Rig Towing and Safety

[Steven@147]

Not sure where this might belong otherwise but a recent post of a silly person pulling a smaller 5th wheel from a rear hitch got me to looking at the internet of other RV accidents. I probably shouldn't have, just to keep images like that out of my mind, but there are all kinds of things that can happen while towing any rig or driving a motor home. Man some of those accidents are horrific! Some luckily just minor scraps and mirrors knocked off. A member of this forum a long time back had maintenance done on his tow vehicle and it caught on fire driving down the road, some kind of problem with the truck fuel lines, burned up the whole rig.

I ran across a U tube where a couple was looking through a motor home bone yard in Kentucky for an outside storage door for their rig. Some of those wrecks were scary, a good number with evidence of fire starting around or near the water heater or refrigerator.

Now a lot of accidents happen because some people are just, well lets just say it - stupid, absolutely devoid of common sense, others are neglectful, some uneducated, distractions, some no fault, driving too fast, blown old front tires on motor homes, blown towed rig tires, gas leaks, overhead collisions, and yes overloaded vehicles, tire pressures, loss of control, driving a rig down a road that should never have been attempted, weather or wind related, you name the situation or cause,,,,,,

It just wakes you up to what "could" happen and some through no fault of your own and some just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Driving, towing, turning, passing, backing up, proper licensing of the rig, all facets of moving your rig. Its the safety, preparedness factor, that the wife and I have taken to. Like never continue backing up into a site unless you can clearly see the other person. Constant radio or phone communications with the other person while parking into a site. And just recently added from our experience - never hop off a truck tailgate at 60+ years old. Addition of an RV tire TPMS system. How many people have actually practice changing an RV tire, we have.

As far as emergency situations / evacuation, reflective safety vests and triangle safety road placards, added a lot more fire extinguishers to our rig, we instituted the use of a gobag (new vocabulary word) containing things like an internet black book with passwords, insurance information and phone numbers, extra keys, medicines, family names and addresses, laptop, personal hygiene products, energy bars, flash light and such, the bag always stays with us in the bedroom while sleeping or in the truck while traveling. We even bought a collapsible escape ladder to stick out the bedroom window escape hatch just in case. We tested the RV escape hatch windows. We installed a fire resistant safe with a fire proof bag in our RV for valuables and documents.
We try to plan our traveling as best we can, making reservations, with rest and plenty of fuel stops along the way. Get out from behind that steering wheel for rest and relaxation. Setting up or tearing down, a methodical approach to doing so. Keeping our rig, RV and tow vehicle, in top condition with regular maintenance check lists. Inspecting and testing (ie rolling brake check) our rig if maintenance was done on them.

If your enjoying the outdoors away from your rig, walking a path hiking, keep water with you and maybe a first aid kit. You never know - you could twisting your ankle, fall, whatever, just be safe. Kayaking, never kayak alone or in rough water after a rainstorm. This week a girl was kayaking by herself just after a rain storm on the river right behind where our Daughter lives in Ohio. All the rescue crews staged their equipment at our Daughter house. They found her equipment and then found her a day later, it was not a good turn out.

You can try to be prepared, be safe, but things happen, you deal with them. However we do not get so paranoid that we forget, the enjoyment.
You be safe out there but above all enjoy.