Be Very Afraid!

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BobnLarkie

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Joined
Dec 1, 2012
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Iowa
We're very new to the RV life. We're suffering through our first winter of not being able to "head up north" to our new 5th wheel. We seasonally park it in Southeast Minnesota for the summer months. I don't have a truck, we have it "placed" and stored by the dealer we bought it from. I can't wait to start pulling it around the country! Then I see this (Attached picture),  And it reminds me of what can happen. I took this picture on I-80 between Iowa City and Des Moines. A bad storm the night before and there were over 100 vehicles in the ditch, including another 5th wheel laying on it's side that I didn't get a pic of. Now here's my point. The unfortunate people who put these rigs in the ditch were probably very experienced drivers. Unfortunately, mother nature cares not how much experience you have. Be careful folks and be very very afraid of the weather. Pull over.
My first 2 cents worth!
Bob
 

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I think of it as respect, recognize, and react. 

First respect hazardous weather, sometimes the weather is too strong for safe travel.  Either high winds, torrential rains, or severe winter weather. 

Second recognize what you're dealing with, the dangers involved, and if continuing in the present conditions are worth the risk.  An ice warning device is helpful in this kind of winter weather.  And in all kinds of weather, following distance, following distance, following distance.  In an RV, rarely is it worth attempting the drive in bad weather conditions.  Plus, it's just not fun, and isn't that why we're in an RV in the first place?

Third, heed your first instinct.  Few things are worth the risk of "cooling off in the ditch."  In white knuckle conditions it's usually best to find the nearest safe place to settle in, get comfortable and ride it out.  And pulling over on the shoulder, or even worse, stopping in the middle of the lane is most times not the safest place to ride it out.

Just my two cents.
 
Every time I see something like this I wonder just how fast was he going.  Certainly speed is not the only factor when dealing with high winds, but I suspect it is the major factor.
 
Yikes!  Scary.  Mother nature always wins.  Watch the weather reports, and if things look hairy, hunker down and ride it out.  Out here our biggest problem is high wind.  Seen a lot of RV carnage over the years. 
 
Like how 99WinAdventurer37G said it.  I learned to drive in that kind of weather way back in the middle 1960s.  Would have never gotten a truck driving job had I been afraid of it.  Retired out of  the industry about 9 years ago.  Had a good career doing it.  Some called us Suicide Jockeys cause I hauled petroleum products, gasoline, diesel fuel, Jet A and JP8, along with 350f degree plus liquid asphalt.  Never ended up in the median or in the snow bank, and only once had to put on chains.  And I delivered all over the lake effect snow region of western New York State south of Buffalo, NY.  That area you ofen see on the Weather Channel 

Yep, it is all about respect, recognize, and react and some common sense.  The common sense part was knowing enough to get off the NYS Thruway during a lake effect snow storm.  I did, and always got back to the terminal, while others got stranded on the Thruway because the authorities shut it down.  The back roads did not have as many nuts to deal with, plus you could see telephone poles for landmarks for staying on the road during a white out.   
 
I thought that why you have the RV.  ::)

You suppose to pull over and ride out the storm in the comfort of your rolling home. Not pushing to white knuckle experiences to what hurry up and reach your next camping spot. I always though that was rather foolish pushing when weather conditions are not good. I rather be a day late getting back to work knowing that my family and I are safe and sound and no damage to the RV or truck.

So if the weather changes while travelling pull off and wait it out.
 
Rule #1 of winter accidents: the sun is always shining the day you pull the vehicle out of the snow bank. Look at the grill of the pick up, I'll bet the roads were not clear when it went in there.
 
Jeff said:
Rule #1 of winter accidents: the sun is always shining the day you pull the vehicle out of the snow bank. Look at the grill of the pick up, I'll bet the roads were not clear when it went in there.
Click to expand...

Yea... Snow drifted right into the grill since it slid off the highway.
 
Regarding high winds and speed... How fast is too fast? 

A lot depends on which quarter the wind is coming from Dead astern, and I mean the tumble weeds are going straight down the road your RV can easily survive 100MPH but do not consider I mean do not even THINK about turning (Been there in fact, got great MPG).

True story: Two of us ham types were both headed to the same general area, following the same road (This was in 2007 by the way on teh way to Quartsize via Palmdale Ca and Indio Ca from Las Vegas)  I was about a day ahead of the other driver.. We both stopped at a Flying-J I do nto recall if I spent the night or not, but i got to Palmdale just fine before the worst of the blow hit.

He stopped at the J and decided it was a bit too.. Risky,  So he called ahead to the campground he had reservations at "I don't think I'm going to make it today, Too windy to drive"  They said "That's ok, you can't come in just now anyway.  "

He ask why.

Seems a class A was exiting, caught a wind guest and rolled over on it's side.

Folks, this is park speed, less than 10 MPH.
 
Jeff said:
Rule #1 of winter accidents: the sun is always shining the day you pull the vehicle out of the snow bank. Look at the grill of the pick up, I'll bet the roads were not clear when it went in there.
Click to expand...
I just figured the snow on the grill was from slamming into the snow bank/drift. Makes sense that it might have been there for a day or two, though. There is also some caution tape on the rear of the 5er which supports this theory.
 
Irover said:
Yes; Some just seem to be in a big rush to get to the hospital or their grave!!!! The smarter ones think about their options!!!
Click to expand...

Or as my flight instructor used to say (in the context of making a decision about going or not going in certain weather conditions): "Stop and think about how it would look in the accident report".
 
Sudden Crosswinds?

It was a sunny day when we watched the semi-trailer in front of us slide into the shoulder while the U-Haul truck just behind him was pushed from one lane to the next.  A severe crosswind swept down the valley and across the interstate. We hit the brakes and stopped on the shoulder with the RV pushed sideways by 3-5 feet. There was no early warning other than the vehicles ahead of us. We were glad that they hadn?t been passing us when the wind struck.

There were tornado warnings in camp that evening.
 
Just to be clear on the conditions at the time this rig went in. The picture is the day after the storm. Heavy Snow and 25mph winds gusting to 35-40 the NIGHT BEFORE. It started late evening here in Des Moines and worked it's way east. Horrible driving conditions even in a 4 wheel drive! I saw a few of those in the ditch too!
 
That must have been an interesting recovery by some tow truck operator.  If I was the owner and the tow truck driver did a good job and was polite about doing his business I surely would have given him a nice tip.

Had a recent incident with a tow truck operator and my pick-up truck that the dw drove over a landscaping boulder with.  Damage was minimal (busted radiator).  The tow truck operator was great.  I tipped him $20.  He asked if I knew how & was willing to replace the radiator.  I told him yes.  He called a buddy and got me a deal on a brand new radiator for the truck at around $100.  My normal cost would have been north of $200.  My $20 tip saved me $100+.  Good karma and tipping works out pretty nice sometimes.
 
Cross winds can be tricky. I saw photos on a hunting forum here in Texas where the cross winds rolled both the tow vehicle and travel trailer. Both we totally distroyed.
 
We get ugly crosswinds out here.  More than once I've towed it home at 30 MPH down the highway with the flashers going.  Wasn't a big deal....the rest of the traffic wasn't going much faster.  Even cars were getting tossed around.  Nowadays I would have just hunkered down for another day....two if necessary.  My employer will just have to understand.
 
Frizlefrak you did the right thing.

But I would of gone a step farther. I would of rolled slowly and got off the highway parked to weather conditions changed. Like out here in southern Idaho it get wicked for cross wind on highway I-84. I've been known to get off the interstates and crawl along quieter state highways or just stop and wait out the weather.
 
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