According to my friend Steve-O whom I've known for years and is a long-distance truck driver, two major things make him and many other professional drivers nervous about following an RV. 1) RV drivers not securing their dinghy properly. 2) Driving too fast in gusty wind conditions, especially 5th wheels, and especially out west here.
Given that dinghy breakaways are pretty rare based on the lack of reports on various RV forums, I wonder what the basis for their concern is.
I actually had a breakaway once after about 60 miles from the campground. 1 clevis pin came out due my stupidly putting it in incorrectly. Instead of being pulled by two arms, I had only one and my toad moved over toward the center line and I immediately started to slow down easily. MY breakaway braking system kicked in so the toad did not hit me. There was no danger to any other vehicle even if I hadn't been on a lightly traveled road in the Everglades. I agree about the high winds and have seen some really stupid people out there. Some RVers are bad drivers and some truck drivers are bad also. The truckers I have talked to get mad at RVers for making them get out of the governor. Many are set up with a max speed lower than the speed limit for fuel economy. If they governor is set for 63 for example and they come up on an RV doing 61 or 62, they have to let up a little and then reset after working their way past which can take a long time with only a 1 or 2 mph differential. `
There was a accident in CT a couple of weeks ago involving a TT & TV losing controll and flipping over on the interstate highway just a few miles from my house. The part of the highway where the accident was had very steep hills and that day it was also very windy. Luckly I believe no one was seriously hurt. Generally I go 62 to about 67 mph and rarely do I pass any Rvers....and the highways here on the east coast are NOT straight and long....
QUOTE(mdcamping @ May 8 2013, 10:20 PM) [snapback]33351[/snapback] There was a accident in CT a couple of weeks ago involving a TT & TV losing controll and flipping over on the interstate highway just a few miles from my house. Mike Mike> Was it one of those big screen TVs?
QUOTE(RLM @ May 9 2013, 11:59 AM) [snapback]33354[/snapback] Mike> Was it one of those big screen TVs? yes!...those big screen TVs have been known to catch the wind to much! Mike
QUOTE(B. Kidd @ May 8 2013, 07:37 PM) [snapback]33348[/snapback] According to my friend Steve-O whom I've known for years and is a long-distance truck driver, two major things make him and many other professional drivers nervous about following an RV. 1) RV drivers not securing their dinghy properly. 2) Driving too fast in gusty wind conditions, especially 5th wheels, and especially out west here. According to my friend, Jason - P, whom I have know for years and is a long distance auto driver, three major things make him and other professional drivers nervous when following eighteen wheelers. 1) Trailers with loose chains, poorly maintained tires, air hoses flopping loose, and obviously sloppy maintenance 2) Aggressive and fast driving in good and, worse, inclement weather. After all, as the biggest vehicle on the road, why worry? 3) The attitude that, because they get a paycheck to drive, they are somehow better drivers and have the right to criticize everyone who is not a truck driver. Come on, folks. Everyone of us thinks we drive better and smarter than everyone else on the road. RVs have such low accident rates it is hard to even find meaningful statistics on causes. Our company employed several dozen long haul drivers, who delivered product from our plant to customers in all parts of the US and Canada. Every 60 days I and other management personnel rode for at least four consecutive days with a randomly selected driver to meet our customers and observe how our drivers behaved on the road. Some were stellar personalities, with great driving skills and impeccable records. Others just average. About 20 -25% could not meet our safety or driving habits requirements and were forced to look elsewhere for employment. IMO, RV drivers may be slow, but, for the most part we are generally safer and more courteous in our RVs than we ever are in our autos.
QUOTE(joez @ May 9 2013, 07:31 PM) [snapback]33357[/snapback] IMO, RV drivers may be slow, but, for the most part we are generally safer and more courteous in our RVs than we ever are in our autos. There are at least two groups of RV drivers who are not slow and are neither courteous nor safe. One category are drivers of rental RVs, quite a few of whom are foreign tourists. We encounter these folks all through the western states every summer and all one can do is slow down to let them go by. Fortunately, most of them are driving >70 mph in crappy Class C MH's but at least they go by quickly. The other category of RVers who we try to avoid are the "weekenders", those that rush out of cities on Friday afternoons to get to their campsites as quickly as possible to ensure they can enjoy their weekends. Many of them drive like idiots so they can maximize the amount of time during which they can relax. They then enjoy their weekends and race home Sunday evening to make sure their kids can get their homework done for school on Monday.
QUOTE(docj @ May 9 2013, 10:18 PM) [snapback]33358[/snapback] The other category of RVers who we try to avoid are the "weekenders", those that rush out of cities on Friday afternoons to get to their campsites as quickly as possible to ensure they can enjoy their weekends. Many of them drive like idiots so they can maximize the amount of time during which they can relax. They then enjoy their weekends and race home Sunday evening to make sure their kids can get their homework done for school on Monday. I'm a weekender... I only drive like an idiot because that's how I drive, not to get there any sooner! :blink:
When we're pulling a hunk of metal that cost about 4 times what my first house cost (of course, that's more that the house was cheap than the fiver was expensive), you can bet your life we're careful drivers.......
