Have you ever wondered about what the worst way to tow a car would be? I mean, somewhat realistically worst, not, like, using your braided pubes tied to a tow hitch kind of worst. I mean like normal daily-living sort of worst. And I think this question has been answered by some intrepid and possibly cheap but definitely misguided DIY car-towers in Texas. They seem to have managed this remarkable feat of dangerous half-assery around Houston, and happily no one was hurt, but oh man, what a mess.
The towing debacle happened a few days ago on the 610 Loop in Houston, when a man’s Saab 9-3 convertible broke down, and, not having the money for a tow truck, called his girlfriend to bring her Ford Expedition to give him a tow. She did, and they hitched the Saab to the Ford via a chain, but for some unknown reason, decided to tow it backwards, with what must have been an unsecured steering wheel, because that Saab was flopping all over the road like a disgruntled sturgeon.
News reports suggest that “an axle broke” though I’m wondering if what we’re seeing is just the result of not securing the steering, though it’s certainly possible that there was some suspension damage as well, leading to the wild fishtailing.
Here, watch the video, and feel that uneasy mix of schadenfreude and discomfort that comes from watching a mess like this unfold:
There were some eyewitness videos from street level, too, which really show just how mucg that car was whipping around:
You can see they’re in a particularly bad spot, with no good shoulder to pull over onto, and I suspect a good amount of panic is at play here, causing them to keep driving, hoping the whole situation will just be over soon.
The driver of the Saab, who went on to drive the SUV, was 32-year old Dontae Brown, who was arrested on unrelated charges, though in what may be an act of realization that the man’s day was going bad enough already, no charges were issued for the idiotic towing attempt.
Part of me can sort of commiserate here; I’ve definitely had times when I’ve been broke with a broken down car, and done some desperate things to get it back home, like driving backwards through town at 3 am because my car was jammed in reverse.
In this case, though, I think the lesson is don’t tow a car with the wheels that steer unsecured. It won’t go well.
I about lost my shit seeing this dumb dude through the side window apparently whip sawing the Saab’s wheel then noticing the brake lights going on and off. That day his girlfriend gave him the special ride he deserved before the cops gave him a ride to jail on his unrelated, no doubt dumb criminal type, warrant.
It’s Houston. Par for the course. I’ve seen an Altima tow a broken down Ram 3500, but they at least had the sense to tow it facing forwards to steer.
This. For everyone who hasn’t lived in Houston this is a crazy stupid thing to both do and see, but for Houstonians it’s just Tuesday.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ass-backward
They should add this street view video.
I assume the front tow eye screw was nowhere to be found? However, the rear tie down was right there ready to use, so why not? Obviously he had no idea about rear steering. He does now.
I’m a bit stunned he wasn’t injured by all the whipping around. And can you imagine the cell conversation going on between them during all that. Hahahaha, that poor woman.
Ford needs to make a commercial out of this. The Expedition was Boss!
I hope he was arrested for crimes against Saabs, but that’s just me.
If we’re not going to charge people for such reckless, and dangerous, stupidity – how will people not learn?
By blown tires, broken axles, and severe public shaming.
Well, they were going to arrest him, but then he gave them a Saab story and they took pity on him.
In all seriousness, it’s technically the female driver of the Ford that should have been ticketed, as she was doing the towing.
I’m guessing she was pressured into it, and learned a few hard lessons that day. She’s lucky her car wasn’t severely damaged. I’m okay with her not getting ticketed, as dumbass boyfriend went to the clink anyway due to the outstanding warrants.
Seems like a good use of police discretion, to me anyway.
I doubt anything done in a pickup can be considered a crime in Texas.
I think the ending note about the open warrant probably instigated this…episode. If you’re stopped on the side of the road it won’t be long until highway patrol shows up, so instead of taking the time to do it right they hooked this thing up to get out as soon as possible.
I concur. A broken cluch slave cylinder got a cousin of mine arrested, funnily enough he lied to the officer and said he was his older brother who also had a warrant for driving on a suspended license. My uncle had to go bail him out and had to identify which of his two sons the officer had arrested because both of them had warrants for the same thing. Not a good day for the arrestee, but funny enough to brighten the officer’s day.
Oh that’s pretty funny. Yeah the cops know what’s what, I had one question me about my cousin when I rolled my Neon(early morning/black ice/curve/guardrail situation). There I am still in shock and the officer on the scene is like, if you know where he is we’d appreciate it, just want to help him get things squared away.
I’m sitting there like my only car is sitting in the ditch totaled and this guy’s asking about my heroine addict cousin, nice. Then another car slide off in the same spot and wound up on someone’s yard so they refocused on the situation at hand.
I’m guessing the reason they decided to tow it backwards was for one of two reasons. #1 it was parked in a spot with the back out so they just hooked it up like that and didn’t think to turn it around. #2 they couldn’t find a place to attach the chain at the front.
Had they been pulling it from the front they would have been fine as you would be able to steer it.
From other reporting – the girlfriend was driving the SUV, the arrested dumbass was IN the poor Saab trying to steer and brake. And you can see him flopping around in there in the low level video.
Must have been a wild ride – how dumb does girlfriend have to be to obliviously keep going as the Saab is wildly fishtailing all over the place? How did she think “I’ll just keep going, it will be FINE”? Unreal. Houston – giving Florida a run for it’s money for a hundred years.
Yeah I don’t understand why she kept on going. Maybe she doesn’t know how to use a mirror, for more than checking her makeup?
Wait, so he did plan on staying inside to steer and brake, and they still decided to tow it backwards? It seems like all of that would be a lot easier facing the right direction
The last thing he told her was “Don’t stop for anything!”
I thought it was “why did you turn?!”