Thrown to the curb
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Horrified motorists saw Dr. Monika Woroniecka, 58, cling for dear life to the door handle of the family's trailer before she lost her grip and struck her head on the shoulder of State Route 12E in Watertown on Saturday, New York State Police said in a release.
"They were going for an Airbnb in Cape Vincent to see the eclipse. They stopped at an ice cream place about 20 minutes before they were going to get [there], that's when they decided to have the mother, the daughter and the daughter's boyfriend get in the back of the camper," Trooper Jack Keller told Fox News Digital.
"They were in the back in the camper, that's when the victim noticed the door ajar and tried to close it. She fell out and struck her head and ultimately succumbed to those injuries," Keller said.
"The doors on the Airstream open the opposite way that you would expect. It doesn’t take an engineering degree to know that on any moving vehicle, whether a bus or a car or a trailer, doors should open against the wind, not towards it," Helena told the Post. "That seems like a significant safety oversight to me and seems like the only reason they do open that way is to protect the awning of the trailer."
In an email to Fox News Digital, Airstream wrote that its trailers weren't built for passengers when they are in motion:
"Airstream travel trailers are not designed to carry passengers while in motion," the company wrote. "The safety protocol detailed in Airstream’s operating manuals and shared on Airstream’s website advises owners that they cannot tow an Airstream with people inside. Many states prohibit carrying passengers in a travel trailer or fifth wheel."
The company also included a quote from Monika Geraci of the RV Industry Association, who added that towable recreational vehicles aren't equipped with seatbelts or safe seating positions because they are not designed to carry passengers while the vehicle is in motion and that all passengers should ride in the towing vehicle with seatbelts affixed.
New York state law prohibits anyone from riding inside a trailer while it is being pulled by a separate vehicle.
Helena addressed the company's advisories in her interview with the Post:
"Sure, maybe Airstream doesn’t advise traveling inside the trailer. But we thought maybe that the last 20 minutes of an eight-hour drive on very quiet and slow country roads would be fine," she told the outlet. "And it’s perfectly legal to do so in some states... It was just a crazy accident... There’s nobody to blame. This is nobody’s fault."
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Seems like the daughter kinda backtracks…
I’m not an engineer, and can’t speak to the door design, but I imagine there are a lot of considerations… I do know that it’s not even great to ride in the back of a Class C while in motion. Trailers? Far worse.
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They have her on video saying it is nobody’s fault.
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Another important distinction, in a trailer there is no way for the driver to know something is wrong…
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Another important distinction, in a trailer there is no way for the driver to know something is wrong…
@LuFins-Dad said in Thrown to the curb:
Another important distinction, in a trailer there is no way for the driver to know something is wrong…
I was thinking about that. I wonder if the door was visible in the driver's side-view mirror.
