Boat Ramp Incident

[Phil Lilley]

Yesterday a gentleman was putting his boat in at our neightbor's ramp (Ozark Trout Resort). It's a steep, tight ramp. He put the truck in park and walked back to prepare to slide the boat in the water. The truck jumped out of park and rolled into the lake, rolling over his left leg and possibly both legs.

Help was quick to get to him. There was a retired EMT on the scene. They applied pressure to a 8 inch laceration just above his left knee that was deep but no arteries were severed. They took him to Springfield where I've heard his lower left leg and ankle were broke and possibly some muscles torn. But his prognosis is good. He is 54 years old and was just starting his vacation with family.

The truck, trailer and boat floated out into the lake and down about 100 yards. Someone unhooked the boat, which was still floating, and the truck sank to the bottom. The Corp was called and generation was shut down till the truck was taken out about 9:30 pm last night. The truck- a brand new Toyota Titan- nice looking truck!

Another lesson- always set your parking brake on a ramp.

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

What a story - glad to hear things will turn out okay. Yup - always set the parking brake and if it's steep enough, put some chocks behind the rear wheels.

John

[Terry Beeson]

Wow... What a bummer. I've witnessed some "dumb" things at boat ramps and some honest "D'OH"s as well. Most of them cause damage to property... but personal injury is always a possibility. Yeah... let's be careful out there...

Glad to hear the prognosis is good...

[BrianK]

i've never heard of a vehicle 'jumping' out of park even on a steep incline.

Especially on a new vehicle.

yeah, kinda scary.

even most parking brakes i've known let the vehicle roll back when taken out of park.

[mcp633]

I'm not a big car guy, but I've had one "pop" out of park and take a solo drive on me as well . I was told the mechanism on an auto tranny that holds the vehicle in park is nothing more than a pin that engages a hole in the park "gear". That's why you always get that little extra roll on a hill when you put it in park. Sometimes the pin doesn't always engage the hole fully. I imagine that's probably what happened there.

I've seen a few trucks and trailers "back" themselves into lakes. Always tough to see. I'm glad the feller didn't get hurt worse.

[gonefishin]

They will do it. Park on an automatic is nothing more than a pin that protrueds into a gear. They work amazingly well for no more than there is to them but the pin is spring loaded so it is wise to remember that popping out of gear, especially under a heavy load, is always a possibility.

So much for the Toyota Titan being able to stop and hold a 30,000 lb trailer as they show on the commercial huh??

[drbewley]

I wondered why they turned the water off around 3:00 or so that afternoon.

[The Caddis]

I hope the guys OK.

On another note, anyone get any pics?

[jcoberley]

I had a for pickup that used to jump out of park when loaded. LOL I knew fords were tough but I never thought they were tough enough for Toyota to use there tranny. But tough is tough I guess! LOL

[flipper]

the older fords with the c-6 tranny were notorious for this. my brother had one do it . he had started it and let it warm up on fast idle when it jumped into reverse and hit a greyhound bus that was parked behind it. totaled the pickup.was on flat ground when it happened.can't be too careful.