Fatal MH accident I90 Ellensburg, WA

[hohenwald48]

I think the biggest contributing factor to accidents involving steer tires is driver inattention.

A lot of folks drive with one hand, one finger, holding a cup of coffee or bottle of water. Eating a sandwich, driving while messing with the GPS, scan gauge, TPMS, cell phone or radio tuner. I've seen folks going down the road with their feet on the dash with the cruise control on. I've even heard folks around the campfire bragging about changing drivers while traveling at interstate highway speeds. Many distractions exist in the seat of a motorhome. It's important to try to exclude those distractions and concentrate on driving.

It can be tiring to sit up straight with your feet in the proper positions, both hands on the wheel and both eyes watching out the windshield. But it's what you need to do to stay safe. It's also why I cringe when I hear folks boast about their ability to make a marathon 12 hour drive with just fuel stops.

If you pay attention you are more likely to respond to a steer tire failure or to any other kind of negative event in a positive manner greatly improving your chances of a successful outcome. And of course, like the old advertising campaign used to say, speed kills.

[egh33]

I always wonder what speed they were traveling.

[xyzabc]

Sorry for the family but this is another example why drivers of Class A need to have training and be licensed for these type of vehicles. Too many families are buying them and drive as if they were still driving their Impalas, VWs, or pickups. They don't have a clue on how long these things take to stop, what to do if a tire fails (DON"T JUMP ON THE BRAKES), or what the turning radius is. During a trip this summer I watched one family who had just bought their unit (and had just 225 miles on it) rip open the side while turning into a campsite. Took out the water line, power pedestal and picnic table. The owner (driver) told the campground owner it was the owner's fault since the sites were too narrow. I gave the CG owner video of the driver starting to turn into the site 30 feet short of the entry (no trees, just the pedestal/water/picnic table) 30 feet down the pull thru and about 10 feet away from the hard pad. When I asked the driver had he ever driven something this big and his answer "the salesman took me out in the parking lot to show me how easy it was to drive and told me it was no more difficult than driving my car". Obviously no training and the weight of the vehicle was over the license he had. Lucky for him, the CG owner didn't press the issue for the damages, writing it off to another idiot driver.

I've had a CDL to years and when I got my current DL, I insisted on getting a noncommercial Class A just to have it. Borrowed a neighbor's Class A for the driving test.

[hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by xyzabc

. . . . but this is another example why drivers of Class A need to have training and be licensed for these type of vehicles.

Yeah, more laws, licenses and government regulations. That'll solve just about any problem.

[Duner]

Every time I read about a front tire blowout causing a horrendous accident, I wonder why steering stabilizers aren't standard equipment.

Here's my front tire blowout story I posted on this forum in 2011:

The conditions were nearly ideal.....temp around 68 deg, smooth concrete, straight level ground and doing around 62 mph in the #3 lane of 4 lanes on I-10 in Fontana, Ca . The Doran Tire Monitor was indicating good pressure on all tires (>90 lbs on mh and 27 lbs on toad). No warning or signs of trouble, then suddenly POW, BANG, SLAP, SLAP, SLAP! I could see the carcass of the driver's side tire in the mirror flying out the back. I'm pretty sure I didn't hit a road hazard so I guess this tire just gave out from old age. Trying to get another year of use out of the 8 yr old Michelin tires isn't worth the risk, even tho I take very good care of the rubber and make sure I don't drive under inflated.

The Safe-T-Plus worked perfectly as the rig just dropped down and there was no pulling to left or right and control was completely normal. I was in a construction zone with skinny 9 ft lanes, no shoulder and a k-rail at the edge of the outside lane. An 18 wheeler was to my right and back a ways in outside lane. The left side traffic immediately slowed down as the carcass and a bunch of dirt and smoke went that way. I didn't touch the brakes and just let the engine slow us down. So with the flashers on, I had to proceed about 1/2 mile to an off-ramp. To my surprise, there was no damage to the rim even with the smell of burning rubber, and just minor bent stuff in the wheel well.


I have the Safe-T-Plus I bought in 2001 for my '99 Chieftain [Ford chassis]and then moved the unit to my '04 Chieftain [Workhorse chassis]. Still working fine!

I'm a big believer in the "safety" part of Safe-T-Plus.

[retired long]

Originally Posted by Cloud Dancer

Here's what I mean:
I have to assume that the driver is normally driving the motorhome when the first instant of the blowout is occuring. If the driver, at that point, does NOT cease to drive the motorhome correctly, staying awake and alert (working the steering wheel plus do NOT touch the brake), then there's an excellent chance that he can stay in his lane. The trick is to NOT lose directional control. Just keep the steering wheel active as required to stay in your lane. The driver can NOT allow the rolling resistance of the flat tire to rotate the spindle, because that will also rotate the other spindle,....it'll steer itself, right away, to the dangerous side.

Cloud Dancer you are getting to real good advice,I will add one of most important things is YOU need to have both hands on that steering wheel .Reason is as you eluded to is those first mili seconds You control the wheel an not the blown tire .I think if we want to be truithful we have cruise turned on -we have our feet comfortably on floor an one hand on steering wheel.There is no way in emergency we can control vehicle as a driver with both hands on wheel an foot on throttle.Reaction time will be much faster an may save the day.

[NY24]

Originally Posted by Funding Fun

It should pull slightly in the direction of the low tire but not a sure sign. Check steer tires every time you fuel up.

I DON'T agree with your advice.

If a vehicle has been driven more than a mile to fill up, tire pressure will already be higher than when it was cold. That false high reading could lead a driver to think that everything's OK when if fact it is not. Check EVERY tire at the start of EVERY driving day when the tires will be at their lowest pressure for that day. On dualies, checking and adjusting that inside tire can be a real chore. JUST DO IT!

When a driver experiences a sudden loss of pressure for any reason, the correct response it to STOMP DOWN on the accelerator to add just enough speed to counteract the sideways pull of the failed tire. Literally in seconds, accelerating will allow the driver to regain control of the vehicle at which time the driver can ease off the accelerator and find a safe spot to pull off the road (and change into clean shorts ).

[awol50]

Originally Posted by NY24

I DON'T agree with your advice.

If a vehicle has been driven more than a mile to fill up, tire pressure will already be higher than when it was cold. That false high reading could lead a driver to think that everything's OK when if fact it is not. Check EVERY tire at the start of EVERY driving day when the tires will be at their lowest pressure for that day. On dualies, checking and adjusting that inside tire can be a real chore. JUST DO IT!

When a driver experiences a sudden loss of pressure for any reason, the correct response it to STOMP DOWN on the accelerator to add just enough speed to counteract the sideways pull of the failed tire. Literally in seconds, accelerating will allow the driver to regain control of the vehicle at which time the driver can ease off the accelerator and find a safe spot to pull off the road (and change into clean shorts ).

Or get a tpms. It does it for you. All day long.

[awol50]

Motorhome road deaths are very uncommon. From all causes.
Sad for those involved and family/friends. But for the rest of us, not really to much to worry about beyond normal tire maintenance measures. A tpms is a must in my opinion.

[Gone_Feral]

Originally Posted by hohenwald48

Yeah, more laws, licenses and government regulations. That'll solve just about any problem.

I don't think that's the point. I think the point is that meaningful RV driving education would save headaches and property and lives. Yes, there are voluntary programs like RV Bootcamp that Escapees puts on a couple times a year, but it's the exception rather than the rule, and most people just wing it. Listen to the guy with the CDL, he knows what he's talking about.

[Cloud Dancer]

Originally Posted by NY24

I DON'T agree with your advice.

If a vehicle has been driven more than a mile to fill up, tire pressure will already be higher than when it was cold. That false high reading could lead a driver to think that everything's OK when if fact it is not. Check EVERY tire at the start of EVERY driving day when the tires will be at their lowest pressure for that day. On dualies, checking and adjusting that inside tire can be a real chore. JUST DO IT!

When a driver experiences a sudden loss of pressure for any reason, the correct response it to STOMP DOWN on the accelerator to add just enough speed to counteract the sideways pull of the failed tire. Literally in seconds, accelerating will allow the driver to regain control of the vehicle at which time the driver can ease off the accelerator and find a safe spot to pull off the road (and change into clean shorts ).

________________________________________

The science does not support that there is a “sideways pull”. For there to be a “pull” that matches the description, an outside source of energy would be required. The subject vehicle has an engine that produced power that was turned into thrust in order to get the vehicle going in the first place, and then thrust is what kept it going at cruise speed. This speed and thrust plus the mass of the vehicle produced the inertia and momentum forces, part of which where used for the purpose of steering the vehicle. What happens is that whenever the steering system is used to turn the vehicle right or left, the front of the vehicle is “pushed” to the right or left. In event of a sudden failure of the left-front tire, if the vehicle turns to the left, it’s due to a combination of things. The failed left tire has a higher rolling resistance than the inflated tire on the right. If there is even a second or two where the steering wheel is not properly attended, this higher rolling resistance will cause the left spindle to rotate to the left, AND since the tie-rod system connects the left spindle to the right spindle, BOTH steer tires will STEER the vehicle to the left. Here’s the “kicker”, the right inflated steer tire has MORE traction than the left flat steer tire. That’s the reason that it’s possible for the driver to steer a vehicle that has one failed steer tire. When you say that “….accelerating will allow the driver to regain control of the vehicle…”,….this implies that there was a loss of control of the vehicle. THIS is NOT demonstrated in ANY of the instructional videos that I’ve studied. IMO if the driver had lost control this means that the vehicle is pointed in a direction DIFFERENT than straight down the asphalt lane that it was on. In other words, would you stand on the gas when your motorhome was already out of control. IMO the author of the video should clarify this. All the instructional videos on this subject, including the Michelin video, clearly demonstrate how easy it is to control the vehicle, using the steering wheel, during all the time of the event.

[Aggie97]

Originally Posted by Gone_Feral

Here is a really useful tutorial from Michelin Tires on how to handle a tire blowout on a motorhome. I'm trying to internalize it, as it involves doing something that is counterintuitive. Hope it's useful to y'all.

https://youtu.be/lkwOE1yKY5c

Thanks for posting this! It was very interesting and stepping on the accelerator is not something I would have thought of doing.

[Ian Douglas]

Smart reply about the acceleration of the motorhome to gain control. I wonder how many people know to do this in the event of a tire blowout because of the sideways thrust that occurs when this happens. We just watched a video on this very situation.

[SailorDon]

Originally Posted by barmcd

As many blowouts of trailer tires as I've seen on the these forums, I wouldn't rule out the trailer being the cause of the wreck. It looked fairly large.

I had a blowout on a tire on my dual axle travel trailer (6,000 pounds). I heard the tire explode, but I thought the sound was from hunters shooting in the woods. Less than 10 seconds later, I saw chunks of the failed tire flying across the road in my side view mirror.
This occurred at 60 mph. No loss of control at the tow vehicle.
I seriously doubt that a trailer tire blowout could cause that MH to go out of control and crash the way it did.