Read the article, not sure if brakes was the problem. Sounds like she might have just misjudged and went "over the hill" literally. Looking at the photos, it appears she was heading straight into the end of T intersection and did not turn right or left, but went straight ahead. Brake failure? perhaps. But no attempt to turn, going straight forward, right down the steps ... to me, sounds more like she was not paying attention (like talking on a cell phone or turning knobs on the radio) and the end of the road was just there, catching her by surprise. She also did not have a seat belt on. If she would have had the seat belt on, she might have survived the ordeal.
We will never know. It is a wake-up call reminder to always be on-guard and diligent with maintenance on all our RV's and vehicles, and an awesome reminder that RV's can kill just as easy as the family sedan. And to always be alert and pay attention when driving.
I remember one thing my Driver's ED instructor told us. That was some 45 years ago and it stuck with me all my life. It's called "defensive driving." He said, absolutely every second you're driving, you need to constantly be re-evaluating ALL your surroundings to find the "way out" in the event of a sudden emergency. He said, take the ditch to avoid a head-on collision. Hit the side of another car if you have to to avoid a head-on. Vier off the road and side swipe a tree rather than hit another car. Better yet, look for the way out to avoid everything. I have followed that advise all my life and have never had an accident involving another vehicle (although I have backed into a telephone pole twice!)
Sober warning ... scary though, it could happen to any of us.
