Stopping distance of a motorhome

[BusyBuilder]

We are in litigation with a young lad who pulled out in front of us on a slip road on the A9.

The solicitor wants to know that stopping distance of a 4t Hymer B544 2012, on wet roads.

Basically this young lad pulled out on us and I had to stand on the brakes before we hit him. There wasn't a lot of damage to his car but over £5k to ours, bent inner steel bumper and bent both radiators. Front fibreglass grill was split but not much more, in fact you'd be hard pressed to see any damage looking at the front. His 2005 Vauxhall Corsa had a hole in his bumper where our towing eye punched through it, but not much more.

The accident happened just before Christmas 2023, wet roads with snow on verges. We had very little time to react. We were travelling at an indicated 50mph. I think we had about 15-20m to stop.

So if anyone can give me an idea on stopping distances I'd be interested.

What's really annoying about this accident, is, we are doing all the work for the benefit of Saga insurance who paid out over £5k for our damages. Saga dragged their heels for almost a year before we insisted we used our legal expenses insurance to fight our case. They have basically washed their hands now and left us to do all the work, the solicitor is a bit of a wet blanket too.
I would never recommend Saga insurance going by our claims experiences.

 

[Gellyneck]

Help!

At what age do you become an Old Man.
Asking for a friend

Fret not!
You've reached it!

 

[Barriesimpson]

Help!

At what age do you become an Old Man.
Asking for a friend

Anybody over 50 apparently. That is the age you can take Saga Tours holidays.

 

[meanders]

The day you look in the mirror when shaving and an old git looks back.

 

[Barriesimpson]

The day you look in the mirror when shaving and an old git looks back.

This is why I always shave alone.....

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[Gellyneck]

The day you look in the mirror when shaving and an old git looks back.

Could this be the reason why a huge %age of Funsters have a beard and tache?

 

[Landy Andy]

Could this be the reason why a huge %age of Funsters have a beard and tache?

As do some of the men on here

 

[gus-lopez]

To pull out the other driver needs to be up to 50 mph so as not to inconvenience you.

This ^^^^^^^If you pull out in front of me & don't pull the gearbox out of it accelerating up to the limit my hand is on the horn & the headlights are on.

He obviously couldn't do that, so he is driving without due care and attention.

Exactly!

He pulled out onto 'your' road, it was his responsibility to make sure there was adequate space & his fault if he miscalculated.

& the only way was to accelerate rapidly. I'm usually on cruise control & if I have someone looking like a twat,which most are ,I use the horn well before the junction to draw there attention & concentrate their mind.

and just hit her........little bitch wouldn't do it twice, would she?

Yes that would have been for the best then got out & punched her out.

In this sort of situation, it is always better to call the police before anyone moves anything.

Yes but we are in spain .In the Uk no one woulld turn up

Police attended, little to no interest to them unless there is a physical injury, which there wasn’t as they wouldn’t allow me to drag the fu##ing moron out of his car.

I 'd have beaten him senseless long before the old bill arrived even if they were across the road.

That's interesting, here you call the police and they are there in a shot taking declarations from all parties. This is useful for the insurance claim.

Yes,plus you have to fill in the accident report form ,in triplicate,plus each side has to sign the others sides report form

That's a real shame. I remember when the British Police were admired by many over the world due to their efficiency and Rigor without having to shoot anyone.

That was long gone even even before I moved to spain 22 years ago.

 

[Fdhadi]

Ok, so I have thought quite a bit about the situation here. Why would your insurance company not put the blame on the third party and pursue losses.

Is it possible that although the third party shouldn’t pull out causing you to slow down stop or change direction, the argument could be (from the third parties insurance) that you should have anticipated the third party could pull out and therefore you should have been slowing down even before this happened. See it early, react early.

ie: awareness & planning comes into the equation.

I’m not pointing the finger here, just looking at it from another point of view.

 

[Landy Andy]

I 'd have beaten him senseless long before the old bill arrived even if they were across the road.

Locked himself in the car and the window wouldn’t smash. I was trying.

Did find out where he lived eventually though

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[Fdhadi]

Anybody over 50 apparently. That is the age you can take Saga Tours holidays.

Ahhh sht, I’m an old man

 

[Barriesimpson]

Ahhh sht, I’m an old man

It's not all bad, you get discounts in the museums for example.

 

[Gellyneck]

As do some of the men on here

With comments like that we fully understand why Life Membership is not a goer for you!

 

[L' Hobo]

Help!

At what age do you become an Old Man.
Asking for a friend

Everyone is different, they'll know?

PS, don't take my reply too seriously, I HAD to make some excuse.

 

[stuartholmes]

Anybody over 50 apparently. That is the age you can take Saga Tours holidays.

I thought it was when you can't go on Club 18-30 holidays anymore..

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[Barriesimpson]

I thought it was when you can't go on Club 18-30 holidays anymore..

That's when you turn 21 and realise what a prat you were .

 

[Phill D]

Help!

At what age do you become an Old Man.
Asking for a friend

Don’t think it’s much to do with age!

It’s when you stop doing stupid stuff never.
My grandmother always said she was an eighteen year old in a n eighty year old body

 

[Thornebt]

A couple of people have mentioned dashcams on this thread. They are cheap enough and so useful in this accident situation. Just send the footage to your insurance company and they will see exactly what happened.

I've got cameras in my motorhome and car and would not be without them.

 

[Coolcats]

We are in litigation with a young lad who pulled out in front of us on a slip road on the A9.

The solicitor wants to know that stopping distance of a 4t Hymer B544 2012, on wet roads.

Basically this young lad pulled out on us and I had to stand on the brakes before we hit him. There wasn't a lot of damage to his car but over £5k to ours, bent inner steel bumper and bent both radiators. Front fibreglass grill was split but not much more, in fact you'd be hard pressed to see any damage looking at the front. His 2005 Vauxhall Corsa had a hole in his bumper where our towing eye punched through it, but not much more.

The accident happened just before Christmas 2023, wet roads with snow on verges. We had very little time to react. We were travelling at an indicated 50mph. I think we had about 15-20m to stop.

So if anyone can give me an idea on stopping distances I'd be interested.

What's really annoying about this accident, is, we are doing all the work for the benefit of Saga insurance who paid out over £5k for our damages. Saga dragged their heels for almost a year before we insisted we used our legal expenses insurance to fight our case. They have basically washed their hands now and left us to do all the work, the solicitor is a bit of a wet blanket too.
I would never recommend Saga insurance going by our claims experiences.

Haven’t read all the replies but if you want an expert opinion regarding your vehicles likely handling performance you may be best to engage a vehicle dynamics engineer.

 

[Coolcats]

IALL vehicles should have the same stopping distance. That is the reason there is only one stopping distance shown in the Highway Code, not several.

Only the drivers reaction will make a difference?

Hope that helps!

Not all vehicles have the same stopping distance a Citroen CV, a triumph herald a VW Golf a lotus Evora a Caterham 7 or a fully laden Fiat Ducatto all on a dry road with good tyres. There is no way on this earth they will all have the same stopping distance even with the same drivers reaction time

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[The Wino]

It's not all bad, you get discounts in the museums for example.

The problem is getting out again when they think you're an exhibit!

 

[Nanniemate]

OK another question what about the momentum caused when carrying a liquid load were the water tanks full or empty ?

 

[bigtwin]

Is it possible that although the third party shouldn’t pull out causing you to slow down stop or change direction, the argument could be (from the third parties insurance) that you should have anticipated the third party could pull out and therefore you should have been slowing down even before this happened. See it early, react early.

ie: awareness & planning comes into the equation.

I’m not pointing the finger here, just looking at it from another point of view.

This is all related to the ‘contributory negligence’ argument used to reduce any financial settlement once the third party has accepted their guilt. Any solicitor worth their salt would make a strong rebuttal of any such attempt to reduce the payout in these circumstances.

Ian

 

[Phill D]

This is all related to the ‘contributory negligence’ argument used to reduce any financial settlement once the third party has accepted their guilt. Any solicitor worth their salt would make a strong rebuttal of any such attempt to reduce the payout in these circumstances.

Ian

Agreed,
This is all bluster and completely irrelevant to the circumstances that caused the accident.

The only relevant evidence is the other driver crossed a give way line into your path when there was insufficient space to safely do so.
End of discussion!

That’s what I would be ear bending the solicitor with and tell them stop pandering to the opposition.

 

[L' Hobo]

Not all vehicles have the same stopping distance a Citroen CV, a triumph herald a VW Golf a lotus Evora a Caterham 7 or a fully laden Fiat Ducatto all on a dry road with good tyres. There is no way on this earth they will all have the same stopping distance even with the same drivers reaction time

So where am I going to find which of these has the shortest stopping distance and therefore the safest?

Strange that there is only ONE stopping distance in the Highway Code, despite regular updates and I've NEVER seen any braking distance comparison test in ANY car magazine or by MOTORING WHICH?

One would think, as it's an important SAFETY ISSUE, car manufacturers would want to highlight this as an important selling point, none (to my knowledge,) has?

Last, but not least, why would a Swedish VOLVO truck design engineer, lie to me?

I told you it was hard to believe?

PS. Tanker trailor's are designed with compartments and baffles to reduce liquid surge!

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[EuroTrotters]

We are in litigation with a young lad who pulled out in front of us on a slip road on the A9.

The solicitor wants to know that stopping distance of a 4t Hymer B544 2012, on wet roads.

Basically this young lad pulled out on us and I had to stand on the brakes before we hit him. There wasn't a lot of damage to his car but over £5k to ours, bent inner steel bumper and bent both radiators. Front fibreglass grill was split but not much more, in fact you'd be hard pressed to see any damage looking at the front. His 2005 Vauxhall Corsa had a hole in his bumper where our towing eye punched through it, but not much more.

The accident happened just before Christmas 2023, wet roads with snow on verges. We had very little time to react. We were travelling at an indicated 50mph. I think we had about 15-20m to stop.

So if anyone can give me an idea on stopping distances I'd be interested.

What's really annoying about this accident, is, we are doing all the work for the benefit of Saga insurance who paid out over £5k for our damages. Saga dragged their heels for almost a year before we insisted we used our legal expenses insurance to fight our case. They have basically washed their hands now and left us to do all the work, the solicitor is a bit of a wet blanket too.
I would never recommend Saga insurance going by our claims experiences.

Not sure if this has been asked, Dashcam ?

 

[Coolcats]

OK another question what about the momentum caused when carrying a liquid load were the water tanks full or empty ?

The term "you have a bit of a tank slapper there sir" springs to mind and shudder at the thought

 

[Coolcats]

So where am I going to find which of these has the shortest stopping distance and therefore the safest?

Strange that there is only ONE stopping distance in the Highway Code, despite regular updates and I've NEVER seen any braking distance comparison test in ANY car magazine or by MOTORING WHICH?

One would think, as it's an important SAFETY ISSUE, car manufacturers would want to highlight this as an important selling point, none (to my knowledge,) has?

Last, but not least, why would a Swedish VOLVO truck design engineer, lie to me?

I told you it was hard to believe?

PS. Tanker trailor's are designed with compartments and baffles to reduce liquid surge!

its probably because those figures won't be used as a headline as it would create a false sense of security, the highway code gives a good average. Now I am not suggesting road cars have this stopping power but as an extreme example if you watch Le mans a Group B car will break 500mtrs before a corner and a Prototype will start at 300 mtrs I can also say that you would have trouble outbreaking a Caterham or Lotus for example but clearly this would be poor driving on a road so here is where the Highway code comes in it helps keep everyone sane and sensible.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

The term "you have a bit of a tank slapper there sir" springs to mind and shudder at the thought

Tank slapper is a motorbike reference.

 

[L' Hobo]

its probably because those figures won't be used as a headline as it would create a false sense of security, the highway code gives a good average. Now I am not suggesting road cars have this stopping power but as an extreme example if you watch Le mans a Group B car will break 500mtrs before a corner and a Prototype will start at 300 mtrs I can also say that you would have trouble outbreaking a Caterham or Lotus for example but clearly this would be poor driving on a road so here is where the Highway code comes in it helps keep everyone sane and sensible.

I don't mean to be disrespectful but, IMO you are desperately trying to justify your statement about variable stopping distances because, why do they publish how fast a vehicle can get UP to 60mph but not, how quickly it can stop DOWN from that speed and, as for creating a false sense of safety, that bird has flown with the compulsory fitting of seatbelts.

Of course we can make special, limited manufactured vehicles with excessive, even dangerous, braking ( who want to suffer G force braking) but we were talking about mass production cars and trucks, not one offs.

I repeat, why do Car manufacturers boast and promote 0 - 60mph figures and not 60 - 0 figures IF they are variable?
To many people, SAFETY would be an important buying option!

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[Coolcats]

Tank slapper is a motorbike reference.

Totally understand and sometimes a term can be 'nicked' by others