Note: In Most states no regulations are in place except maybe for lights.... for any trailer just one pound under 3,000 pounds. In fact no inspections are done yearly.... and anybody can build one. No Federal regulations are in place for a trailer hitch... but yet since 2003 to 2007 over 2,000 people killed, 120,000 injured and 340,000 things damaged by passenger cars that tow trailers and we do nothing.
Dec 16, 2008 7:06 am US/Eastern Deadly Route 19 Crash Under Investigation
22-Year-Old Woman Flown To UPMC Presbyterian In Stable Condition
NORTH STRABANE TWP. (KDKA) ― Police say they don't know why a trailer broke loose and hit a car, killing a woman on Route 19 in North Strabane Township.
A utility trailer broke loose from a pickup truck as it was headed south.
The trailer bounced over the median and landed on a car in the passing lane headed north.
The car then caught fire. Two women were in the front seat and young girl, three or four years old, was in the backseat.
Michelle Kott, 36, of Ellsworth, was killed.
"The truck lost its trailer. He went down to turn around, came back to find the trailer had collided with a northbound vehicle driven by a white female who is deceased," Washington County Coroner Tim Warco said.
"The trailer was on top of the vehicle so the mother was trying to get the child out of the backseat," George Loutsion, a witness, said. "So I tried to help her get her out of the backseat. We got her off to the side of the road and the other gentleman put the fire out that was – the engine was on fire – and he put the fire out with a fire extinguisher."
A 22-year-old woman was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The child was flown to Children's Hospital.
A utility trailer broke loose from a pickup truck as it was headed south.
The trailer bounced over the median and landed on a car in the passing lane headed north.
The car then caught fire. Two women were in the front seat and young girl, three or four years old, was in the backseat.
Michelle Kott, 36, of Ellsworth, was killed.
"The truck lost its trailer. He went down to turn around, came back to find the trailer had collided with a northbound vehicle driven by a white female who is deceased," Washington County Coroner Tim Warco said.
"The trailer was on top of the vehicle so the mother was trying to get the child out of the backseat," George Loutsion, a witness, said. "So I tried to help her get her out of the backseat. We got her off to the side of the road and the other gentleman put the fire out that was – the engine was on fire – and he put the fire out with a fire extinguisher."
A 22-year-old woman was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The child was flown to Children's Hospital.
A detective in North Strabane Township says they have impounded all the vehicles involved, as well as a van that was damaged slightly.
He said it may be a while before they decide if charges are filed.
