Why You Always Need To Be Alert!!!!!!!!!

JanAndBill

Well-known member
A couple that we are friends with in another camping group, came in on Saturday from a trip. They park their trailer at the woman's father's house, in a tight spot. I'm not quite sure the reason for Dad backing in the trailer, but he was. The woman was at the back of the trailer guiding her father and for some reason stepped behind the trailer (I'm assuming to go to the other side). As the father neared the stopping point his foot slipped off the brake and hit the gas, pinning the woman between the back of the trailer and a wall. She sustained several broken ribs, broken collar bone, fractured knee, and internal injuries. She's had 6 hrs of surgery so far and is still in ICU, but it appears she will survive. Had the impact caught her just a couple inches more to the center of the chest, she would not be here today.

This is one of my pet peeves, that I see happening all the time in campgrounds. No matter how many times you tell people DON'T LET ANYONE BEHIND YOUR TRAILER WHEN BACKING, invariable they'll do it. For those who don't know, when backing IT IS THE DRIVER THAT CONTROLS ALL OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE AND IS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING THE LOCATION OF PEOPLE AND OBJECTS AROUND HIM AT ALL TIMES. Now it is advisable and convenient to use a spotter but that doesn't remove the responsibility of knowing where your helpers are located. I've always taught helpers that if you can't see the driver in his mirrors he can't see you, and you're in danger. At no time is it acceptable for you to be behind the trailer, unless it is completely stopped and only then at the specific direction of the driver. Despite the fact that we've been at it for years, my DW will still forget and I will lose site of her in my mirrors. It used to result in some harsh words being yelled back and forth, but now that I've mellowed (LOL), I just stop. Eventually she gets the hint and will step out where I can see her.
 

Shortest Straw

Caught In A Mosh
Wow! Hope she recovers quickly. I have stopped while backing to wait for my better half to come into view and have had people walk between the pickup and the rig. Nothing you can do to fix that kind of stupid...
 

jassson007

Founding Louisiana Chapter Leaders-Retired
A camping friend of ours caught his wife between the fifth wheel and the tailgate of the truck when he was hitching up and missed the kingpin. Shattered her pelvis.


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JanAndBill

Well-known member
I do the same. I just stop and yell out the window I can't see you.

Unless the weather is perfect, she's usually looking around pretty quick to see why I'm sitting in a climate controlled truck, while she's standing in the cold/heat/rain. :cool:
 

Jim.Allison

Well-known member
Someone in the thread said they "just stop". LOL, that is exactly what I do. I also use the phrase "PINCH HAZARD" describe the area between the truck and the rig, and the back of the trailer also. I know that term is old and worn out in my family, and they laugh at me about it. BUT I guarantee you that they hear the term in their mind, and they recognize a pinch hazard when they see one.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
We use Cobra walkie-talkies and when she gets out of my (mirror) sight, I stop and tell her to move to where I can see her. Normally, this is only at the storage yard. At our seasonal CG, the owner backs me in, standing next to my mirror, and she's in the rear, well off to the side.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
We use the cell phones (truck has bluetooth) instead of our Uniden walkie talkies as there is no one second silence with the phones.

However, I'm pretty good at backing a trailer (been doing it since I was 8 years old) and usually park it by myself.

Most of the time when I get offers of help from other campers or my neighbors, I've already planned my attack and have the back-in all worked out.

I would like to have a back-up camera on the Prowler . . . maybe one day!
 

wdk450

Well-known member
We use the cell phones (truck has bluetooth) instead of our Uniden walkie talkies as there is no one second silence with the phones.

However, I'm pretty good at backing a trailer (been doing it since I was 8 years old) and usually park it by myself.

Most of the time when I get offers of help from other campers or my neighbors, I've already planned my attack and have the back-in all worked out.

I would like to have a back-up camera on the Prowler . . . maybe one day!

I have read MANY stories on other RVing forums about couples with a motorhome hitching up their "Toad" (towed car) and one of them gets between the two vehicles to facilitate the hitching process and ends up dead.
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
Does not matter whether we are using our phones or our radios she knows that if I cannot see her in the mirror I stop, period. This goes along the same line that when family is around, like camping, that all children are accounted for and in custody of an adult before I move any vehicle. I have seen too many "grandpa ran over a grandchild" episodes.
 
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