http://www.kare11.com/news/article/970645/391/RV-traveling-to-Minn-crashes-into-Kansas-ravine?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Cbc%7Clarge (http://www.kare11.com/news/article/970645/391/RV-traveling-to-Minn-crashes-into-Kansas-ravine?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Cbc%7Clarge)
Craig,
It looks like a dual rear axle box truck to me.
Maybe they had converted the back to a camper ???
After looking closer at picture 2 you can see the factory stair well and the slide out laying out.
It looks like how they build it, drop the body on the chassis with the carpet and vinyl already down, then bolt down. SAD! :(
Cliff
RV Toter home and trailer. Freightliner FL70 chassis?
Yes RV Totoer home w/3 axle trailer (single wheels)
the trailer (Whats left of it) is laid up where you can side the three axles in 2 of the photos, while what's left of the toter home is sitting right side up on it's wheels.
;D BK ;D
completely blown to bits.
At least when a proper motorcoach ends up in the ditch, you can tell it was a coach.
happy coaching!
buswarrior
18 passengers? Some people probably think I am nuts for having up to 9 passengers in my bus.
see later post
I have seen a bus go off the road at that location before belonged to Coach USA was nothing left of it either,you guys are kidding yourself thinking a bus is indestructible I have saw to many bus wrecks where people did not fare much better just drive safe that is the only chance you have all motor vehicles will kill you
good luck
The local news is saying it was an extended family returning from some sort of dirt bike competition or training in TX.
Sad: no one should have to suffer a loss of one much less more than one family member. My prayers go out to the ones suffering.
My heart and prayers go out to those who were involved and the lives that were touched by such a great loss. After 30 years as a paramedic I've attended to many of these events and know to well the people that are brought to tears by the loss of a loved one, let alone eighteen. Sad, truly heart breaking. May the good Lord comfort those involved, including the response teams.
News this morning is saying that a 17 year old was at the wheel.
Simply amazing.
The family is from the next town over, I didn't know them but what a tragedy. :(
The truck is a Freightliner Columbia-and notice the cab is the only part still in one piece since the cab is rated for crash worthiness. This is why I won't buy a sticks and staples motorhome. I've seen semi-trailers hit buy trains on crossings and literally disintegrate. Also seen school buses hit by trains and they just bounce off the train in one piece.
This is why I built my custom 32ft truck box with 1.5" steel square tubing with 1/8" walls on 16" centers. When the walls were up without the roof yet-I could rock the truck without any visible bending of the walls. I also have the body U-bolted to the chassis every 36". I'm not trying to have the truck be train proof or gully proof-just to stay together if a crash happens.
This tragedy is really to bad, and feel for the family members. Maybe somewhere along the lines the RV manufacturers will adopt some sort of crash testing like Freightliner and Volvo has with their truck cabs. Good Luck, TomC
What did the RV manufacture do wrong in this sad event do you think ? they were all in the truck
It looks like this was a toterhome pulling a toy box. Everything behind the cab was just a sticks and staples motorhome mounted on a truck. Good Luck, TomC
Tom, how long do you think the Toterhome was? It could have been a cross wind that caught the young driver. Per what Gumpy mentioned I can't believe the 17YO was driving.
On another site it was mentioned that the "Toterhome" built on the Freightliner Class 8 chassis was of FRP construction.
This is exactly why Transport Designs http://www.transportdesigns.com/ (http://www.transportdesigns.com/)built my Truck Conversion. No FRP for me. Mine is 1-1/2" x 1/8" wall tubing on 16" centers. Aluminum skin riveted on the outside and plywood on the inside. The floor is 3" x 3" box tubing 24" on center. The roof, walls, floor and belly boxes are all one integral piece of construction.
Even though we drive or have driven buses we must remember we are driving a big heavy vehicle that does not handle like a car, nor does it stop like a car. We must drive at a speed that is comfortable for us and dependent on road and weather conditions. Don't let the surrounding traffic make you drive in such a manner that you are not in control.
We need to pray for the families involved in this crash. What a loss. And, yes I heard the driver was 17.
GaryD
The driver only had a driving permit, but not sure if that would have mattered. A 17 year old with a permit can have more driving experience than a 16 year who gets their driver's license on their 16th birthday.
There is some question on if this was a manufactured RV or simply a box truck with living quarters. I tend to think it was a manufactured RV because of the Columbia chassis and the fact that it looks like there may have been a slideout.
Here is what Donnie Barnes on another site had to say:
"I *really* want to know what kind of conversion this was. I have an idea it was a Kibbi (Renegade) or similar FRP built rig. It looks like from the pictures that the box obviously pretty much disintegrated in the crash, though the trailer appears like it was *not* FRP and was a frame built unit and survived better. It also appears the truck had a slideout which was mostly in-tact beside the rig. Based on the sofa that's still bolted to the floor, I'd say it was a typical Renegade layout with sofa/dinette in a slideout behind the driver.
At any rate, the FRP construction was part of why I got *out* of my Renegade setup. Too many stories of guys having a trailer go on its side in a wreck and the thing just comes apart completely. I figured the same thing would happen if the truck went on its side, too."
I'm quite sure it was a factory built truck conversion (TC), not a "box truck".
Again, not like what Transport Designs builds.
GaryD
I'm slightly bemused by this implication that 'if it's FRP it must be weak'... airliners and Naval minesweepers are built of FRP nowadays - like any material, it can be as strong as you want it to be.
In any case, there's a point at which it ceases to matter how strong the outer structure of a vehicle is - if you drop it far enough, the soft and squidgy humans inside are going to get damaged. In some ways the danger is higher with an ultra-rigid vehicle body as it would actually cause the people inside to suffer greater impact forces than one in which some of the forces are dissipated by the vehicle body deforming - but if the impact is big enough you're not going to survive in either case.
Changing the subject slightly - here's a video on the BBC website of a couple of big vehicles going off a road in Norway:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17589298 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17589298)
Jeremy
That is an amazing video Jeremy! Lucky for the driver(s).
What do you think happened; the tow truck swung too close to the edge and it gave way or the tow started to loose traction and slide back loosing control ( tension ) on the cable? I see brake lights applied. But I'm not sure if was truck service brakes, or the tow auxiliary light bar.
tow truck was a long way from the guardrail, you can see up the inside earlier in the clip.
The towed truck seesm to suddenly make for the guardrail, and over it goes.
Perhaps lulled into not holding the steering wheel, as it followed the tow truck, but then found something to grab it sideways?
Lots of lost capital in that clip.
happy coaching!
buswarrior