Freak accident

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Hfx_Cdn

Hfx_Cdn

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    On another string there has been some discussion about not risking your lives by avoiding required maintenance.  Well kind of jumping to conclusions, here is an article of an RV that couldn't stop, jumped over a partially raise ramp for a ferry, and we totally destroyed, with the RV driver fatally injured.
    We have never been on that route, but I have been researching it as a scenic detour for an upcoming trip to care for grandchildren mid July.  The pictures show the RV to be in pieces all over the back of the ferry, it is little wonder there were casualtie, but the driver is being credited for doing whatever he could to avoid having made it worse.

Ed

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/tadoussac-ferry-crash-1.5187948

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/victim-tadoussac-ferry-crash-identified-eric-belec-1.5188874
 
We were actually in Tadoussac when the accident happened.  We had just finished lunch and were on our way to a whale watching excursion.  When we finished a few hours later we couldn't take the ferry and had to drive an extra 100km back to Quebec. 

From that side of the fjord the road to the ferry is down a steep hill.  There were lots of people in line who wanted to return to Quebec after a holiday weekend.  All we can assume is that the driver realized he couldn't stop and must have gone down the unused lane of traffic towards the ferry.  According to the article he tried to reduce speed by swerving but was unable to keep his motorhome from going airborne at the ferry ramp.  Very tragic.
 
Yeah,  jumping to conclusions...

Good possibly it was just driver error, and or inexperience with driving a large vehicle. 

I've seen people panic trying to stop... and stomp down on both pedals at the same time.
 
  @sightseers - I prefer to believe in the goodness of people and that they made choices that may have lead to their own demise rather than take out innocents to save themselves.  Either way, a tragic event....

-Chak
 
Chak....I believe everything that happens in life,  including death....is part of a journey.
 
Brake failure can happen with very little warning, I had it happen to me in a car around 20 years ago,  As I recall the car was a '89 Mazda was about 10-12 years old at the time, at about 120,000 miles, it was generally in good repair, though was starting to show its age.  I was driving home from work (15 mile commute), was almost home, about 1/2 mile from home I stopped at a red light, felt something slightly off on the brake pedal, sort of felt like I may have hit a small oil puddle as I came to a stop, nothing that seemed significant.  I turned a corner, went a block and did not stop at the next stop sign, blew right through the intersection, pedal went to the floor and had to use the emergency brake to stop half a block later.  I slowly drove on home the last few hundred feet and then to a nearby shop the next morning using the hand brake, where they found the master cylinder had completely failed. 
 
I read the article the driver did everythng he could to warn of his runaway vehicle and get people out of the way. His actions very likely saved more than one life.. Sadly he lost his.

So clearly the brakes failed.. As noted above this can happen suddenly.. A brake line brakes and you got nothing or next to nothing  just  YOu pull up to a red light. everything works  You pull up to the next light. NOTHING works.
 
Came around a corner on a 2 lane country road to find some fool dead stopped in the middle of the road.  Stabbed the brake pedal hard and it went to the floor.  Managed to miss the fool, all the trees, and the guys mailbox that was right there.  When I finally got stopped, I discovered that one of the rubber brake hoses to the front caliper had broken when I hit the brakes.  All 3 of those rubber lines got replaced the next day.
 
sightseers said:
Yeah,  jumping to conclusions...

Good possibly it was just driver error, and or inexperience with driving a large vehicle. 

I've seen people panic trying to stop... and stomp down on both pedals at the same time.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are jumping to conclusions. The police present at the scene say likely mechanical issue. I would prioritize the view of professionals at the scene over keyboards hundreds or thousands of miles away.
 
About once a week I see on the News where someone pulling into a 7/11 steps on the wrong pedal... and drives through the store.
 
    Here is an updated article, unfortunately it is in French, but google does a reasonable job translating it.  What it does say is that the driver, who owned an auto parts store, took meticulous care of the RV and that he had just changed the brakes.  It re-enforces the comments that he tried to avoid hitting others.  We probably will never hear what caused the mechanical failure, but from what is quoted, it does not seem to be skipped maintenance.

Ed
 
Sounds likely it could be related to the recent brake work done. 

Very sad.

 
sightseers said:
Sounds likely it could be related to the recent brake work done. 

Very sad.
Click to expand...

I just changed my calipers and pads on the front of my truck 4 hours ago. Now it's got me wondering if I had forgotten something.
 
Hfx_Cdn said:
    Here is an updated article, unfortunately it is in French, but google does a reasonable job translating it.  What it does say is that the driver, who owned an auto parts store, took meticulous care of the RV and that he had just changed the brakes.  It re-enforces the comments that he tried to avoid hitting others.  We probably will never hear what caused the mechanical failure, but from what is quoted, it does not seem to be skipped maintenance.

Ed
Click to expand...
Did you remove the article reference Ed?? (I speak French so it would be of interest to me, a least.)
 
Stu, I must have just forgot to add it to the post, and a quick google search didn't bring it up again.  I think it was a CBC post.  I'll look for it later today and post it if I can find it. They interviewed family members, and called the RV his baby.

Ed
 
Thank you Ed, CBC in French is Radio Canada,  and to Ren?: Oui!! ......  and it would be "parlez-vous..." (heh heh)
 
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