Spinoff: Riding while driving

Buzzcut1 wrote:
http://youtu.be/ohkAxbeMxVo

Nope it's not you .....The fly fishing and horse thing seems like a better idea for ya :)

besides, i enjoy your TR's . :C

My family rode in our truck camper any time we went anywhere, probably 30,000 miles. I could not keep them in the cab. I had a boot and kept the passage open most of the time and unlocked all of the time so communication was not a big issue. The camper was much more comfortable than the back seat of my supercab p/u and it had the TV, fridge, toilet and beds. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have recently upgraded to a class A and really don't believe that it is much safer but seems to be much more socially acceptable.

The only "injury" case I have heard of was about 20 years ago in Birmingham, AL. A man was sleeping nude in the back while his wife drove. He was awakened by the vehicle stopping and for some reason peaked out the back to see where they were. At that moment the light turned green, his wife stomped the gas and he tumbled out into traffic.

The only problem I had was I stopped for gas late one night and I went inside the station to use their restroom to avoid disturbing the sleeping kids. Unknown to me, one of the kids went in at the same time. I came back out, saw that all was quiet, fired up and hit the road. About 5 minutes later I got a call from the gas station wanting me to come back and get my kid. Thank goodness for cell phones.

In the industry that I work in and probably most industries today there is what is now called the "safety culture". " Hey Jeff,I hear you hit you hand with a hammer last week,weren't you wearing your gloves? now we have a recordable injury" I have gotten company notices of injuries were someone hit there finger on a desk and made a report. If you get hurt now you must be ignoring the "safety culture mantra"
There is nothing different today riding in the back of a camper OR truck than there was when you were a kid other than the people that are on the road. So if you say " no way is anyone going to ride in my camper it is to dangerous" is it because you can't drive as well as the last generation i.e. your father/mother? I don't think so. Is it be cause the cars/trucks are safer,that is not going to help if you are in the back of a camper or riding in a A or C RV. Sh#$ happens,is that going to stop you from white water rafting or hiking along cliffs I don't think so. I am sorry about this rant on riding in the back of a camper and about how safe it is. It is only the wife and I and in the future hopefully another dog and none of us (Rosie my last dog included) has ever ridden in the back and probably never will but it has nothing to do with the "DANGERS" of doing so. Now in a perfect world no one would ever get hurt. But this isn't a perfect world. Again sorry for the rant.
OOOO just saw the post before mine god forbid don't ride a motorcycle,my doctor calls them "DONOR VEHICLES"

I have, Mi to Alaska to Ca and back to MI, 1971. Would do it again in a heart beat. I do ride a motorcycle, play with guns, and been acused of living on the edge from time to time.

My wife rode almost all the way from Oklahoma to Bakersfield California in the TC last may, Never had a problem. I wouldn't trust very many people driving me around back there though. I'm super careful when driving, and even more so with a TC. I'm very particular about road and traffic conditions, and if it don't feel right I'm stopping until things are safe. I also stay in the slow lane and never exceed 60 mph. If Conditions are windy I stop and get everyone up front and belted in. It would take an someone with a very good track record to drive me around in there though. I feel better about the subject after reading these posts, I never compared it to riding a motorcycle which is probably 1000 times more dangerous than riding in a TC. Ive never known anyone getting hurt riding in one. I know that I will feel a lot better having passengers back there once the TC is on that freightliner, Wont have to worry about getting rear ended as much. Ill be weighing close to 26,000 pounds, and be a little higher off the ground, and have a lot of heavy steel on the sides, including about 8 feet of steel going out past the rear tires with nothing back there but red lights and a license plate. I will still drive 60mph in the slow lane though. But will definitely feel more secure. My biggest fear is being rear ended by a drunk or someone not paying attention, while having a loved one back there. Now they will be much safer.

I gave a pair of soaking wet Colorado Trail backpackers a ride down from Kenosha Pass in a heavy downpour once. They couldn't ride in the truck because of my dog and they were dripping wet but I wanted to help them out. I've had to hitchhike when backpacking before too. My wife has ridden back there for the half mile from the CDOT lot down to the front row parking at A-Basin a few times....because she didn't want to get out of bed at 6AM to make the move just to go back to sleep to wait for the lifts to open. I guess it was a really bumpy ride through the snow-pothole lot. :)

Like several others, it is my choice to not do it and certainly not as a standard habit or anything as 9 times out of 10 it can be avoided (or 99 out of 100). But having said that if the situation came up where it was the practical thing to do I wouldn't have a problem doing it on some occasion. Getting some people out of the backcountry for example.

No worries. When all you have to go by is text, it can often times require an interpreter to get the true meaning. I have no doubt that my post probably needs some clarification. :B

oops , my post should have had a :) added to it . No offense my friend, it was my attempt, as usual, at the humorous side of life.
Don't know if I offended you, that was not my intent .

Re: the O/Post , I am a bit confused , I read "ridden" , I would think you mean 'to ride' ?

'You have no intentions of hauling anyone in the camper' the orig post threw me off , maybe it did others. Tnx. for clearing it up .

rooney77 wrote:
I had no intentions of hauling anyone in the camper...ever. The pass thru was for when parked. In fact, I carry as much in the cab as I can to prevent excess weight at a higher level. And just as an FYI, this was not meant to be a stick in the mud, grumpy grandpa, chest thumping question on whether or not it was a smart idea, more of a curiosity who's done it type thing.

I understand you wanting to keep things at a lower COG, good idea. Just as a reminder to others , be careful to secure things. Its those free flying objects that cause the secondary injuries to people in auto accidents. Its the second collision that hurts people.



# 1. So how many have actually ridden in the TC while on the road?

I've wondered this as I've debated getting the truck rear window replaced with a slider so the wife and/or dog can pass thru if they so desire. I know it's legal, just seems iffy to me.

#2. I've ridden in truck beds as a kid but that's a bit different IMO.

I agree with ^^^^^^^this post 100% as ILL don't have a helmet law either.

It is a bit more dangerous to ride in the TC, but if people of age were going with us and wanted to ride/sleep back there I wouldn't stop them.

I also would sleep on the rear package shelf in a car while traveling down the road as a kid.

AH the good ol days.