This is sad...

[Jim]

Blown tire. Truck and RV meet head on.

Trucker, others killed after RV crashes head-on into semi along I-81

Four RV occupants, a trucker hauling doubles, and a dog were found dead at the scene after a blown drive tire on the RV caused the crash.

www.overdriveonline.com

 

[Neal]

Very sad, for those that may not open and read the article, blown left front tire of RV. Every one of our worst nightmare.

 

[Boat Bum]

The first and foremost reason I installed a Safe-T-Plus steering control.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

I worked with a guy who conducted the riders edge program behind a local MC dealership years ago. It was heavily impressed upon new riders to the that or a similar class to the point the dealership owner was subsidizing the cost for many. At any rate, the objective after establishing the basics was to plan for a worse case scenario (that you would have any conscious control over) like a lay down. I'm wondering if there exists such a class for those jumping into a 40' class A with previous experience only behind the wheel of a Camry? It wouldn't need to be a fancy RV, just something close to the length and mass of what many (most?) might be shopping for. A controlled front blowout on a closed course could be a least a little valuable but if you're expecting it, that's likely a whole different game than when you're not, such as is the case to everyone rolling comfortably down the road when it happens.

There seems to be no shortage of extremely expensive options that claim control can be maintained when such an incident happens but here just recently it appears some of them might be snake oil or poorly planned installations (like killing comfort drive when it's needed most).

 

[Neemer]

I think that is the most tragic accident I have heard of or seen since I began paying attention to such things about 13 yrs ago.

 

[DennisT]

I worked with a guy who conducted the riders edge program behind a local MC dealership years ago. It was heavily impressed upon new riders to the that or a similar class to the point the dealership owner was subsidizing the cost for many. At any rate, the objective after establishing the basics was to plan for a worse case scenario (that you would have any conscious control over) like a lay down. I'm wondering if there exists such a class for those jumping into a 40' class A with previous experience only behind the wheel of a Camry? It wouldn't need to be a fancy RV, just something close to the length and mass of what many (most?) might be shopping for. A controlled front blowout on a closed course could be a least a little valuable but if you're expecting it, that's likely a whole different game than when you're not, such as is the case to everyone rolling comfortably down the road when it happens.

There seems to be no shortage of extremely expensive options that claim control can be maintained when such an incident happens but here just recently it appears some of them might be snake oil or poorly planned installations (like killing comfort drive when it's needed most).

Have been thinking about this lately as I saw another article that was similar.

What would be perfect would be a traveling simulator that could be setup for different coaches / parameters etc.

This could be used to simulate anything like front tire blowouts and differing amounts of damage so people could practice the different scenarios to see what it is really like.

Not sure how practical getting something like this built would be but I think there would be a huge demand if it could / was done.

Wouldn’t have to be as elaborate as they have for airplanes, just enough monitors or virtual display and the overall setup for the driver of the coach.

Just my recent thoughts…..

 

[Bigblockyeti]

Wouldn’t have to be as elaborate as they have for airplanes, just enough monitors or virtual display and the overall setup for the driver of the coach.

Such a simulator would be ideal and even if not as involved as something for an airplane, I suspect it would still be pretty involved and quite expensive, especially if it could cater to different chassises and load scenarios. Then the question come of who's going to participate and how it would be paid for. It absolutely shouldn't be mandatory as nearly all don't need it but on the flip side, very few wouldn't take away some kind of benefit. Even getting a class A CDL should be less complicated as it's easier to teach given fewer parameters.

 

[DennisT]

Such a simulator would be ideal and even if not as involved as something for an airplane, I suspect it would still be pretty involved and quite expensive, especially if it could cater to different chassises and load scenarios. Then the question come of who's going to participate and how it would be paid for. It absolutely shouldn't be mandatory as nearly all don't need it but on the flip side, very few wouldn't take away some kind of benefit. Even getting a class A CDL should be less complicated as it's easier to teach given fewer parameters.

Wonder if there is any open source software that could kick start it, hmmm. Now I may have to do some poking around.

I have a close friend that drives semis, will check with him to see if anything like that exists for commercial drivers - that would be a much easier starting point.

 

[Diesel Pusher]

I had a right front blow out on I-5 a few years ago. Had it not been for the on-going driver training during the time I was working, I can only imagine what otherwise might have happened. Some jurisdictions have implemented a very simple "skills" test for large travel trailers and few hours of classroom training or sometimes just a drive around the block to earn an air brake endorsement on a DL for diesel pushers but that's not good enough. In my opinion, proper driver training should be mandatory and maybe even age qualified similar to earning a CDL

 

[Neal]

Lately I've been driving with my engine brake off until needed. I don't need something like this throwing loads forward. Normally I keep it on until in local area of my stop in city traffic.