Getting discouraged, the unthinkable happened.

[scanzel]

On Tuesday I had my Prevost scheduled for some service work with a local outfit. So I fire it up and head over there. The best way was to take a side street connecting two routes. I go down the highway and get ready to take to side street, prepare to cut it wide because it is a right turn with a power pole on the corner. Just as I start taking the turn a car comes over the small hill and decides to not grant me some of  his lane and I have to cut it quick to get over and guess what happened ? I felt a slight bump thinking I had run up the curb slightly which I could see in the side mirror so I figured I just caught the curb. Get to my destination and get out and find out I caught the last passenger bay door on the power pole crushing it in the center and also pushing in the bay floor about 8 inches. The door I could just replace but trying to fix the floor. Between the mice just chewing through 3 air lines and now this major repair I feel like I have been doomed since I bought this bus. Between working full time, taking care of a house and two mother's etc. I think I should have just gone into hock and bought a SS. No sympathy needed, just need to release some frustration. ALSO If ANYONE KNOWS OF A PARTS PREVOST 1989 AREA LEMIRAGE ON THE EAST COAST, I COULD USE A CARGO BAY DOOR ASSEMBLY. Thank you.

[gumpy]

I feel your pain, Steve. 

That's tough. It can be fixed, but it's time you could be spending on other things. 

In situations like that, it's best to just stop the bus where you are, and let the other driver figure out how to get around you, and then proceed when he gets out of your way.
If he can't get by you, then he'll soon figure out how to back up and let you through.  I know. Too late for that now. 

But you can still continue with your conversion work and fix the bay floor later in the summer.

We all get discouraged from time to time, and yes, we've all had the bad thoughts that we might have been better off with the dreaded S&S. Just don't let your bus hear you
say that or you really will be sorry!

[bigjohnkub]

My 4905 has a bent cargo door. Everyone I have seen either has been repaired in that area, or the door is dented. It does not affect its drivability, and I can't see it driving down the road. My bus, does not reach the artistic plateau of a "coach" like Dreamscape or Sonny's, but it works for me. I have gradually aquired the parts to repair, am just waiting on the free time...............
Big John

[kyle4501]

That absolutely sucks rocks!
I've been there & done that too.  

The water is under the bridge now. . . . Could have been much worse . . . Time now to focus on the good. No broken glass, parts easier to get than for some other coaches, etc

Learning to wait for other traffic to move is the hardest thing to do. I've been in several situations where I was tempted to back up or try to squeeze in somehere. What helps me with the patience is asking myself if it few minutes saved is worth the time & $$$ risked?

I once blocked a 4 lane (each direction) intersection for several light cycles while I waited for a clear path - that was nerve wracking to say the least, especially when my passangers were freaking out about getting hit . . . .   Funny now that time has passed. . . .

After enough time, you too will be able to laugh about this fau-pax.

[Dreamscape]

I'm sure you're not the first one that has met with a non moving pole or other object.

I had thought I was clear when backing up at my father in laws ranch one evening. It was just getting dark and I was backing into a gated area to make a wide swing to exit onto the driveway................well I wasn't! As the rear end was coming around I nudged his well built steel gate upright. I didn't even feel it until I got home and did a walk around. Uuugh!

Fix the door and frame when you can and keep on busin'! Then it''ll be a short memory!

Paul

[desi arnaz]

if you were in a s/s  it would of been totaled.

[bryanhes]

As Roadrunnertex would say, the magnets are working  I figure we are bigger and should have the right of way in that situation and I will take it, we are bigger anyway  and less maneuverable. In the marine industry you must yield the right away to larger vessels. I see our buses vs small vehicles the same and to me the same rules apply. They will back up!
Sorry to hear you damaged your baggage door 

Bryan

[buswarrior]

Glad no one was hurt!

For the future thoughts of the novice driver:

You gotta figure...

There's a reason you pick a certain line around the corner.

There's only so much room between the fixed objects, and you charted a course.

To tighten that line simply as a reaction to some other moving object, motorist or pedestrian is a grave issue that MUST be resisted.

It is about commitment to your estimate for the fixed objects.

The rear wheels must be watched in the curb side mirror for the whole trip around, every time, every corner, to get better, to judge your growing consistency, and to catch your estimating errors.

Otherwise, how do you know how close or how far your original estimate was?

Every corner needs to be taken at a speed that allows for self evaluation and correction.

Looking out the windshield while the rear of the coach is still in the corner is a classic collision waiting to happen.

Thanks for sharing, scanzel. The rest of us will be thinking a little harder on the next few corners.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Greg Roberts]

Well I can't add much more than the other guys have added but just to say that getting a mind set that we are not driving a car and many of the car type capabilities that allow formation of habits tend to carry into the bus driving world and herein lies the problem. The key for me is to never let traffic flow dictate movement of my bus. Think of yourself as a huge permitted wide load that yields to everything and simply develop patience with the traffic flow (as opposed to expecting traffic flow to have patience with you and your bus). If a car does not yield to you then sit until it is gone. Be quick to hit the emergency flashers to alert others that you are not going to flow like a car in traffic. As with anything, planning is your best friend and if you can avoid tight turns it is best. I have been in situations where I have had to make three lefts to go right because of a hard right turn that I knew would be a pain. Since it is a bus and my goal is leisure, I take the extra time when needed to stay out of trouble and reduce irritation to other drivers. I can't speak as a professional truck or bus driver but this is the way I do it and I personally would certainly listen to what the pros have to say on the subject.

[robertglines1]

is damage above the rub rail and does it include rub rail? Bob     also ck spare tire page there is a prevo in Montreal being parted out...new skin fron IBP is around 230 for top section..

[FloridaCliff]

Steve,

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

On the positive side, "you will never do it again".

Make it a priority to fix it, so you won't have to relive your pain "over and over".

I just had a "good one", but didn't involve the Bus.

I was restoring and old commercial compressor for my shop, you know the ones that are big and really top heavy.

Took it apart, replaced anything that even looked used, sanded and painted it Detroit Green, and it was ready to be moved around back.

Well I had been jocking it around my shop with my hand truck by just getting under two of the legs and tilting it just slightly backwards and it would wheel around pretty good, If I was really careful and slow.

Well, I got a little impatient and tried to we'll it towards the door for lift by my neighbors tractor and it came back on me, "try to hang on our let go........I let go"  Glad I did because it weighs almost 650lbs.

Bent the compressor pulley and the crank shaft.....The compressor is shot!

And ya know what......"I will never do that again"

So after the required amount of time calling myself an idiot, and then stopping all the bleeding from the fins that hit me,  I found a new, improved, quieter, 3 stage compressor and will make it better than it was.

Because that's what Guys do, Next Project!

Cliff

[kyle4501]

Cliff, If Steve were to experience your luck, he will stumble across someone cleaning out his garage & will be paid to take all the parts needed to fix his bus. 

Bummer about dropping the compressor . . . .
Yeah, you called to tell me when you got it, but no call concerning the damage . . . . Hmmmmmm.

[Sean]

... In the marine industry you must yield the right away to larger vessels.

That is, at best, an oversimplification of the ColRegs.  In many cases, the smaller vessel is the stand-on vessel, and especially if it is under sail or human power.  In fact, the only times a larger vessel is stand-on (when it would not otherwise be due to course and relative position) is when she is "restricted in her ability maneuver" or, worse, "not under command."  Otherwise vessels must give way when called for irrespective of relative size.  Plenty of admiralty cases where large vessels were found at fault after essentially obliterating smaller ones.

I see our buses vs small vehicles the same and to me the same rules apply.

(emphasis mine)

Well, OK, to you maybe.  But not to law enforcement, just FYI.  Most cops will allow for lane incursions and a variety of other liberties in consideration of maneuvering difficulties of a large vehicle.  But the instant another vehicle is involved, they no longer have that discretion.  If you collide with another vehicle, and you are the one over the line, in most states it is automatically your fault.  For that matter, if you being over the line causes them to brake, swerve, or otherwise maneuver to avoid you, you are again at fault for anything that happens to them, even if your vehicle is not physically involved.

Consider also the fact that most law enforcement take a dim view of large vehicles being in places not designed for them.  As a privately titled motor home, you are not required to observe the same restrictions to STAA routes as commercial vehicles.  But that lets you get into places where highway designers and traffic engineers have not planned for your presence.  The burden falls on you to be able to negotiate the roads in this case, and there will usually be little sympathy for any trouble you get into in regards to maneuvering room when you are off the designated routes, especially if there was a more appropriate route to get you to your destination.

I feel the Steve's pain on damage to the bus.  But look at the bright side: he could have been billed for damage to the light pole, or, worse, had he not yielded the right of way, he could have been in a very costly accident.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[kyle4501]

RE" "billed for damage to the light pole"

That reminded me - There is a "high power" pole next to my driveway. I asked them to move it & they quoted me over $10,000! 
I asked "what happens if I accidently bump into it?" - they said the cost could tripple if they had to repair it as an emergency issue vs. planning it into their schedule.

(Nevermind the fact they planted the darn thing so close to my driveway!)

Steve, that is another good thing - you didn't knock down the pole! 


Like Cliff said - fix it as soon as possible. The only thing worse than curb rash is having to see the results. . . .

[Sean]

Kyle,

A friend of mine, many years ago, was hit by a drunk driver.  The collision sent my friend's pickup truck into a street light pole, knocking it down.  He was luck to walk away -- I saw the damage to the truck.

A short while after the accident, he got a call from the city, who was trying to locate the other driver or his insurance carrier.  They had a bill for over $12,000 to replace the light pole that they were trying to collect.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com