Do you feel safe in your class A?

[BigLar368]

Been investigating traffic accidents and motor vehicle fatalities for 15 years. In all that time I have only worked one accident with an RV and it was not really that bad. I find that as I drive being able to see farther down the road is a biggest key advantage to avoiding an accident. I feel fairly safe driving our RV. I am more worried bout the toad catching a flat or things going wrong back there. After seeing so many accidents there is one thing I will never drive on a roadway and that's a motorcycle.

[falconbro]

In our old gasser, 1990 Mallard Class A, I rarely felt completely relaxed. A gust of wind would kick me over a few feet, emergency stops were blue knuckle, a blow out was a grenade going off in the wheel well. Over time and with a brand new set of tires I learned to relax some but, it was more stress to me than towing a travel trailer. I suppose a DP might be a whole different animal. Can't address that.

[PalmerAlaska]

My understanding is that the driver of the RV ran a red light and succumbed to her injuries a couple of weeks after the incident. According to the local newspaper alcohol was a factor.

[Enchanter]

Truthfully, I was very surprised and taken back when I first learned that my Class A was not required to, and therefore did not, have air bags. So, to answer your question, no I don't feel completely safe driving it.

However, as I always do regardless of the type of vehicle I'm driving, I wear my lap and shoulder belt and just hope I'm never involved in a collision...especially one which involves a frontal impact.

[ahma]

Originally Posted by GREGORYJ

But TonyMac, Smart Car may look scary but get very high safety ratings in crash tests, Five Stars from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
https://www.thoughtco.com/overview-o...t-cars-1203807

Update on that crash...http://www.ktuu.com/livestream/

[rreichar]

We have a Tiffin 36LA and I feel safe enough driving it. You have to remember that it is essentially a fiberglass and plywood box screwed to a truck chassis with zero crash testing. It’s not ideal. I drive very defensively and keep my fingers crossed (metaphorically speaking).

[JVorbeck]

After rocketing around U.S. 19 here in sunny FL on a sport bike for the past 10 years, yes I feel safe in my DP. I would go so far as to say downright invincible!


Have you guys ever crawled underneath the coach? God help you if I slam into you. The front cap would be obliterated instantly but then I am going to introduce you to my little friend Onan. He's nestled in between two 9 inch forged steel frame rails backed up by about 30,000lbs of kinetic energy.


The accident the OP showed looks offset and it (the pole) sheared right into the drivers edge outside. Thats terrible luck.

[hclarkx]

Originally Posted by Searching_Ut

I'm not sure it's much different in other types of RV's. I currently own a fifth wheel. My loads in the bed are generally well secured and shouldn't become missiles that can get to me, but there is no getting around the fact that I'm being tailgated by a vehicle twice the weight of my truck that is going to rely in large part on the truck to absorb the impact if I run into something solid. I'm thinking that in any type of RV, you really need to try and avoid getting into an accident at the potential for some serious harm are very real.

I've worried a bit about my fifth wheel not stopping as fast as my truck if I hit something that won't move. I like having the large front crumple zone, sitting high and going over many obstacles. As for the 5th wheel, I believe the hitch would hold and the pinbox and it's mounting would fold, sending the front of the 5th wheel upward and over the top of truck. It's a crew cab so there is some crumple zone between us and the 5th wheel. The truck is 6500# and the 30' 5th is 8500# with contents. I put new brakes on the 5th every 10-15K or when I need to crank the brake controller setting up a bit. Problem there is it takes 1500 miles to seat and get full braking on a new set.
In any event, I leave lots of stopping room and stop early and get on the brakes quickly when some crazy pulls into the space I leave ahead of me (happens often).

[grunt98311]

https://www.autoblog.com/buy/2014-sm...afety-ratings/

[David2192]

The pole!
I don’t have the circs so based on observation, was there ice on the ground? Did he or she fall asleep? Most large rv drivers don’t like to drive in the wee hours, the question however is do you feel safe in a class-A. Yup😁 bc I sleep when I’m tired or fatigued. If I’m up early I drink my transfusion of caffeine, double and triple check my rig as well as my surroundings b4 launch. To be fair, sitting 3 feet from a panoramic windshield with the momentum and potential of 40,000 lbs immediately shifting forward with me on point does give me pause so referring to the above prechecks. I have considered mounting a semi style push bar or some Texas long horns 😁

[jimrat]

At that Northern latitude, it's probably daylight already.

Not a nice comment. She is seriously hurt. Please lay off with your sarcastic comments.

[AFChap]

I feel relatively safe in my Winnebago DP (safer than any of my cars), with steel cage around the cockpit area, massive steel frame & generator at car height. I have pictures of a comparable motorhome hit head-on at 50+ mph ... motorhome driver & passenger survived with "bumps and bruises" while 5 occupants in the SUV died.

[CoachStreamr]

Originally Posted by gtsum2

(as well as a class dp) for my next rig.

I would think on a raised rail chassis, the 2 steel rails that go the full length would offer protection on a frontal impact.


Perhaps the front mounted generator could come up into the cabin.



.

[Coarsegold]

After 30 years in the insurance claims end of the business, specifically in the field doing vehicle inspections, size is the one thing that mattered. I don't care what you drove, size is what usually protected you from being killed.

In regards to an RV I would be more worried about a fire taking my life. And, I always would find that nothing ever good happened after midnight on the road.