Going! Going! Gone!

My family owned a trailer from '74 to '83, doing a few trips to Canada's east cost and a few to Florida. My father was one who normally drives below the limit. In '83 , on the leg of the trip between Kentucky and Tennessee, he seemed to actually pass some vehicles. We drove down a hill in Tennessee and did a jack knife. We hit this guard rail on a bridge. There was a truck driver that spoke to me to as our trailer was blocking the only two lanes of road, who said he had to brake hard to avoid hitting us. Nothing as bad as the video @suparoo posted, our trailer and van (this was well before air bags) was drive-able but would need repair. We went to an campground which was fortunately a mile away.

I was in my late teens and went with my dad to various places to get repairs. He mentioned he talked to other people that mentioned the possibility of an accident was high and his luck would eventually catch up with. He had 9 years experience before then without a hiccup but this one time. He decided to give up RVing.

So the next year we drove down to Florida without a trailer. We passed three accident scenes involving trailers between St Augustine Florida and Detroit on the trip back.

Professional truck drivers get in accidents and they get training and require a special license. I am not aware if a special license is required to haul a trailer, whether it be cargo, an RV type or boat.
 
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Looks like the driver was creeping to the right then jerked it back. That was his undoing.

The Jeep has flat-spots in the tyres but the caravan now is a flat-spot.
 
Probably that vehicle was not heavy enough for the weight of the trailer, or possibly it was badly loaded. Either way it was the trailer that had control, not the driver.
 
It is common ( here at least ) that campers load far too much into their camper before they set off, and so they are driving a very unbalanced setup.
Cops know this and i believe it is a focus area every year.
Even if its now been a couple of years since you had to be licensed to drive with a large trailer or a camper, forgetting or just screwing rules seem to be the norm.
 
They're lucky the vehicle didn't roll with the RV, wow.

The way the RV just crumbles like it's made of cards:eek:
 
Noobs dont know how to drive - especially with a caravan ..
I think there should be an entirely new license for towing over a certain wight limit
 
I think it should just be a part of the initial training and everyone learns.
Most people don't use them enough to justify going to get a whole other license.


I mean at least if they learned with the initial road test, they'd have the knowledge for when they do need it.
 
They're lucky the vehicle didn't roll with the RV, wow.

The way the RV just crumbles like it's made of cards:eek:

RVs are pure junk these days. Look at how they're built. As fast and as cheap as possible.

 
I like how he talks about the ruff. very bark. much would.

That was an interesting video, thanks for sharing @flank

I still think I want to spend a few years living out of an RV at some point.
Not a huge camper like this though.

I'm much more minimalistic.
 
Wow , Never seen people move so fast .. Hope they are well paid !

As for caravans - So much better built today compared to say 30 or more years ago ..
 
Most use fast assembly using wood screws rather than nut/bolt fittings. This means that it won't take too much force to have the screws tear out. The video demonstrates the end result.
 
Most use fast assembly using wood screws rather than nut/bolt fittings. This means that it won't take too much force to have the screws tear out. The video demonstrates the end result.
They also use glue ...
Bad news , most of your modern airliners are glued together ..
Good news , modern glues can be stronger than welds - If you use the good stuff .

So yeah , manufacturing has changed greatly because of technology .
But any caravan , any vintage , will not take crashing well .

30 Years ago + a little more , I saw the result of two caravans coming into contact on a narrow bridge ..
Both caravans exploded , there was stuff everywhere for a couple of hundred square meters ..
Both cars were towing chassis , nothing of the caravans remained on either chassis . I mean nothing . ( Bare to the bone )

Caravans are not built to crash test standards , your supposedly meant to be very careful when towing a caravan .. And that weight thing ...
A lot of people don't understand the weight thing when it comes to towing ...
 
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