Another RV tragedy

drsolo wrote:

JJBIRISH wrote:

8. The seat striking the driver does not bother him because he is already dead... The last three-tenths of the second mean nothing to the driver…

A friend of mine (she is a horrible driver, BTW, I wont drive with her) was looking down checking her day planner and plowed her Toyota into the back end of a jeep. She was doing 50-55 on a country road. She hobbled away. Her car after crash

Modern vehicles with air bags in general protect people. It is best to not disconnect those air bags. Modern vehicles crush to absorb the kinetic energy of the forward movement. It is best not to hit immovable objects.

I bet that jeep swooped and squatted. :s
bumpy

JJBIRISH wrote:

8. The seat striking the driver does not bother him because he is already dead... The last three-tenths of the second mean nothing to the driver…

A friend of mine (she is a horrible driver, BTW, I wont drive with her) was looking down checking her day planner and plowed her Toyota into the back end of a jeep. She was doing 50-55 on a country road. She hobbled away. Her car after crash

Modern vehicles with air bags in general protect people. It is best to not disconnect those air bags. Modern vehicles crush to absorb the kinetic energy of the forward movement. It is best not to hit immovable objects.

I always drive under the limit, let everyone else pass me, never more than 60 mph w/cruise. I stay in the right lane and am always checking for "get me off the road" places. But I keep an eagle eye on the brake lights ahead. They so much as touch them I am on mine. I dont wait to "see" what is happening. And all I drive is a 17 ft conversion van I fitted as an RV that has excellent stopping ability. When I want "bat out of hell" I drive my Miata. In my RV I am not in a hurry to "get" somewhere, I only drive 4-5 hours per day. That is my luxury.

JaxDad wrote:

mlts22 wrote:
Swoop/squats are pretty common, so I would not be surprised in the last. If it was this, I hope they catch the person driving the car ahead and charge them with murder, or at least negligent homicide.

Where does that come from? :h

The report said they came up on a 'set of slow moving vehicles', likely in that area, a group of vehicles lined up behind a slow-moving farm vehicle.

Exactly what I was thinking. This happens everyday, not always with the same tragic results. A lot of crashes are caused by people cruising along and just looking past the hood of there vehicle and not down the road, all of a sudden traffic is stopped or you have slow moving vehicles and now you are swerving or standing on the binders as you are sucking seat upholstery up your rear end. I have certainly been there but by the grace of God it turned out ok.
And please always, always wear your seatbelts.

mlts22 wrote:
Swoop/squats are pretty common, so I would not be surprised in the last. If it was this, I hope they catch the person driving the car ahead and charge them with murder, or at least negligent homicide.

Where does that come from? :h

The report said they came up on a 'set of slow moving vehicles', likely in that area, a group of vehicles lined up behind a slow-moving farm vehicle.

Freightliner motorhome could be referring to a coach such as a Haulmark, Showhauler or Renegade truck conversion.

I read the report that the MH driver was not paying attention. Who do we charge with murder now? Living in deer country, I don't swerve. You die when you hit the tree and the deer skips off into the woods. There is a difference between a sudden change of direction and a full on panic move.

Although it is very graphic, this is worth reading so that young people (and oldsters, too) will realize how devastating a car accident can be…

BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELTS by the Georgia Paramedics Against Drunk Drivers…

Do you know what happens in the first fatal second after a car going 55 miles per hour hits a solid object???

1. In the first tenth of the second, the front bumper and grill collapse…

2. The second tenth finds the hood crumbling, rising and striking the windshield as the spinning rear wheels lift from the ground… Simultaneously, fenders begin wrapping themselves around the solid object… Although the car's frame has been halted, the rest of the car is still going 55 miles an hour… Instinct causes the driver to stiffen his legs against the crash, and they snap at the knee joint…

3. During the third tenth of the second, the steering wheel starts to disintegrate and the steering column aims for the driver's chest…

4. The fourth tenth of the second finds two feet of the car's front end wrecked, while the rear end still moves at 35 miles per hour… The driver's body is still traveling at 55 miles per hour…

5. In the fifth tenth of the second, the driver is impaled on the steering column and blood rushes into his lungs…

6. The sixth tenth of the second, the impact has built up to the point that the driver's feet are ripped out of tightly laced shoes… The brake pedal breaks off... The car frame buckles in the middle... The driver's head smashes into the windshield as the rear wheels, still spinning, fall back to earth…

7. In the seventh tenth of the second, hinges rip loose, doors fly open and the seats break free, striking the driver from behind…

8. The seat striking the driver does not bother him because he is already dead... The last three-tenths of the second mean nothing to the driver…

P.S. READERS: Although air bags offer some degree of protection, I suggest that you make several copies of this grisly piece to keep in your vehicles, and the next time you ask a passenger to please buckle his or her seat belt and the passenger replies, "Oh, we're less than 10 minutes from where we're going," counter with, "I'm not moving until you buckle your seat belt." Then hand the passenger this piece to read...

The only information I see in the article is they don’t know if the woman was wearing a seat belt leading to the reasonable” assumption” she wasn’t still in her seat after the accident…

These things are always sad no matter who’s at fault… while accidents will happen they are always preventable…

Freightliner makes the chassis.. I know because I shared breakfast at a hotel with an owner of such a rig when both his and mine were in the shop (Mine was minor compared to his).


One of the things I was taught is to follow so far behind the car in front of me. Now, back when I was 15 and in Driver's ed it was a very complex method of computing that distance... Later I learned an easier way, One thousand one, One thousand two If you are driving a car. you watch as say the car in front of you goes under a bridge (The shadow hits the back bumper) then start counting one thousand one, one thousand two, if you are in shadow,,,, YOU ARE TOO CLOSE. if you are driving a motor home on dry roads (NOTE: This is on dry roads) add one thousand three (3 seconds)

I used to stand on a bridge and watch passing traffic, Later I let a camera stand on the bridge (Well the building beside it or a 50 foot, or taller, pole) and watch cars passing (We had over 150 of said cameras I could choose from) and in many cases I did not get past One thousan..... Dang rare for me to get to one thousand one on..... Yup, tailgating.

True story.. Stove fell off a truck and landed in the 2nd lane. Right near one of the aforementioned cameras.

We focused on it and zomed in (Gas range, not electric) then zomed out and focused a bit behind it.. Watched cars approach in groups of 2 or 3 all in the 2nd lane (five lane freeway) and all but the leader tailgating.. The leader would change lanes at the last second, the rest... Underware.

Finally a group of 3 cars and a pick up (that order) The leader changed lanes at the last second, #2 very likley messed his drawars, I'm fairly sure #3 kissed bumpers with #2 and the pick up... He did not stop, swerve, or slow down.

He place kicked that stove a good quarter mile and off onto the shoulder.

Called off the patrol car I'd sent
Called off the county pick up crew I'd called for

Set it for morning pick up (from the shoulder) on regular time instead of the higher night pay rate.

The cameras, by the way, enabled us to pinpoint the incident (Callers had it 2 miles farther south) and saved us the response. Saved the state just about the cost of that camera on that incident alone.

:h
Just shoot them first why bother with the formalities of an investigation and charges… who needs details anyways…
:S