Brake failure appears to be the cause of an accident involving an RV and SUV in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Saturday. Emergency departments responded to the scene of the two-vehicle accident under the Haines Avenue overpass on Interstate 90 Saturday, reports News Center 1.
According to the Rapid City Police Department, a driver operating a motorhome was heading westbound on the off-ramp when their brakes blew out.
The operator attempted to complete a right turn heading north on Haines, but the momentum of the turn caused the vehicle to roll onto its driver side.
The motorhome then slid into a gray SUV heading northbound on Haines, hitting the passenger side of the car and obstructing all northbound lanes.
RCPD blocked all traffic heading north on Haines while Olson Towing crews worked to put the motorhome on its wheels and remove both vehicles from the scene. The driver of the motorhome suffered only minor injuries. No one else was hurt in the accident.
The westbound off-ramp was closed and eastbound off-ramp traffic was diverted south during the emergency response.
I hear the calls for RV owners to get a “special license” but I really don’t think that is the answer. If you’ve commuted in a VW hippie bus your whole life, then retire and buy a 40′ motorhome and hit the road, there IS a learning curve. Common sense tells you things are gonna be different. THIS is the problem. The seeming lack of “common sense” running rampant. No amount of licensing is going to make any difference. You are either cut out to drive something bigger – or you’re not.
Just MHO here.
One of the training resources many first-time (as well as seasoned) RV drivers should consider is your state’s CDL training manual. No, you don’t have to take the test, but in Maryland the manual is free, and contains a wealth of information on topics such as stopping distances, where to place safety triangles in the event you’re stuck by the side of the road, checking tires for wear, and how to use your mirrors, etc… Remember, if you’re pulling a trailer or driving a Class-A, it’s totally different from your sedan. Take it from me, who often switches between my wife’s SUV to a large Pickup Truck pulling a trailer, to a large straight truck on the streets of NYC or Washington DC. You have to change everything from how to take a corner, to how far you follow the vehicle in front of you depending on what you’re driving. The DOT has all the information you need to be safer in whatever you’re driving, and it’s a pretty interesting read, as well.
Another reason to make drivers of land yachts get a special drivers license. These behemoths are mounted on a TRUCK chassis and are NOT cars or pickups.
Looks like an OLD PIECE of CRAP Motor Home, which was probably poorly maintained! Plus, they said in the report he was going to FAST to make the Turn!