rockhillmanor wrote:
fla-gypsy wrote:
This we know; something went terribly wrong. RV'ing is supposed to be fun not put your life or your loved ones in peril. Anything you can do to reduce the hazards and lessen the risks is worthwhile and that includes adequate tow vehicles.
Too many people think safety is just some buzzword or some kind of crutch for risk averse pansies. Once you've seen the destruction it can do to human beings you look at it differently. No pastime is worth your life, do it right! It doesn't have to be ultra expensive either. Sometimes it just takes a moment to think things through. I will disagree with some and say accidents don't just happen, they are caused and can be prevented.
X2
If your worried about getting in an accident you have the wrong hobby. The fact of the matter is, RV'ing is a pretty dangerous hobby. Traffic accidents kill about 100 people a DAY in the US. Most of these are not in RV's so it's silly to dwell on RV set-up too much. IOW's most of these 100 people a day weren't towing a thing but they are still dead because they were in the wrong place and on the road at the wrong time.
I race cars at very high speed and 95% of the people I talk to say that's very dangerous sport. The fact of the matter is I have a very, very, very low chance of getting killed at the track I race at during a race. It's also a fact that I have a pretty high chance of getting killed during my 6 hour drive to and from the track while on a public road driving 55 MPH.
As far as all accidents are preventable? That's just silly. Case in point. 17 years ago my best friend and race car partner died in a car accident. The cause? Driving a race car at high speed on the track? Nope. Texting while? Nope. To small of a truck for his trailer? Nope. No WD or sway control? Nope; none of those.
He was hit head on by some kid who crossed over the line. My buddy had the reflexes of a cat so if anybody could have avoided the accident it would have been him. He was just going to work at 55 MPH and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Case in point #2. My brother was killed in an auto accident 14 years ago. He was a cop and basically drove for a living. 6 months before retirement he was on the road doing his job and a big rig came across the double yellow hitting him head on. Boom, dead; along with 3 other people. I talked to his partner at the funeral and he stated there was nothing my brother could have done. (except not be on that road at that time)
Bottom line is this. Stat's show us that any time we are on a road in the US we are in danger. The more we drive, (whether on vacation or going to work) the more danger we are in. (A 100 people a day prove that) Sure, you can limit "your" end of the deal by buying a fancy hitch or buying a F350 or Peterbuilt to tow your pop-up. But that's only half of the equation. My racing partner and brother weren't towing anything and couldn't solve the other half of the equation and most likely neither can we.
Myself? I do the best I can and don't worry about this stuff. Whether I die in back of the wheel of a race car doing 140 or die driving my RV on vacation, at least I was doing what I want.
🙂
~ Too many freaks & not enough circuses ~
"Life is not tried ~ it is merely survived ~ if you're standing
outside the fire"
"The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."- Abraham Lincoln
