Pole Dancing Gone Wrong

[dperone]

We received a call from the state police to respond to a overturned vehicle. Knowing the area and the fact that vehicles that crash there usually leave the roadway and are pretty demolished, we immediately dispatched my dad in a flatbed and myself in a wheel lift. When we arrived we found a car that stuck a telephone pole and went off the roadway, rolling at least twice and landing on it's roof. 3 out of the 4 wheels were only holding on by the brake hoses and the 4th didn't look to be on the greatest shape either. Luckily the wires from the broken pole stayed about 12' off the ground so we had plenty of room to work.

 

I decided to do the recovery in the field the car landed in as it was solid ground. I also didn't want to block the road anymore than I had to, as it's the only direct road connecting a couple of towns. I elected to reverse roll it and as such backed as close as I could to the car.

 

 

The upright was fairly straightforward and once it was on it's wheels, or what was left of them, I winched the back end around so our flatbed didn't have to block the road to load the casualty. We had a couple of big car parts to remove from the yard, some of them made it quite a ways from where the car landed. Luckily for us though most of the junk that was on the car stayed in the car. Why is it that every car that rolls over is loaded with a ton of junk?

 

I love when they land off of the road and we have plenty of room to work, it takes a lot of the pressure off when you aren't worried about blocking the road. Jobs like these always seem to go smoother and quicker than jobs where you have to rush to open the road. 

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by dperone

[Orcas Tow]

Nice reverse roll, I prefer that method rather than rolling towards you, more consistent without the chance of it sliding on its roof towards you.

[dperone]

21 hours ago, Orcas Tow said:

Nice reverse roll, I prefer that method rather than rolling towards you, more consistent without the chance of it sliding on its roof towards you.

I also prefer it, I like to work close to the casualty and I've never had a reverse roll fight me to come over