Bad RV wreck on way home yesterday - Be Careful

Thanks for the reminder. Heading out for three weeks tomorrow morning.

So there were accidents both ways on your trip. One needs to be careful and alert at all times.

wow that is rough and glad all were ok!

scary out there isn't it? the roads we travel to our destinations should be a fun trip, but it can also be your worst nightmare.

I read an article some years back about trailering, the author mentioned that's it's all too easy to be rolling down the highway and lose track of the fact that even though you're in the same vehicle you always drive, and know how it handles and performs, it's NOT the same vehicle now that there's a trailer on the back. It steers, brakes and even handles potholes and frost heaves very differently.

In this case with a smaller TV and an older, and therefore presumably heavier, TT hitched to it the difference would be very much more dramatic. I'd think a small SUV would add to that change too.

Many times my own DW has mentioned the dramatic difference in my driving style when I'm behind the wheel of our C. She calls it the Jimmy Buffet Effect, on vacation and takin' it easy.

Saw the remains of the trailer are still there as of yesterday evening when we were on our way home from Penticton.

We were wondering what happened. Thanks for posting.

It doesn't help when many tow vehicles don't have the proper mirrors or hitch isn't set up properly...

I travel across the Corn Belt between Michigan and NE Oklahoma several times a year, and see the kind of "trailer got away from me" wreck you described on almost every trip between June and August.

But not in the mountains, on my routes the roads are flat and mostly straight. What the wrecks have had in common is that they've been on two-lane high-speed (55+) highways were folks often try to drive 5-15 mph over and do a lot of overtaking, and the tow vehicles have been relatively small, usually compact and mid-size SUVs, with TTs close to or exceeding the empty weight of the TV (but not necessarily its "tow rating").

I think some of these out of control situations are induced by other drivers. People towing on these roads have to be wary of those who overtake them (and often cut back in close and brake to scrub of their overtaking speed), and the bow waves from oncoming large vehicles.

I've towed since the early 60s when we were using 4000 pound station wagons, but the TTs were more often around 2500-3000 pounds (just sleeping boxes). We did not have much of the Interstate system yet, highway speeds were often 45-50 mph, WD hitches were just starting to be come common, but no anti-sway. Even with these easier environmental conditions, we had to learn to drive like we were towing, and how to use the trailer brakes to manage sway at the first sign of a problem.

I think people get into this without understanding the risks and learning how to handle them. Most are lucky, and do not encounter the conditions that start them swaying.

But experience doesn't guarantee one is ready.

One of my RV club members lost his 5000 pound TT being towed behind a 1500 HD pickup when he started a lane change to avoid being hit by a motorcoach doing a bad merge from a superhighway on-ramp. Before it was over, the pickup was on its back, the TT splinters and s**** metal, in the median. The motorcoach driver stopped to look, then left the scene after checking that he had not made contact. This was at 65 mph (in a 75 zone), no where near the speed limit, but too fast for controlling a sudden move.

One of my relatives lost a TT recently to a gust of wind on the western plains, towing at about 60 mph, 26-foot, 6000 pound trailer behind a F-150 rated to tow 8000 pounds. More than 30 years RV towing experience, once the sway started it got out of hand before he could regain control. On this one, the hitch head broke rather than the TT taking the truck over with it.

Glad their OK! Very Lucky folks!