Motorhome demolished, 1 killed in Teton Pass crash

[JakenJo]

That stretch of 22 from Driggs to Jackson is a notorious no go which I learned from seasoned folks on other forum . Even intrepid drivers who say other routes which scare us are not that bad say don't do it. There is another route through Alpine which adds an hour or so. Very sad.

 

[sheridany]

This morning, I read an interesting fact that US interstates can not be over a 6% grade.
It makes me think twice about taking a route away from the interstate in the mountains, even if the detour is an hour or more. If there is no interstate within a reasonable distance, I will verify that it is a drivable route using a trucker's atlas.

From interstate standards
Maximum grade: The maximum permissible vertical angle, or grade, along the highway is determined from terrain and design speed,[4]with up to 6% generally allowed in mountainous areas, 5% in rolling terrain, and 4% on level terrain. An additional 1% is allowed in urban areas.

 

[AbdRahim]

Traveling in these things is supposed to be fun. For me, if the intersate takes adds 100 mikes to the trip, vs taking the white knuckle ride through the mountains, so be it. I would rather enjoy the ride than arrive less worn out - not to mention less wear on the rig.

 

[Ddmo]

I passed by this accident about 8pm on Wednesday. Wasn’t sure it was an Rv until I saw the front, upside down facing the wrong way. It was devastating to see. I’m so sorry for the person who died.

The next day I had to pass it again going in the same direction they were traveling. Lots of black rubber on the roadway from the front tires before you could see it leave the road then go down an embankment. Looked like this is when it spun and flipped. It occurred at the bottom of the hill. Not sure the driver had any other options than leave the roadway.

I was in a rental car.

 

[BGMAC]

Traveling in these things is supposed to be fun. For me, if the intersate takes adds 100 mikes to the trip, vs taking the white knuckle ride through the mountains, so be it. I would rather enjoy the ride than arrive less worn out - not to mention less wear on the rig.

I understand where you’re coming from, but I feel different about it. Interstates are way too busy for me. Everyone doing 70+ miles an hour on a deadline. I much perfer a major Hwy vs interstate. Speeds are slower and the roads don’t have that concrete washboard effect. I can go 50-60 mph and not bother anyone.

I hit some of those 6% downhill grades before in my gasser. Like @Jim said no real engine braking. Now I’m not sure it’s the best way, but on the long ones, I don’t let it get over 50mph. When it hits 50, I hit the brakes and slow to 25mph. Release brakes, and let it slowly get back to 50 then repeat.

 

[FLSteve]

Is this the same road that had part of it closed due to a landside earlier this year?

 

[GTS225]

Anybody happen to take notice of this paragraph?

"However, as the website Book Outdoors points out, using the runaway arrestors isn’t easy. “There are two runaway truck ramps, and to use them on an east descent, you need to cross to the left through head-on, uphill traffic,” the site reports."

The article claims the driver passed an arresting system a 1/2 mile before the accident. I can't help but wonder what moronic civil engineer thought it would be a good idea to force runaways to cross oncoming traffic.

Roger

 

[Rd1]

/Anybody happen to take notice of this paragraph?/

I noticed that too. Haven't been there, but from the map, looks like the ditch is on the R side going downhill and the mountain on the left. It is a 2 lane hwy, one up and one down. hence the reason. It looks like one heck of road, even worst in winter times.

one of the challenges with RVs, is that the industry tends to present RVs like driving a car or a van. Far from it. At a recent show, there were a lot of newcomers or first timers. While on a test drive and following a super C, it was unreal to observe the unit completely out of control. In a very scary manner. The factory rep was telling me he had a few heart attacks that day taking some new folks for test drive.

This is a problem in the industry where there is a need for some new innovative ideas to help new folks to get acclimated with RV driving, to avoid such tragedies. Unfortunately, bottom line seems to be the main focus.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

I understand where you’re coming from, but I feel different about it. Interstates are way too busy for me. Everyone doing 70+ miles an hour on a deadline. I much perfer a major Hwy vs interstate. Speeds are slower and the roads don’t have that concrete washboard effect. I can go 50-60 mph and not bother anyone.

I hit some of those 6% downhill grades before in my gasser. Like @Jim said no real engine braking. Now I’m not sure it’s the best way, but on the long ones, I don’t let it get over 50mph. When it hits 50, I hit the brakes and slow to 25mph. Release brakes, and let it slowly get back to 50 then repeat.

We like the US Highways and state roads - will frequently use them instead of Interstates. But do use interstates in some cases.
Down side to state roads is they can be steeper. I think last year in Oregon we had a 8% grade but don’t recall exactly where. Tripwizard planner helps us see these ahead of time and then I review the road and how sharp the curves are - to determine if we should take a longer route around.
I like the typical rule of thumb for diesel engine braking, don’t go down faster than the engine can pull you up. If you exceed that speed than the engine braking will have no chance of maintaining the speed. And, don’t care about trying to keep up with others, do what the physics say your setup can control.
On that 8% grade, following that rule, we didn’t have any issues and as usual didn’t need to use the brakes, but we were doing around 35-40mph down that hill.

 

[AbdRahim]

This is a problem in the industry where there is a need for some new innovative ideas to help new folks to get acclimated with RV driving, to avoid such tragedies. Unfortunately, bottom line seems to be the main focus.

RV Driving School. I did it when I moved to the class A. I wish I had before the class C. Dealers should partner with these folks and it should be part of the price of the rig for newbies. The cost of the would be two day course was less than half the price of repairing the damage I did to the new C on the second gas fill up. I only had one day because he ran out of things to show me. I just needed a few pointers. But it was well worth it.