Accident rates

Yeah, I was kind of thinking that too. I used to travel lots and lots of miles every year and I think I've seen a couple trailer accident and that covers a lot of years.

rhagfo wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

Which are involved in more accidents motor homes or 5th wheels / travel trailers and could the weak link be brake systems?

TT's and 5'ers win hands down and it has nothing to do with the weak link being the brakes.

Certainly not a proven statistic but observed first hand:
8 years on the road full time RV'ing and I have NOT seen one MH accident on the road.

I HAVE seen "NUMEROUS" TT and fifth-wheel accidents. I'd see one every week. Sometimes 2 a week. I try to make a point of 'never' being behind a TT or FW.

1. Where they hit someone and then jackknife,
2. Flipped upside down jackknifed in the ditch all by themselves.
3. and I've witnessed them driving down the road and loose control and jackknife often taking other innocent drivers with them.

Soooo from my 8 years of observations and thousands of miles on the road, IMHO, JMHO....the winners are TT's and 5'ers. :C

Likely because there are more of them. In order TT, 5er's, then MH.

More likely, completely made up numbers. I don't think I've seen 1 RV crash per year. Certainly aren't seeing a trailer per week crashed unless he is running them off the road intentionally.

rockhillmanor wrote:

Which are involved in more accidents motor homes or 5th wheels / travel trailers and could the weak link be brake systems?

TT's and 5'ers win hands down and it has nothing to do with the weak link being the brakes.

Certainly not a proven statistic but observed first hand:
8 years on the road full time RV'ing and I have NOT seen one MH accident on the road.

I HAVE seen "NUMEROUS" TT and fifth-wheel accidents. I'd see one every week. Sometimes 2 a week. I try to make a point of 'never' being behind a TT or FW.

1. Where they hit someone and then jackknife,
2. Flipped upside down jackknifed in the ditch all by themselves.
3. and I've witnessed them driving down the road and loose control and jackknife often taking other innocent drivers with them.

Soooo from my 8 years of observations and thousands of miles on the road, IMHO, JMHO....the winners are TT's and 5'ers. :C

Likely because there are more of them. In order TT, 5er's, then MH.

Which are involved in more accidents motor homes or 5th wheels / travel trailers and could the weak link be brake systems?

TT's and 5'ers win hands down and it has nothing to do with the weak link being the brakes.

Certainly not a proven statistic but observed first hand:
8 years on the road full time RV'ing and I have NOT seen one MH accident on the road.

I HAVE seen "NUMEROUS" TT and fifth-wheel accidents. I'd see one every week. Sometimes 2 a week. I try to make a point of 'never' being behind a TT or FW.

1. Where they hit someone and then jackknife,
2. Flipped upside down jackknifed in the ditch all by themselves.
3. and I've witnessed them driving down the road and loose control and jackknife often taking other innocent drivers with them.

Soooo from my 8 years of observations and thousands of miles on the road, IMHO, JMHO....the winners are TT's and 5'ers. :C

beemerphile1 wrote:
I highly doubt there are any meaningful statistics available. Even if there were, each of us is a case study of one and are not bound by a statistic.

The more important question; which you you rather be riding in when in an accident? A tow vehicle which has to pas very strict regulations and has multiple passive restraints such as air bags, or a MH that has virtually no requirements or testing?

IMO we are NOT THAT ignorant. IMO we knowingly know that the "box" we drive will easily turn to matchsticks, in a serious accident. It's a tradeoff, we enjoy the comfort and pleasure and convenience of a large motorhome while trying to be a safe driver on the road. Drivers cause accidents, if YOU are a safe driver, then you have to "profile" all other drivers. Always drive as if they were substandard drivers,....out to get you.

I highly doubt there are any meaningful statistics available. Even if there were, each of us is a case study of one and are not bound by a statistic.

The more important question; which you you rather be riding in when in an accident? A tow vehicle which has to pas very strict regulations and has multiple passive restraints such as air bags, or a MH that has virtually no requirements or testing?

I do statistical crash analysis for a living. The data is collected on the crash reports and it gets into the database but I've never had need to dig into it for work.

Trying to say one type is safer than another gets messy really quick. As others have said driver age and experience can play a big role. Maintenance is another big question. A great many RV's are not kept up sitting for months at a time.

I would expect negligible differences assume all types are well maintained, kept within appropriate weight ratings and you take extra care driving until you know how they perform.

I'm guilty of the same thing as most RV drivers.

I started towing a bigger, heavier rig than I ever had training for planning to learn 'on the road'.

That said, most of us do take it easy at first, try to learn and do get better over the miles.

As opposed to the professional truck drivers with whom we share the road. Who must undergo training, medical exams and detailed drivers license exams and road tests.

The biggest 'proof' I can offer that such OJT isn't inherently dangerous is insurance rates. I've found that liability insurance rates are not higher just because one is driving a motorhome/ towing a large trailer.

I'm absolutely certain that if there were high accident rates, the insurance companies would know and would charge noticeable higher rates.

Note - most companies which offer RV insurance will give a nice discount if a person takes an RV driving training session/ course.

As to type of accident/ accident rates - my RV insurance broker tells me that the vast majority of claims are for campground type damage, backing into something, driving under too low a tree and breaking something, failure to unhook water or electric, cutting a corner too close and hitting something.

Highway accidents are relatively rare.

No doubt, there's not enough RV accidents to warrant bothering with, statistically. We simply don't have very many fatal RV accidents. Actually, I always avoid them. Not that my reactions are very quick, it's just that my ANTICIPATION is excellent.

the bear II wrote:
I know this isn't scientific but based on my observations while travelling and news reports I see more MHs involved in accidents.

My theory.... MHs typically travel faster than trailers on the roads.

Motor homes are often driven by people who have NO idea how to safely drive and no experience driving a vehicle that large and with air brakes.

But more to the question. Accidents are complicated things. Many factors come to a delta in an accident. It is RARELY one thing that brings on an accident.

We gain nothing by trying to over-simplify what is essentially a complex set of circumstances.