Peterbaron, that story is horrifying, and very sad. Working for a travelling racing series, I talk with people who haul trucks and trailers all year long, and I get to hear many stories. Unfortunately, I have heard of trailer wheel separations more than a few times, and a few of them resulted in injuries. In a few instances, the rig owners have been extremely remorseful, admitting that they had ignored trailer maintenance, like repacking wheel bearings.
Gin60, you are absolutely right, very often I see campers jacked up with no wheel or blown/raptured tire...or doing 120+km/h...
I wonder if the owners have any idea what is the rpm of their 8 - 9 - 10 - 12 - inch trailer's tire and max load..?????
Sad story.
Australian truck routes are littered with the pieces of retread flung from truck wheels. I live in fear of being taken out by one.
I have had experiences being behind tractor trailers that threw their retread tires. The results did damage to my trailer and two atv’s , of course the truck kept going. This is the reason I never ride a bike on any interstate highways. If I had been on a motorcycle when that happened I would have been severely injured or dead. Retread tires should be outlawed. Just my 2 cents.
We call them Road Alligators. A few mornings ago, I noticed a coworker's car had a chunk of front bumper missing, with a big black mark on what was left. She hit one on the freeway. One of the benefits of heavy trucks being restricted from the left lane and carpool lane around here is that riders can keep to the left and avoid them for the most part.
Ministry Transportation of Ontario, Passenger / Light-Duty Vehicle Inspection Standard/DOT
Tire Tread Condition:
Reject if:
a) retread (re-capped or rebuilt tire)
b) retreaded tire is installed in any location on vehicle
In my state, trucks are free to occupy any lane of the freeway they wish. It’s a lot of fun to get stuck in traffic on a steep grade when all three lanes are occupied by semi’s going 20 mph (especially when the roads are snow packed and folks don’t have 4WD or AWD).
A few times I've forgotten here in CA... that is, until I hear a few whoop-whoops from a CHP siren, and notice the black-and-white in my right mirror, getting my attention and politely blocking a right lane for me so that I can move back over. Oops.
Mythbusters did a show on this a few years back. They couldn't quite replicate the story of a moto driver being decapitated by a delaminating retread truck tire but I have always been aware of it ever since.