and one or two horrific crashes (and associated corpses).

Driving on the motorway requires far more skill and concentration than people think and more attention than many people these days are prepared to give it, what with the kids, radio, phone or text messages to worry about.

I know I'm a safe driver, it's all the other b*ggers that bother me!
 
I'd much rather choose a motorway over any other type of road to tow along.

No bends, no narrow lanes, almost no chance of a head on with an oncoming vehicle, no need for following cars to overtake dangerously, no need to brake. Well signed so no trundling along looking for junctions, and a dedicated hard shoulder for breakdowns or avoiding other vehicles.

Compare that to your typical A or B road where everyone is in a rush to overtake, blind bends, oncoming lorries and potholes.

The only downside to motorways is overtaking coaches that can pull you off course, but just stay alert, watch the mirrors and you'll be ready for them.
 
NeilM said:
I travel 35,000 miles per year on business and have done for over 30 years. In all that time I have NEVER seen a horse trailer accident, thank goodness. Yet I have seen dozens of flipped over caravans, hundreds smashed lorries, white vans, bashed cars and one or two horrific crashes (and associated corpses).
Click to expand...


I agree, the thing that bothers me about the 3.5 Tons, compared to trailers, is a friend pointed out if they flip to the left, and I've seen a few large white vans do this, then there is no means of a quick escape for the horses.

With a trailer 'most' have a front ramp, and the larger horse boxes have rear ramps, which is less likely to get trapped. That said I recently let my horse make a 200+ mile trip in a 3.5 ton and she arrived like she'd just gone down the road, I wouldn't have let her do the same trip in the trailer, as I thought she'd be too cramped.

In an ideal world I'd only travel in an Oakley Supremacy! :D
 
Nothing is 100% safe but you can do an awfull lot to reduce the odds of an accident.Always use an anti snake device,they are cheap enough and really work. You can easily fit the lorry reflective chevrons with a few pop rivets,again very cheap and far better than paint. Always check your rear lights are working. Those lights on the eqitreck are "mickey mouse" and should be replaced with better ones.And as for loosing a wheel,that is down to poor maintenance or a really bad mechanic.
 
Eek, this is making me nervous. I want to buy a new trailer, one reason is that if it goes much over 40 mph it starts to bounce. It is fine for local journeys, but if I want to go further afield or go on a motorway I really don't like it. I think the biggest worry is that drivers don't realise how slowly a trailer is going, and I have nearly had my wing mirror taken off. Things improved when I got a large yellow sign on the back of the trailer saying "Slow Vehicle Horses in Transit" and I have noticed that vehicles start to overtake from a long way back now. The tape to match a lorry is a good idea.

I agree with keeping the doors shut, in fact I would like to have a trailer that can be shut up a long way. Still looking to find the right one.

I also intend to buy a stabiliser to fit between the towing vehicle and the trailer.
 
I drove from Lincolnshire to Sussex driving a Peugeot 405 towing a horrible old Sinclair trailer, we came down the A1(M) onto the M11, M25 over the Dartford Bridge, Down the M23 with no trouble at all.
When I got the pony out at the other end he was fine and after that travelled better than he ever had done!
 
Check you have a decent well maintained tow vehicle with plenty of tow capacity, that the tow bar is at the right hight for the trailer the trailer brakes are working 100% the tyres are at the recomended presure and no cuts bulges or cracks, keep a safe distance from the car infront no sudden manuvers dont fight the steering if it wobles alittle and maintain a steady speed to match the conditions and other trafic, not so slow that it causes danger or inconveiance to you or other road users should be about 55/60 in good weather/ light traffic..... stay safe out there ......
 
Motorways are nice and smooth and straight, on the whole :)

When you know a big lorry is coming past, don't tense; know that there will be that bit of movement and just be prepared to hold the whole rig steady :)

Hugh the Huge Trailer is a three horse trailer. Big, solid, heavy, with chunky van wheels. In the process of being refurbished from top to toe, so we know everything is sound and works. It will be towed by a diesel Discovery, which is well up to the job :)

Whoever suggested the lorry plates, thank you :). Will get some added fitted!

So saying, I do prefer a lorry for all sorts of reasons, but would never have any trailer or lorry with just a side ramp.
 
Dont forget the anti snaking device, worth its weight in gold,and go to your local auto electrical shop. ( a specialist,not your local auto factors or...cringe.. Halfords) and get a really good set of rear lights ,and wire in a fog lamp. Rear fog lamps are compulsory but how many trailers have them? It doesnt get picked up because trailers arent MOT,d. Side marker lights are another good thing,not just reflectors.
 
I have towed up and down the motorways for years with a Defender and 510 Ivor Williams and never had any problems.
Dont get sucked in when getting overtaken, or get any swaying.
The only thing i dont like is when you have to go on the hard shoulder due to road works, but hat that in my car too!!
 
angelish said:
motorway trailer accidents are not always caused by bad driving or unmaintained 4x4 or trailers

i think its very ignorant to say it would be bad driving to blame ,you have obviously not had or know anyone who has had a trailer accident :(
Click to expand...

I agree, not always ,probably only 90%.
 
I will NEVER travel my horse in a trailer as know of too many people, and that is people I actually knowm not friends of friends etc, who have had horrible accidents when towing. I only know of a couple of accidents that friends have had in lorries, the worst of them being when a motorcyclist went under a friend's horsebox and was killed. It was the motorcyclist's fault though but horrific for my friend.

When I see people flying along towing trailers it just makes me worried watching them so i certainly wouldn't want to swap my lorry for one!

I also disagree about the poor driving causing the accidents, I think this is rarely the case.

Oh and Lucemoose - did that recovery truck put your trailer on their lorry with the horse still inside?? If so then that's shocking, they are NOT supposed to do that at all!
 
angelish said:
motorway trailer accidents are not always caused by bad driving or unmaintained 4x4 or trailers

i think its very ignorant to say it would be bad driving to blame ,you have obviously not had or know anyone who has had a trailer accident :(
Click to expand...
I dont think anyone is saying they are but that making sure your doing it right lowers the risk but dosent guard against other mupets and yes the roads are full of them mostly at the weekend,
 
ladyt25 said:
When I see people flying along towing trailers it just makes me worried watching them so i certainly wouldn't want to swap my lorry for one!


I also disagree about the poor driving causing the accidents, I think this is rarely the case.

Oh and Lucemoose - did that recovery truck put your trailer on their lorry with the horse still inside?? If so then that's shocking, they are NOT supposed to do that at all!
Click to expand...

When I see people flying along towing trailers it just makes me worried watching them

that sounds like poor driving to me.

Are you suggesting they should have unloaded the horse on the M4:eek::confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top