Safe Speed Forums

Someone posted this picture on a boating forum I'm a member of. Basically, someone rear-ended the sailing dinghy he was towing and seriously damaged the towbar of the car (looks like a fiesta).

He was told by the attending police officer to drive the car away! With that much damage to the tow bar I'd be seriously dubious about the condition of the sub-frame and roadworthiness of the car.

For some reason I can't get the image to display

Comments please. Hopefully In Gear or one of his collegues can shed some light on how they judge whether or not a vehicle is safe to drive after an accident.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

I hope he didn't mean drive it away with the boat attached.

If he could unhitch the boat, I'd be likely to agree that the car itself was beyond all reasonable doubt driveable. As long as none of the suspension components were affected. Towbars tend to be attached to the floor and/or rear chassis rails of cars so there's little chance of dmamging the suspension badly in that accident. At worst I'd think he'd have a rippled floor. The car might need put on a jig, but I reckon it'd be safe to drive, but as long as it was without the trailer.

FWIW, it looks like a Peugeot to me.

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If I have to explain you won't understand.

Didn't know you were into boats too Sixy???

Anyway, I guess it depends what the bar was attached to. On my car (1990) the bar bolts to the rear valence, the bottom of the spare wheel well amd the rear crossmember. This kind of accident would have my rear wheels pointing in all sorts of directions! Indeed, I had the misfortune (long story!) to have a trailer "jacknife" on me once in the same type of vehicle and even moving it slowly the few hundred yards to a lay-by, there was a strong smell of bruning rubber as the inside of one of the rear tyres was rubbing on the damper body!

Newer cars, however (post about 1996, I think) are obliged to comply with the EC Directive on "Couplings" (That must be Esperanto for "Tow bars!) 94/20/EC and this obliges the manufacturer to either provide designated points on the chassis for the attachment of a tow bar OR to declare the vehicle unsuitable for towing duties. Maybe as a result of that, it is becoming less common for the manufactuer to use bits of suspension system attachemnt point as part of a tow bar anchorage system these days.

I guess his best bet is to go for a decent 4-wheel alignemnt check before doing anything else, but I guess that doesn't answer your question about whether or not it's safe to move it. "Dunno"! is the honest answer. I guess just visually inspect to see if anything is rubbing and then proceed slowly, stopping to check periodically for things getting hot / rubbing / knocking etc. Myabe call out a recovery organisation to get them to have a quick inspection if the driver isn't at all technical?

Rod - its definately a fiesta. More pics here

Mole - I'm into RIBs. Did a bit of dinghy sailing years ago, but I prefer something with a (big) engine

The fleet:

Dominator

and

Red Mist

Personally I wouldn't have moved it. I would have had the recovery boys out immediately - you just don't know.

As you point out though, if the driver isn't at all technical and presumably the attending police officer isn't a qualified vehicle inspector, upon what does he base his judgement that the vehicle is safe to drive?

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Yeah, it does look bad, but I reckon as long as all the wheels are pointing in the right direction, nothing was fouling and he proceeded without the trailer it'd be safe enough for a short trip on minor roads.

Still a bit risky for the BiB to recommend he proceed with his trip though.

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If I have to explain you won't understand.

Pah! RIBS! Nast horrible noisy things! (bit like cars really)! All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by!

Actually, despite being a "raggie", I'd quite like a go in a powerful speed boat / RIB one day. Years ago when we were beginning to sail, my wife and I rescued an injured dinghy sailor from an island on Windermere. Quite exciting really! We called the lake wardens who came over in a RIB with (IIRC) a couple of 100+ horsepower ouboards on it. As my wife is a doctor, they wanted her to go with them to await the ambulance - leaving me to get our little boat back by myself. The last I remember seeing of my wife was her legs flying up as they opened the throttle and she disappeared backwards into the bottom of the RIB!

Oh god, not a militant yachty?! RUN AWAY!!!

Seriously though, the other half's dad has always had yachts and that's where his interest comes from. Dominator's only a wee baby at 5.4m with 85HP on the back...she'll still make 35mph though. I just happened to stop in Stafford services on the way to Burnley last week and I saw what must have been about an 8m boat with, oh, twin 225s...

I think if we lived closer to the coast we might have a yacht, but at the moment its just not feasable. We'd be looking at £3k a year just to birth one on the South Coast.

Anyway, stop hijacking my thread!

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

LOL she does more than 35mph babe, you can't see the speedo buried in the stops from where you're sat

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Smokebelching,CO2 making,child murdering planet raping,granny mugging,politically incorrect globally warming (or is it climate changing now it's getting colder?)thug.
That's what the government want you to believe of me. If they get back in I'm emigrating.

That's because I'm hanging on for grim death with my eyes screwed shut you hooligan!!!

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.