RAC refused to help breakdown because they had dogs inside the vehicle

bugslet

Presumably you know why the truck jack-knifed? Until you know that, you can't say.

thorsoak

The lorry veered onto the hard shoulder, hit the 35ft motorhome and then jack-knifed.

custardy

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

I learned to drive in the 80s and even then you were told not to sit in your car on the hard shoulder.

In fact, when we frequently broke down in the 70s my father had us all get out of the car and sit well away from the road. It happened so often, it seemed to be part of our holiday!

Just want to add that I'm not blaming these ladies at all. My anger at the situation is reserved entirely for the truck driver.

well thats had a lot of thought put top it

thorsoak

http://www.dogworld.co.uk/product.php/104798

Interview with the owner of the dogs.

System

thorsoak wrote: »

http://www.dogworld.co.uk/product.php/104798

Interview with the owner of the dogs.

That article states that the RAC were a couple of minutes away and that the three women had begun collecting personal belongings.

That kind of goes against what the majority of this thread has been about.

kiss_me_now9

thorsoak wrote: »

Quite. And smaller dogs would have been far more distressed - which is why they were kept contained in the campervan. No-one would expect to take horses out of a horsebox if they were involved in a breakdown, would they?

Nope, and horses *have* died in similar circumstances because they can't be moved.

However there is a massive difference between a half tonne, 1.6 metre tall at the shoulder, and incredibly skittish horse and a dog that weighs ~30kg and is under your knee height in terms of control.

I hate to say it but - horses being hit by cars kill the people inside when they go up in the air and onto the roof or through the windscreen. A dog doesn't. A dog is more agile as well, and even with twelve, would arguably easier to keep under control (especially with three people - two dogs in each hand, up the embankment). Two people with four horses 1) wouldn't fit up an embankment, and 2) almost certainly wouldn't be sticking around there for long with all the traffic sounds and spooky situations.

Person_one

kiss_me_now9 wrote: »

Nope, and horses *have* died in similar circumstances because they can't be moved.

However there is a massive difference between a half tonne, 1.6 metre tall at the shoulder, and incredibly skittish horse and a dog that weighs ~30kg and is under your knee height in terms of control.

I hate to say it but - horses being hit by cars kill the people inside when they go up in the air and onto the roof or through the windscreen. A dog doesn't. A dog is more agile as well, and even with twelve, would arguably easier to keep under control (especially with three people - two dogs in each hand, up the embankment). Two people with four horses 1) wouldn't fit up an embankment, and 2) almost certainly wouldn't be sticking around there for long with all the traffic sounds and spooky situations.

So even if they manage to safely get all 12 dogs out of their crates and onto leads without any mishaps, you've now got three people stuck on an embankment potentially for hours, who have no hands free between them and need to concentrate fiercely on making sure the dogs stay secured and calm. Its dark, its freezing cold, and one wrong move or even a sneeze could mean the deaths of many.

Whatever anybody says, they did the right thing by leaving the dogs where they were, secured and as safe as possible. There was no possible way to make them 100% safe in this situation.

custardy

Person_one wrote: »

So even if they manage to safely get all 12 dogs out of their crates and onto leads without any mishaps, you've now got three people stuck on an embankment potentially for hours, who have no hands free between them and need to concentrate fiercely on making sure the dogs stay secured and calm. Its dark, its freezing cold, and one wrong move or even a sneeze could mean the deaths of many.

Whatever anybody says, they did the right thing by leaving the dogs where they were, secured and as safe as possible. There was no possible way to make them 100% safe in this situation.

So to be clear
3 people,12 dogs
dogs all in crates apparently

So small dogs lifted in crates
larger dogs taken on leads and put into crates on embankment
Dogs have fur coats
people will no doubt have clothes given the size of their vehicle
sneeze all they want

Also as I said before. If it were me(and I assume they coasted or were under power)
I would have had my vehicle further over on the embankment
it was a gentle slope and plenty of space

meritaten

oh and three women could push a 35 foot motorhome up onto a steep embankment? how about making the hard shoulder a bit wider?

thorsoak

Had they been taking the dogs out of the car, they would have to have taken them out of the door which opened onto the slow traffic lane.