Prangs crashes and mishaps

[Jac Sprat]

Haha I thought I'd put this in the Beginners forum.....
We are heading off in a few months time in hopefully a 24 footer hymer and I am totally new to motor homing driving. Feel a bit nervous about mishaps early on when I'm getting the hang of it.
Dare I ask you old hands to recount your very early bloopers ? Hoping to learn from your mistakes basically (and maybe this'll stop the night terrors I'm having

 

[Jac Sprat]

God that is spectacular @mickyc !!
The way it breaks open like a chocolate egg!

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

I've seen a similar outcome on the Ring of Kerry involving a motor home, not pretty, and thankfully not mine.

 

[irnbru]

Jac,
One thing to watch out for is your overhang at the back. When you pull away from a kerb or just turn left or right, remember that your rear end will swing out the other way.

This happened to me a few weeks ago when leaving petrol station, I damaged a car. The towbar luckily saved the MH

 

[Jac Sprat]

We weren't going to bother with a towbar but maybe they're useful even if they're not pulling anything

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[Granjan]

Jac,
One thing to watch out for is your overhang at the back. When you pull away from a kerb or just turn left or right, remember that your rear end will swing out the other way. So, for example, if you are at a road junction with 2 lanes and you are in the right rand lane to turn right, as you turn to the right your rear end will swing across the left hand lane so make sure there's no one there!

I managed to sideswipe a lamppost and now I always remember to check my left hand mirror for obstructions when turning!

If you have a long MH you also need to watch you don't bottom the back end, we have done it 3 times twice pulling off to go up a steep hill and once pulling out of a service station going downhill. You also need to watch trees when parking up branches can make a real mess of the MH sides if your not careful, prune if necessary!

Also if you get an awning don't leave it out when you go to bed or go out ... weather forecasts can be rubbish and new awnings / repairs are expensive!

 

[hilldweller]

Dare I ask you old hands to recount your very early bloopers ?

OVERHANG !!

Always there to catch you out. So easy to sideswipe a petrol pump, a car, a wall or in my case our shed.

WATCH YOUR OVERHANG.

 

[Falcon 269]

If the position of your MH's reverse gear is the opposite of what you're used to in your regular car, beware. Why do I say this? Because only 4 days ago I went to drive up onto levelling ramps and instead backed into a low wall at the back of our pitch.

The pitch was short and I'd reversed in fine, leaving about 2 feet to the wall. Spent 20 mins then unloading stuff before laying out the ramps. On pure auto pilot, I put my hand on the gear knob and found it exactly where first gear is in our car. Unfortunately, I'd left the MH in reverse, though. It took a split second to realise my mistake when I eased out the clutch but with the wall so close, crump! Result, cracked glass fibre around the lower bike rack mount. Doh!

 

[irnbru]

If you have a long MH you also need to watch you don't bottom the back end, we have done it 3 times twice pulling off to go up a steep hill and once pulling out of a service station going downhill.

How do you avoid this? Go slower im guessing.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

If the position of your MH's reverse gear is the opposite of what you're used to in your regular car, beware. Why do I say this? Because only 4 days ago I went to drive up onto levelling ramps and instead backed into a low wall at the back of our pitch.

The pitch was short and I'd reversed in fine, leaving about 2 feet to the wall. Spent 20 mins then unloading stuff before laying out the ramps. On pure auto pilot, I put my hand on the gear knob and found it exactly where first gear is in our car. Unfortunately, I'd left the MH in reverse, though. It took a split second to realise my mistake when I eased out the clutch but with the wall so close, crump! Result, cracked glass fibre around the lower bike rack mount. Doh!

On a similar note, also ensure the handbrake is fully on. We were recently up on levelling blocks on a slight gradient at a site, after which SWMBO applied the handbrake (allegedly). Noticed an interesting creaky noise when entering/exiting vehicle through hab door (door at very rear of vehicle), assumed it was suspension compression, the step or similar.

Then, fuelled by the potential energy afforded by the vehicle mass and the slight gradient, with madam outside and me stood in the hab door entrance, the vehicle rolled backwards off the levelling blocks towards a stone wall just a few feet behind us. Thankfully it stopped before impact. Lucky.

May also want to leave in gear too...

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[Granjan]

How do you avoid this? Go slower im guessing.

True ... Its not easy to avoid ... If you can try and find the a bit with less of a dip or an alternative entrance/exit, sometimes the approach angle makes a big difference husband goes past and approaches from other direction rather than doubling back. Its a bit like that with small ferries ... You need a higher tide to keep dip flatter! Apparently ferry staff can help with ramps too.

The nearest we came to smacking the back side of ours was on a ferry when husband was beckoned forward he enthusiastically swung across the bays forgetting the back end ! luckily the ferry chap who was directing us shouted a warning. I think like everyone has said its only takes a second to forget the back end.

 

[mitzimad]

all accidents are the result of two things either going to fast or not looking where your going so dont do the first and do do the second

 

[ianhyslop]

just don't try to drive thru Pamplona in summer , zebras in the street are child's play compared to what runs about there .

 

[Jac Sprat]

I know what my problem is
- I am impulsive high energy multi tasker and try to do things quickly
I can imagine jumping in and starting not realising it was in reverse for example. This trip has to slow me down !

 

[Nik]

All I can say about the mishap with our new van where the rear offside corner was scratched whilst turning out of the drive. The right one did it......ME!

£1800 later....B****cks!

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[LAM]

Rented and drove a MH for the first time last year to travel and cycle in France. Like your good selves, I am a planner (control freak ). Left for the tunnel allowing plenty of time (hate being late). Traffic was very heavy during the last few miles, reason was an accident. We missed our slot. Not to worry, the train was 30mins behind schedule (apparently ). 5 hours later....... we arrived in Calais when according to my itinerary we should have been half way(ish) toward the centre of France. Next day couldn't navigate our way through Rouen, having thought we would be driving 'around' it . It was chaos, everywhere... road works, Le Mans week (everyone thinking they were in fast cars). We needed to get to the 'river side' of the road but the road works prevented this. Tom tom was going mad ! Eventually, we listened and took a left when we realised and 'committed' ourselves that we were about to enter a tunnel. We just scraped under those dangly, plastic things, overhead and then saw the height marker at the entrance when a voice asked "What's the height of this van ?"..... You are quite right our van was too tall to fit. So......... no other option but to fall onto the mercy of the thousands of other motorists to 'back up' (only 10 vehicles behind us ) and stop the other 3 lanes of traffic (thankfully not moving too fast). Luckily a very nice person helped control the traffic, too . Whilst there were a few vocal words were heard and not all were helpful we managed to get out and on our way unscathed, but left scarred for life !! After that all was well (we avoided Rouen like the plague on the return journey !)
We enjoyed our trip so well we bought one and are about set off to France/Belgium as we speak.
Moral of the story is ... planning is good as long as it's ok for you if it doesn't go to plan.
As Carol says "You're never on the wrong road just a different one".

Have a great time

 

[Scout]

do NOT EVER trust your sat nav, better still dont have one, no Im not going to tell you why

make a card in large lettering with your overall size in both meters and feet and stick behind your sun-viser just in case you keep the sat nav

 

[Easyliving]

The only small piece of advice I can give is to not rely on the satnav too much. On our first French trip we were approaching a roundabout and the satnav lady said 'take the first exit'. I usually look at the screen so that I have an idea which direction I am going but not this time and found myself driving through a no entry sign into a one way street! Luckily I managed a swift uturn and didn't meet anything coming the other way.

Another time I decided to a three point turn in a wide village layby, only a low hedge at the edge so no need to worry if I reversed back a few inches too much - clang, there was a wall just behind the hedge.

Driving a motorhome is dead easy, just take your time.

Paul

 

[Indy259]

I have just returned from my first trip this year. waiting to fill up before I left the car in front reversed into me, all I could do was watch while my hand was going all over the steering wheel for the horn. luckily no damage was done and I now know where the horn is.

 

[Jac Sprat]

@LAM 's story made me wonder if we should miss out Rouen? Funny story but awful!
It's a shame you can't plug into Sat nav height of vehicle somewhere-
....

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[reckless]

Driving in Dieppe, Brian was wrong-footed by satnav. We went down increasingly narrow streets where I avoided the stares of the locals. Faced with a no entry sign he had no option but to drive straight across a pedestrianised square. Again I looked at my feet and tried not to laugh.

 

[Puddleduck]

I drove nearly 3,000 miles around Spain last Autumn without mishap. Came home and clouted the gate post on the way in! £1,500 pounds poorer as a result.

Yep, I did something similar. Now I am very wary going in and out of the gate.

Also forgot bedding on one trip.

Now we have a packing list which is laminated and it gets crossed off as it goes into the van. It works from the back forward, cupboard by cupboard.

The last two pages of the packing list is the "pre-flight check list - internal and external" - we check each others checks if that makes sense.

 

[The Dudess]

@LAM 's story made me wonder if we should miss out Rouen? Funny story but awful!
It's a shame you can't plug into Sat nav height of vehicle somewhere-
....

We have a Becker sat nav recommended by a trucker friend of ours - you can program it with height and width.

 

[Easyliving]

I daresay I am not the only Funster to have fallen foul of the French 'give way to traffic from the right' rule.

For the uninitiated this is a cunning ploy by the French to outwit unsuspecting foreign motorhomers. If you are driving along and spot a warning sign with a black 'x' then be prepared for cars to just pull straight out of side roads without stopping!

We were driving through quite a busy French town a couple of years ago when I had to brake hard to avoid whacking a lady's car as she drove out from a side road. Our bumpers were literally touching but luckily there was no damage. Very embarassing though.

Paul

 

[Puddleduck]

I daresay I am not the only Funster to have fallen foul of the French 'give way to traffic from the right' rule.
age. Very embarassing though.

Happened to Dad first time we were in France (car) in the 1970s. I remember it well.

Lots of memories from that trip. I refused to go back with them in subsequent years but that's another story.

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[peterc10]

Dare I ask you old hands to recount your very early bloopers ? Hoping to learn from your mistakes basically (and maybe this'll stop the night terrors I'm having

Got it back home and reversed into the garage. That is despite having reversing sensors, reversing camera and a wife screaming "stop"! I put it down to the excitement of the day. Luckily no damage done to either motorhome or garage.

 

[Mack100]

I daresay I am not the only Funster to have fallen foul of the French 'give way to traffic from the right' rule.

Thanks for posting that, I've been driving in France for probably 35 years and I've never known what that sign meant. Me dangerous?

 

[Jeannette van den Oever]

I'm sure that rule's optional.
I think they also use it in The Netherlands for cyclists, however, most times when visiting my in-laws in Friesland, the Dutchies take one look at our foreign number plate and decide to wait until we've passed.

 

[IanS]

I found the combination of left hand drive and the extra width quite tricky, I have now fitted a camera high on the right hand side front, facing back, that shows me the side of the van and the lane markings. With the screen fitted on my left, I can quickly look in the left hand review mirror and see the screen showing the right hand side.
I fitted this after hitting mirrors with another van coming the other way on a narrow bridge, possibly my fault.
The moral of the story is, slow down if that gap looks a little narrow