RV Towing Tips

Please read the entire story! And remember, this is what happened to someone else. You were not there, and therefore should not second-guess or criticize the actions or reactions of Jim’s father who had a split-second to make a decision, and now must live with that decision for the rest of his life.

[In 1999] my dad was towing a pop-up camper up north with his mini-van. In the van he had himself, my mother, my younger brother and my two kids. He was not speeding or driving recklessly. (I know because I was behind him.) The car in front of him was driving very erratic, and stopped suddenly and without warning. We'll never know since the jerk left after the accident. My dad knew he couldn't make the stop in time. He could see small children in the backseat of the car he was following, so he knew he didn't want to rear-end the car. He also had no shoulder on the right side to speak of, so there was no way around that way.

What he decided to do is controversial, I'll admit, but it could have worked and I doubt I would have done anything different. He decided to try and make an emergency LEFT turn onto a side street that happened to be there. He didn't make it. He was hit broadside by a full size Chevy pickup. My mother was killed instantly, and my son suffered serious injuries to his face which scarred him physically and mentally forever.

My point of dragging out this whole terrible story is as follows: After the accident, the state crash investigator came to the scene. They spent hours gathering information about both vehicle. They measured brakes, tire tread...etc. They also took a great deal of time investigating his towing setup. They weighed the van and trailer. They checked his hitch to make sure is was the right class...etc. It was. They calculated all the GVWR and GCWR. In the end they found that he had not been negligent of any unsafe towing practices, although they did find him at fault for the accident.

The crash scene investigator told me on the day the report was released that my dad had been very close to overloading his van, and that if they had found he had been overloaded he would've been charged with "vehicular homicide" for my mother's death. On top of that, he would've been sued by the others involved relentlessly. I never actually told my dad about my conversation with the crash scene investigator, because I knew it would destroy him. I can only imagine the pain he would have had to go through to find out his wife of almost 30 years was dead, and he was being charged for it.

Obviously the accident could have been avoided if proper stopping distance had been maintained, but my dad was finding that very hard to do because of the other driver's speeding up and slowing down constantly. It was a simple matter of a small sporty car having a much better stopping distance than a minivan towing a popup. I also believe the accident could have been avoided if the trailer had electric brakes. Most pop-ups even today do not. Mine didn't, and I installed them when I took ownership of the unit.

The only two things that could have prevented this accident in my opinion is a) trailer brakes, and b), a greater following distance in which to stop. The reason my dad didn't have the stopping distance he needed was the vehicle in front was driving very erratic and speeding/slowing constantly. The time the other driver decided to slam on his brakes was during a time when he (the other driver) had just slowed down and my dad hadn't yet reacted to increase his following distance. In hindsight, he should have been farther back already, but then again hindsight is 20:20 isn't it?

And as for the other driver, he KNEW he caused the accident. He stayed there until after the cars involved cane to rest, and some other cars started to stop and give assistance. I remember clearly looking at the driver as he sped away. He knew what he did, and didn't want to stay around to explain himself.

This is a tragic story that could have been much worse had the investigators found things to be overweight. Now how do you feel about all of this weight stuff?

Is it worth the risk?
Is it worth the time to figure it out the right way?
Is the added expense of the right tow vehicle worth it?
Is it worth the potential outcome if something went terribly wrong?