20-12-11, 04:18 PM
a few years ago my buddy was towing his flatbed car trailer (heading home) when the traffic lights he was approaching changed to red. it was a bit of a brisk stop, but he had room and time. what he didn't expect was the bump and crash he suddenly felt, and upon looking in his rear view mirror could see an elderly lady in a corsa (IIRC) looking very pale and a lot closer than she should have been. turns out she had been tailgaiting him and when he stopped quickly the front of the car dipped, raising the back, lifting the towbar and thus lowering the rear of the trailer at just the right angle for the little old lady to bounce up onto the trailer.
same buddy used to import ex swedish army volvo trucks - 4x4 and 6x6 wheelbases. he'd travel over to sweden, buy the truck and drive it back, heading straight to the local DVLA office to register it. one time he'd parked a 6x6 in two spaces (yes, they're big) outside the DVLA office in Glasgow and came out to find a towtruck fitting the wheel clamps to lift the 6x6 volvo onto the flatbed to take to the pound. he just stood there and watched (in kinks) as the operator started the hoist to find that it wasn't up to the job of lifting the volvo and proceeded to instead roll the towtruck onto it's side.
same buddy used to import ex swedish army volvo trucks - 4x4 and 6x6 wheelbases. he'd travel over to sweden, buy the truck and drive it back, heading straight to the local DVLA office to register it. one time he'd parked a 6x6 in two spaces (yes, they're big) outside the DVLA office in Glasgow and came out to find a towtruck fitting the wheel clamps to lift the 6x6 volvo onto the flatbed to take to the pound. he just stood there and watched (in kinks) as the operator started the hoist to find that it wasn't up to the job of lifting the volvo and proceeded to instead roll the towtruck onto it's side.