Almost truck/motorcycle crash

Incorrect response by the RV driver exacerbated the situation. Guessing he had the trailer brakes turned down for easier "around town" driving, but tends to "push" in a panic stop. He locked up the brakes, and the trailer pushed him around. It's a 400 or so pound motorcycle sideswiping a (assuming 5th wheel, since he said it came through the cab) 20K+ rig...june bug on a windshield unless you overreact (like he did). Hopefully he's got uninsured/underinsured coverage on his own truck and has enough coverage for the trailer, too.

As for the motorcycle, he's lucky nobody got hurt/killed. That level of recklessness...coupled with the lack of insurance...he'd be lucky to avoid criminal charges had there been any serious injuries. As it is, he'll likely lose his license and have to file bankruptcy to avoid the judgement that's heading his way.

 

He may have locked the brakes, but I kinda think it was a dually pickup and the bike hit right at the protruding wheels. Figure a 300# bike still going 90+ mph, and the pickup going 65 mph, that's a lot of energy to hit the axle wheel set dead on. That would have most likely snapped the spring connections to the frame, causing the pickup to want to make an instant "hard left"

 

Actually, if the axle broke loose on the left side and the wheels were pushed back, that would cause the truck to make a hard right. Think about an articulating tractor. Truck jackknifed the wrong way for that to have happened.

I've pulled large trailers with electric brakes, and know how much it sucks to lightly tap the brakes to gradually slow down and have that silly trailer's brakes grab and drag...so I usually set mine at around 25-30% on my controller, which is fine for "normal" driving, but in a panic stop situation, I'm not getting much help from the trailer's brakes. What happens when the back is pushing the front? If given the opportunity, it tries to pass. If the trailer brakes were pulling harder, it would've kept the truck straighter, too, instead of pushing it's way forward and spinning the truck.

 

I don't want to argue, but if the rear axle was shifted out of line about 5-10 degrees, (with the left side being pushed back) that new alignment would cause the truck to want to follow that alignment into the center median.

 

It’s not just the axle but if any part of the suspension gets damage (the leaf springs in particular) that can take the axle out with it.

 

You're only partially correct in that it would send the rear of the truck to the left. However, that would cause the nose of the truck to aim towards the ditch and the jackknife would've sent the trailer into the passenger side of the cab...which isn't what happened. Nose went to the median and the jackknifing trailer hit the driver's side.