AS hit parked semi/container trailer on side of the highway

[guskmg]

I had the pleasure of coming up on a flat bed trailer loaded with drill pipe. The rig was parked in the right hand driving lane. It was early morning with slight rain and a wet road. I saw the rig just in time to swerve my 3/4 ton truck left and avoid a disastrous collision. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. My truck did a slow 180 degree turn clockwise around the tractor trailer rig to the left. I departed the highway going backward into a corn field. With my 4WD I was able to extract the truck back to the shoulder. While stopped and collecting my senses another pick pulled up to check on me and my truck. He also said, he was prepared to be a witness to the offending truck being parked in the roadway. There was no damage to my truck. To this day, I am glad I was not pulling my Airstream. It would have looked like the one in the pictures above.
guskmg

[SuperTrouper]

Its impressive that a lot of the structure is still intact (Vista views etc) and the bed is still made! Must have been a hell of a BANG!

[DonRich7878]

Originally Posted by Hans627

This is another reason to avoid interstate highways if your schedule allows you to do so.

I agree 100%...

[DonRich7878]

Originally Posted by GOUSC

My wife saw that post this morning as well. We travel that part of I-77 in SC on the way to visit my Mom. It is not a high traffic area and not an area known for high wind so I’m curious how this happened and glad no one got hurt.

It appears by the photo that potentially, the WD system prevented the rear of the AS from swinging clear of the obstruction during an evasive maneuver. Another example where free balling saves lives.

[richard5933]

Surface roads have their issues too - it's not just the Interstate highways with problems. It was on a 2-lane state highway that we had our head-on collision in a coach years ago. With no center barrier, there was no protection against the sleeping driver coming the other way.

[ITSNO60]

Originally Posted by richard5933

Surface roads have their issues too - it's not just the Interstate highways with problems. It was on a 2-lane state highway that we had our head-on collision in a coach years ago. With no center barrier, there was no protection against the sleeping driver coming the other way.

2 lane roads can definitely be more dangerous, another danger is when an oncoming vehicle drops off the edge of the pavement and when trying to get back on they overcorrect and end up in your lane. With all the distracted drivers and the lack of skill that many of todays drivers have I see this as an increasing risk. We were in Mexico recently with a group and as the roads are very narrow and the edge can drop off as much as 4-6" sometimes I asked a group of teenagers in our group what they would do if they dropped off the edge at speed, none of them knew the correct answer to slow down and wait for an opening in oncoming traffic before trying to get back up onto the pavement.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

An Airstream is WIDER than the Tow Vehicle. Always keep that in mind.

And that wasn't even a wide body Airstream!

[gypsydad]

Headed out this morning at 7am toward VA Hospital in Temple for an appt./ just got gas ($5/gal) at Shell station and a coffee; rain started to come down pretty good as I ramped on to 35 North bound from Georgetown, getting up to traffic speed of 70+. Just as I left the on ramp, the F250 Tire Pressure Warning came on my dash...I watched in horror and disbelief as my right rear pressure, went from 76psi to 10psi in about 2 minutes! I could not make it to the exit, so I pulled over to the right side as far as I could, thinking about the picture of the AS wreck I started this thread with. I called AAA and they assigned a local agency in Georgetown to help. The young guy was there in 30 min, pulled up behind me at an angle, to block. I called the Police also to see if they would come and provide extra lights behind the AAA guy, but they said as long as he was there, I should be fine! Anyway, the AAA kid told me to stay inside buckled up and he had my spare on and I was on my way in less than 30 min. I took it right to Discount tire; they patched the puncture in the tread area, and I was back home at 9:30am.

Sharing this because all I could think about that visual of the wrecked AS, was how unsafe it is on the side of the highway, but I never expected that happening to me. Wife said, "Gee, lucky we weren't towing the AS!" Ya think?? (Note the traffic at 7am and the tire pressure's shown in my dash.) and...yes, I did adjust all the PSI back to 75PSI cold, after this happened.

The TPMS on the F250 saved me a lot of money if I hadn't been notified of the right rear going flat...could have been real bad at 70+ with traffic if I had gone into the fast lane, where I likely would have headed without the warning! The first thing the AAA kid asked when we connected on the phone, was "are you in the fast lane by the barriers?" When I said no, he was very relieved...