The Greatest Scrape

[Davidwantz]

Social media, it’s claimed, promotes our ideal selves. Well, in this message, I am posting about my lousy self. I have damaged the curb side of our Classic and am headed to Jackson Center for an estimate. My wife and I are making bets on the cost of repair.

How it happened
On the phone, the teenaged lass said, “Oh we’ve got lots of sites, just drive around and find one and then come and tell us which one you chose." We drove through the campground, a place that had been carved out of a tree farm. Lots of 8” d.b.h. short-leaf pines. The lanes were narrow and winding. The sites were cut into the forest at angles. We could not figure out how they got all the seasonals in there, much less where we were supposed to camp.

It was bewildering because the tree trunks seemed to blend together, making the depth perception difficult. So, I took it very slowly.

We got down one lane and turned onto the perimeter road. I was going to go back to the office to find out just where we ought to park. I noted the tree at the edge of campsite 25 and made the turn, clearing that tree. I was straightening up to get into the center of the travel lane again and heard the wham! I did not see the tree behind it, planted at the edge of the lane. The image seems to make it pretty obvious, but from the cab of the TV, it was not there.

Scraped from the door back to the rear awning strut. Door opens and closes , luckily, but the verticals (studs) were pressed inward and moved the base cabinets ¾” inward. Lost the marker light and grab bar in the ordeal.

I showed pictures of the tree damage to the camp manager and she said, “No worries. Others have hit that tree, too,” No, I did not ask, “Well then why have you not cut it down?” Hitting a tree is the driver’s fault. Always.

Insurance or not?
I like a clean credit score, a clean driving record, and clean insurance claims record. So, I had to work through whether to turn in the claim or not. I finally reasoned that my claim would be just another transaction to the insurer. If I were to pay for the repairs myself, why did I have coverage? If my rates go up, surely, they will not go up as high as the cost of the repairs. Not likely I will be cancelled because I have so much insurance both personal and business with the carrier. It was really the embarrassment that I had to resolve.

Shaken confidence
I have replayed it over and over in my head. How to avoid the tree I did not see. Had that tree not been there, I made the turn perfectly. Neither my wife nor I saw the tree sitting out near the roadway. It just blended in. I literally could not see the trees for the forest.

But I have been wondering ever since: What do I need to know about turning the AS? Is there a rule of thumb? A pivot point to observe? A distance into the intersection to aim for in order to make a clear turn without running over a curb, hitting a sign, or a tree?

After four years of towing and backing, I am open to advice.

I hope my experience and photos will help you feel good about yourself. “At least, I am better than that guy!”

And if you, too, have had a heartbreaking accident, that you will feel some camaraderie. You are not alone.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Davidwantz

My wife and I are making bets on the cost of repair.

I'd say a tick over $14K.

[djb75]

Welcome to the club! I don't know who you are insured by. When it happened to me, the Progressive agent said "Oh, nothing to feel bad about. We get these every day. Had one not too long ago that happened to a professional OTR trucker." It happens - and that's why they invented insurance.

[Rich W]

I think you should stop beating yourself up (I'm exactly like you, going over the accident multiple times, maybe thinking I could somehow undo the damage.). File the insurance claim. If you've not had any recent claims then you should be fine, just don't hit another tree any time soon. (From your pictures I could swear I saw it move closer to the road.)

You were busy looking for a site while driving around and not fully concentrating on every tree in the forest. Stuff happens. The day we picked up our 23' and brought it home I found a tree branch in the rear awning rafter. No damage but somewhere I wasn't paying attention to tree limbs.

Consider it lesson learned. At one campground I was told something similar, look around for a spot. Then they offered to drive us around in their golf cart. You might ask if that's an option. Otherwise, you had an accident. File a claim, get some sleep, stop obsessing. Good luck with the repairs.

Nice pun, almost missed it. :-)

[Halford1]

I had to have my Bambi fixed after a large Excursion scraped against my left side... thedriver was 18 years old driving a Ford Tank and was texting, not paying attention! 15k paid by Geico ins to replace 3 panels, 1 side yellow light, furnace door, water hook up lid and borders

I felt so bad when I saw damages.. once it was fixed, it looked better than it did before the scrape now I feel better.

[mikeinca]

Ouch! So sorry to see that. I could regale you with stories of close calls (the gas station incident, for example) and one minor hit (the drainage ditch caper) with our prior 30 footer but the point, already made by others, is don't beat yourself up about it; stuff like this happens to everyone.

If I were you I'd let insurance handle this one. Your Classic will get fixed, look great, and you can just move on. Good luck.

[Silvr_Bullet]

Accidents happen, don’t let it shake your confidence. That tree is too far into the roadway compounded by a long trailer, it’s tough negotiating thru campgrounds with children etc all vying for your attention. Sorry that this happened to you.

[IdahoTrvlr]

I have to ask - how fast were you going? To hit a tree and drag it down the side of your trailer you must have been moving at a pretty good clip! Slow is the watch word in campgrounds! I have maneuvered our 40’ Tiffin Bus with a Grand Cherokee TOAD thru some tight campgrounds (Flagstaff KOA comes to mind) - I take it slow and if in doubt I get out and look (GOAL). While I feel sorry for your damage and insurance claim, blaming it on a campground or tree seems to be shifting the blame. And once you hear/feel/see the initial hit stop moving and figure out what to do!

[bweybright]

Huh? How helpful was your post? Feel better now though? Glad you have a 40' Tiffin Bus with Grand Cherokee TOAD..so why are you on this forum and commenting? This is an Airstream forum in case you didn't realize?

[IdahoTrvlr]

Originally Posted by bweybright

Huh? How helpful was your post? Feel better now though? Glad you have a 40' Tiffin Bus with Grand Cherokee TOAD..so why are you on this forum and commenting? This is an Airstream forum in case you didn't realize?

I do realize it is an AIRSTREAM forum. I like learning about all RV’s and considering adding an AIRSTREAM trailer to the fleet of toys. BTW I love my Tiffin - from what I can tell Tiffin still builds a better coach than AIRSTREAM builds a trailer. Thor/Airstream could take a number of lessons from Tiffin in terms of how to build a coach and, moreover, how to support their customers.