By Cheri Sicard
The video below shows the aftermath of a bizarre runaway motorhome accident that happened early one morning at a fairly crowded Arizona campground.
Our host, Gary of Gary’s Place, was awakened by a kerfuffle outside his motorhome. Upon going out to investigate, he saw a large motorhome, with a toad attached, listing sideways at an unhealthy angle. Several others were damaged, too. Gawkers milled about.
Apparently, the motorhome’s owner, ready to take off and hit the road, got out of the running vehicle to say one last goodbye to a friend. Somehow the motorhome’s parking brake disengaged and the driverless RV propelled itself through the campground until finally coming to a stop at a barrier.
How did the runaway motorhome’s parking brake disengage?
Nobody knows for sure.
The owner’s two small dogs were in the motorhome but it seems unlikely they had enough heft to accomplish the task even by accident. But maybe…
Whatever the cause of the accident, it serves as a cautionary tale to pay attention if your engine is running. Or better yet, shut it off if you are getting out of your RV.
Luckily, nobody was hurt in this accident. Nonetheless, the runaway motorhome did cause substantial damage that its owner is no doubt responsible for.
##RVT1127
A good example to shut off your engine. Nobody. Likes the smell nor noise of a running diesel
Poor people that lost their rv and bikes
How do you explain that to the insurance company?
Yikes! Thank you for the link, Cheri!
It’s obvious it’s a diesel pusher which has air brakes, air brake parking function does not release by itself and I know of any dog that could push the brake in to release it. My guesstimate is in his hurry to say goodby to a friend he failed to set the brake.
My motorhome’s parking brake is actuated by a plunger on the console next to the driver’s seat. Worried my dog might jump on it and release it I made a piece of material to slide on the parking brake shaft so that couldn’t happen. I found a hard rubber pad used to protect floors from table legs was just the right thickness. Cut a slot from the side to the center of it the width of the pb shaft. Problem solved.
This has always been a concern of mine traveling with Dogs. Checking into camp, cleaning, getting fuel. I believe the motorhome would of still rolled away even if the engine wasn’t running. Have you seen the Stop Knob? It replaces the yellow airbrake knob in motorhomes with air brakes, it has a built in locking function to prevent the air brake from accidentally getting released while un-attended. This would have prevented this accident. You can find it on Amazon or their website.