Firefighters in Sangamon County, Illinois rescued a relatively new GMC Sierra HD pickup from a shallow part of Lake Springfield last week after the vehicle slipped down a boat ramp and sunk.
According to local ABC affiliate ABC20, the owner of the white GMC Sierra HD was backing a boat into Lake Springfield on the Spaulding Dam boat launch last Thursday when the truck began sliding down the ramp.
The Sangamon County Rescue Squad said no one was in the GMC Sierra HD when it began sliding down the boat ramp and no injuries were reported as a result of this rather unfortunate mishap.
“Last night, SCRS responded to Spaulding Dam boat launch at Lake Springfield to assist with the recovery of a submerged vehicle,” the rescue team said in a post shared to its Facebook page last Friday. “No injuries were reported with this incident.”
Boat ramp follies such as this are all-too-common among skippers, but they can be avoided. In an ideal scenario, someone will be behind the wheel of the tow vehicle the entire time the boat is being launched into the water. If the driver does have to get out, they should always put the vehicle in park and activate the handbrake/emergency brake. If the ramp is slippery from algae accumulation, the vehicle owner can use wheel chocks to prevent the tires from slipping down the ramp. Knobby off-road tires are also prone to slipping down ramps as they have a smaller contact patch than regular all-seasons, giving them less grip on concrete or pavement.
Check out this rather humorous (yet sad) clip embedded just below.
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At a time of year when luxury car ATP usually rises.
Sales decreased 5.6 percent to 16,670 units during the first ten months of 2024.
Specifically critical minerals supply chain development.
Scheduled for a Spring 2025 launch.
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This is a scene at the boat launch every year, Last year it was the police department launching their boat, and nobody at the launch tried to help as our local police are pretty strict with speeding tickets and life jacket tickets on the water, all the seasoned boaters despise the local police harassing us as we try to enjoy our lake. Usually in the spring when the first timers are launching their new boat, or people forgot the procedures from the year before. We usually get a crash or 2 at the boat launch every year where 2 boats try to get on the same trailer, it's funny, people get a boat, and then forget how to tie their shoes, it seems?
The irony is those crooks will just write more tickets to pay for the damages they caused.
The issue is that transmission park and parking brakes only hold the rear wheels normally. Often buoyancy from tires, the trailer, and boat lift up the rear end and the vehicle has no stopping power. Leaving it in 4WD helps, but if one of the front wheels lifts, the diff will let the other spin and you're in the same situation.
People don't think about this because it rarely causes an issue on dry land.
Gotta get away?
"Burial at sea". That is all.
No big deal, it was only a Sierra. Thousands of them out there waiting for new owners.
Real good idea to have someone in the truck when launching a boat.
Even worse when loading a boat on a wet ramp!
Does insurance cover stupidity?
That's a little harsh. The guy was trying to launch the boat by himself. Been there and done that. Sometimes fishing buddies just aren't available.
I'm not sure about that. It looks like there were at least two people involved: the guy in the boat, the guy on the dock, and the kid
Funny !!!! Stupid people !! a $60,000 truck worthless now, if they have insurance with Geico good luck getting their $$.
Harvest the chips!!
The truck that thought it was a boat.