Just a reminder, "Don't forget about tail swing"

[hillbilly3]

I was at a gas pump yesterday, a large 5'ver was filling his Ram. He looked a little close to the pumps, didn't think anymore about it until I came out. He was looking disgusted as his camper was real close to the last gas pump. Unfortunately, he had to cut it sharp leaving the station due to the curb, and the tail of his camper caught the bollard protecting the pump. Wedged it between the bumper and the rear corner. Store wasn't busy, and had a large area for trucks on that side. He was probably wishing he backed up to get away from the pumps more. Tail swing will get ya!

[Old Scout]

...this happens more than you can imagine....

[hillbilly3]

I know he had to be sick about it, looked like a pretty new rig.

[kenandterry]

As an FYI.....

Tail swing is THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE that was addressed to new school bus drivers as “actual” drive time was put into play during licensed training.
For those that still don’t get it, the amount of tail swing of ANY vehicle is based on 2 things...YMMV.

1. How long is the vehicle from the rear axle to rear of vehicle?
2. How sharp is the steering wheel turned for the distance covered?

With our motorhome and it’s tail swing, there are times when I may be presented with an “advanced green light” at an intersection, however, a vehicle in close proximity on my right side, could be subject to a severe strike or scrape.
Other drivers may not understand why I can’t proceed at the signal, but they’ve never driven anything larger than a Honda Civic.
(No disrespect to Honda)

[Newmar2856]

Yep, even experienced drivers have issues when not accessing positioning when pulling out. This happened to our 5th wheel when the dealer sent a driver to pick it up after trading it in.





He also did about $1,000.00 damage to my fence and gate. It caught so hard it cracked a 4x6 fence post.

Dealer paid for all the damage and sent me a nice apology letter.

[gertpacu]

YEP! Done it myself. Fixed already but I clipped my carport leg. Had to fix both.

Next time I do it (if it's minor like this time) I will just put a bandaid sticker on it, or use some white flex seal and leave as is hehe.

[gatorb8]

I took my mailbox out once

[grindstone01]

We have a 8' swivel trailer behind our fifth wheel and I need to really be aware of tail swing.

[mattyrj]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

As an FYI.....

Tail swing is THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE that was addressed to new school bus drivers as “actual” drive time was put into play during licensed training.
For those that still don’t get it, the amount of tail swing of ANY vehicle is based on 2 things...YMMV.

1. How long is the vehicle from the rear axle to rear of vehicle?
2. How sharp is the steering wheel turned for the distance covered?

With our motorhome and it’s tail swing, there are times when I may be presented with an “advanced green light” at an intersection, however, a vehicle in close proximity on my right side, could be subject to a severe strike or scrape.
Other drivers may not understand why I can’t proceed at the signal, but they’ve never driven anything larger than a Honda Civic.
(No disrespect to Honda)

I have a few places like that here in town close to my house, now, I just take up the straight and turn lane, works each time, I have yet to have someone ticked off, and they are pretty courteous. I do get looks of amazement though when I turn and have it perfect between the lane and curb. I had one guy in a turn lane backup because no one was behind him, to give me room to swing into the turn lane to make the turn, and the look on his face when I kept it in my lane, was priceless.