i really feel bad for this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icXipapYSmg

good thing is so many ppl stop to help  as they could have just turn around and left

but i do think of one thing  i see so many ask  on websites like this one  can i get my Rv down this road 

after looking at the post they get back its all ways 50/50 and ppl saying yes and no 

i hope this guy was not part of the 50/50

I didn't see where this is, but it looks like Needles Highway in South Dakota.  The spectators commented that there were multiple signs warning not to take an RV through the road.  Yes, I feel for the guy.....but this is what my daddy affectionately referred to as a "stupidity tax". 

I feel sorry for the people stuck behind him, but not the guy who messed up.  Even if he missed the warning signs, it should have been pretty obvious he had no business trying to get a trailer down that road. I don't have much sympathy for stupid.

Stupidity reigns supreme !

terry735001 said:

...i do think of one thing  i see so many ask  on websites like this one  can i get my Rv down this road  after looking at the post they get back its all ways 50/50 and ppl saying yes and no  i hope this guy was not part of the 50/50

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It is not uncommon on several websites for "experts" to claim they have driven their large RV's over roads like the one shown and even dirt ones like the Moki Dugway (UT-261). I have seen numerous posts saying that the length limits on roads like BIA-13 in AZ; US-191 near Clifton, AZ; and AZ-Alt89 through Jerome only apply to commercial vehicles and that it can be done in an RV. For the inexperienced that follow these recommendations, while it may become obvious that the road is a bad choice, there may not be any place to turn around. I can remember heading to a popular National Forest boondocking site in a Class C and coming to a very large tree completely blocking the road. Fortunately I was not towing anything, but had to backup on the winding gravel road  for what seemed like miles before being able to execute a 200 point U-turn, poking the overhang between rocks and trees.

Yes, people do a lot of stupid things and sometimes one of them is taking advise from other stupid people.

He eventually got around the turn....so It looks to me that he cut the corner too tight and could have made it if he had made a wide swing even if he had to wait for oncoming traffic. That's just inexperience or maybe he was on his cell phone.

Sorry... I really don't feel bad for him either. You should always be ware of the road, limitations, and the fact your still dragging a trailer. Like in my case 11.5 feet tall and total length with truck 52 feet long.

and AZ-Alt89 through Jerome

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Last winter there was a guy sitting in the lot outside Galpin RV in Dewey, AZ that I talked to while I was waiting on an oil change. He had a large diesel pusher and the whole passenger side was scraped off - from just behind the entry door to the rear end. He came through Jerome and on an inside curve stayed too far to the right and met up with a rock wall. It was not a pretty sight.

Bill

In our years on the road my wife and I have met several of these people.  I took to saying that there are just some folks who really need to take the bus tour.

In a previous post someone mentioned that he might have been on the cell phone.  I'm pretty sure that person was correct and I know exactly what he said, "Hello, is this the claims department?"

And I wondered why Progressive wanted to raise our rates.  :

I wonder if there was a sequel videographed by someone following him down the rest of the "cars only" road  ???

Meanwhile, I'm not in the "call him stupid" camp; There have been many self-confessions here, including my own, of folks who have done dumb things, and I suspect there are many more who haven't 'fessed up.

Tom said:

I wonder if there was a sequel videographed by someone following him down the rest of the "cars only" road  ???

Meanwhile, I'm not in the "call him stupid" camp; There have been many self-confessions here, including my own, of folks who have done dumb things, and I suspect there are many more who haven't 'fessed up.

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Tom....all of us have done stuff that should have (or did) cause us to have the "stupidity tax" invoked on us.  If we keep doing this long enough, odds are we will fall into that category once again.  But c'mon....this one goes beyond that.  MULTIPLE warnings not to do it.....and when he came upon the hairpin turn, he further cemented his dumb status.  It HAD to be obvious....There are dumb mistakes, and then there are people who just think the rules do not apply to them.....Me thinks this guy is the latter....

I agree with the poster above....had he swung the turn correctly, he probably would have made it around without dumping it in the ditch and hanging it up on a rock.  I won't speculate that he was on his cell phone....no way of knowing that....but it wouldn't surprise me.

There is a campground at the base of the Organ mountains....primitive, but neat.  Wifey asked if we could take the RV there.  I took a spin up there in my car....BIG sign said no trailers beyond 19'.  I couldn't understand why....until I got about 4 miles in.  There was the sharpest hairpin I've ever seen, and a deep ravine at the bottom of it.  I told her the only way we are camping there is in a tent. 

Highway 15 north of Silver City, NM going toward the Gila Wilderness is clearly marked (several times) no trailers beyond 21'.  Heed the warning.  It's a gorgeous drive, but it will result in what you see in the video above if you try it with a big trailer. 

Warnings are there for a reason....

... had he swung the turn correctly, he probably would have made it around without dumping it in the ditch and hanging it up on a rock.

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No disagreement. The title of the video said "Old guy ....". I wonder how old and if his driving &/or judgement are impaired. OTOH in my younger days I used to think that anyone over 35 was old and anyone over 40 was pre-historic.

Meanwhile, I deal with a lot of folks in our local communities who are 80+ and 90+. It sometimes tests my patience and, when I'm on the phone, my other half rolls here eyes listening to one half of the conversation that she's heard over and over. When I hang up, I say "one day that might be me on the other end of the phone".

My kids have been told if Sue outlives me to set her up near one of them but if it's me to have someone drive the m/h to Livingston, take the keys, and I will spend my days sitting in the driver's seat drooling on the smart wheel.

We have an 80'ish neighbor who sold his coach a few years ago. He occasionally tells me he wishes he hadn't sold it. But, when we carpool to a nearby town (weekly) and it's his turn to drive, he often doesn't remember which turns to make.

As I often tell kids and grandkids who laugh at my goofs "your turn will come".

catblaster said:

He eventually got around the turn....so It looks to me that he cut the corner too tight and could have made it if he had made a wide swing even if he had to wait for oncoming traffic. That's just inexperience or maybe he was on his cell phone.

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He had already come through that underpass/tunnel and scraped off one air conditioner and ripped off his awning.  He didn't have too many alternatives on the curve, and I'm sure, was so rattled that he couldn't possibly make a "good" decision.  Backing up, at that point, was not an option I guess.

My father didn't get this far but the video is what I was worried about. He and my mother had a couple motor homes over the years. They lived in Phoenix. My mother wanted a new MH and a trip back here to PA. Dad dragged his feet. My mother died. Dad, who was 92 at the time, decided he would buy a MH and do it alone. We went out to Phoenix to see him. I didn't want him to try to drive across the country. Meanwhile, he decided he didn't want the MH and offered it to me - free. We are happy with our TT. We set up home away from home then hop in the truck and go sight seeing so I declined. He sold the MH without a single mile except getting it home. Next thing I hear is that he spent a fortune on a Mercedes MH. Again, he decided he didn't want it and again it had no miles. He took it back to the dealer and the crook wouldn't give back something like $30,000. The whole point is this. You get an "old" guy who got away with a lot when he was younger and he thinks he can still do that stuff. The guy in the video screwing up that hairpin turn no doubt thought he could do it when he started out on that road. It's a sad situation but it would probably be for the best if very old RV operators needed to pass a test before climbing behind the wheel. Hope I don't start anything with this!  :

You don't have to be "old" to screw up.  On our maiden voyage in 2002 we headed up the Pacific Coast Highway beginning around Santa Maria with a destination of Monterey. I'd traveled this route many times...on a MOTORCYCLE!!  Somewhere just north of Santa Maria a sign went whizzing by the passenger window that said "Max kingpin to axle length 28 feet".  As I'm doing the calculations in my head I realized that I was too long but I soldiered on anyway. Long story short, it was a VERY unpleasant 75 miles!!  Lesson learned.

Foto-n-T said:

You don't have to be "old" to screw up.

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I can attest to that!  I took a wrong turn in our 35' Class A motorhome (luckily it was just a campground road and not a highway) and had an iffy time getting around several tight loops without a sticky situation.  Luckily our motorhome already some small dings and scuffs, because I know I put a couple more on it via some fence posts and other non-moving obstacles.  The campground spectators came out of the woodwork to watch me suffer through it too!

Tom said:

Meanwhile, I deal with a lot of folks in our local communities who are 80+ and 90+. It sometimes tests my patience and, when I'm on the phone, my other half rolls here eyes listening to one half of the conversation that she's heard over and over.

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Although the exception and not the rule, my perception of ages 80-90 was greatly altered the other day after watching a PBS documentary on the U.S. Senior Olympics... specifically table tennis (ping pong) competitors in the "over 80" and "over 85" age ranges.  Those old folks were amazing!  Watch it if you get a chance, I'm betting it's available somewhere on the PBS website.

And to add fuel to the age fire.....I've seen people who were ancient at 40, and young at 85.  I don't think this one was an age thing....probably more of a stubborn thing.  Most older people I know have the sense to know their limitations and not try to exceed them.  Some of the younger folks still haven't quite learned that lesson at 40....