Last week a gasoline tanker here in MA swerved to miss something in the road, then turned over and burned. It was lucky that no lives were lost.
This was a reminder do a post on this subject. I did one about 4 years ago and have since come across more stuff in the road. Yes "stuff in the road" is dangerous. What is the right reaction to prevent an accident? When you see it call your local highway patrol. Do not stop on an Interstate! Fortunately in a motorhome we can see far ahead and avoid some of this "stuff in the road".
Please post your experiences and comment, recent ones of mine are:
1. Childrens's bike in the passing lane of an interstate. Avoided and called highway patrol. Tie down those loads!! Bet it came off the back of a RV.
2. Ladder on a two lane highway with the contractor's truck backing up to pick up the ladder. Had to really throw out the anchor! Don't follow close to any pick up with ladders or wheel barrows or lumber.
3. A mounted tire in the left hand lane of an interstate. We kept movong so no one would attempt to pass us. Called. Bet it came out from under a rusted out under the bed spare tire storage. Check your tire if you have such a storage.
4. Mattress-- fortunately by the side of the road. Very dangerous as if caught under the front axle a fire can start! (Several years ago a Bounder burned with a mattress caught under the axle.) Do not follow any car with the mattress on the roof!
Drove to a campground late last year and our friends were following an hour or so behind us. Passed a coffee table in the fast lane with 3 legs - mentioned it to them when they arrived - when they passed it an hour later it only had 1 leg left.
If you have no choice but to hit something then hit it rather than swerve - there are enough YouTube videos showing what happens when busses and RVs try and swerve to miss things.
RV Park Finder
Fulltimers
2002 Beaver Santiam 38DST + Banks + 99 Jeep GC
DH,DW,Jake and Indie
A large 12" cast iron black pipe elbow in the right lane of I-275. No place to go with rush hour traffic, so hit it dead center in a rental car and my insurance paid a very substantial claim. If I had swerved, I would have either hit a car on my left or a concrete retaining barrier on my right.
Bob & Betsy - USN Ret'd '78 & FL LEO Ret'd '03 FMCA #F203528 '05 HR Endeavor, 40PRQ w/400 Cummins - With -'05 GMC Sierra LT, CC Z-71, the pusher '07 Arctic Cat 500A & Wilderness Kayak, riding in the pusher - Our Current Location
Leaving enough space in front of you when driving is the key factor to avoid road debris, as well as watching traffic ahead for sudden swerving or brake lights. I'm sorry, but I was taught by professional driving instructors while I was a Police Officer, defensive and emergency driving situations. And unfortunatly, even though it goes against every fiber of my being, I was taught, and followed training I received, that if a dog or cat walked out in front of me, do not swerve to avoid it. Honking and beginning to apply a smooth braking process...and if you and the animal are lucky, no impact may result. A cow, deer or Elephant would be an exception, avoiding if possible by any means!
Over reacting and panic braking results in many open highway vehicle accidents, when the car runs off of the road, or overturns for no aparent reason. Often it is classified in the police report (if there are no witnesses or survivors) as "driver fatigue", as in falling asleep at the wheel. Believe it or not, in rural settings, at one time (before safety glass, air bags, anti-lock brakes, padded dash boards and seatbelts!) it was said that on a clear roadway, during daylight hours, when a car was found wrecked, with the driver deceased and atributed to no known reason, investigators sometimes determined that a bee entered the car and destracted the driver!
"Stockton, CA Bee Causes Fatal Auto Accident, May 1918
BEE CAUSES WOMAN'S DEATH
STOCKTON, Cal., May 22, 1918 - Jumping from an automobile in panic when a bee flew into the car, Mrs. W. H. Williamson sustained injuries which caused her death."
Proper reaction and my reaction depend on conditions... Normally I "Buzz the Fuzz" as they used to say back in the 60's and 70's
However I have pulled off the road, And did a dash, when I felt it was safe
In that case a tire fell off a pick up using a tire carrier (spare tire) and bounced down the road, wound up in the right lane A very nice semi truck stopped traffic to protect me (2 of 'em in fact) so I felt safe doing the dash
Had people been zipping past at 80 in the 55mph zone like normal.. I'd not have took the chance. Clealry I survived
On the other hand I recall a many year old arthritic grandmother.. Grandson had a flat, when he popped the hub cap it rolled out into traffic (80 in the 55 like I said) she said "I'll get it" He said "no grandma, You stay in the car" Did she listen to him? (What do you think, of course not) did I have to send troops to the fatal accident.. You bet, and close the road and send county and the M.E. and.. Well I really hate typing that message to HQ that starts "REference Fatal Accident".
Like I said, Nice trucker protected me.. I made sure to thank him with a proper wave
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
Yes, as stated above, leave enough space and watch for unusually reactions in the traffic ahead of you. Secondly, if you are driving one of todays coaches, don't swerve. Hitting what ever it is dead will likely not cause you to loose control. IF you do choose to swerve, turn the wheel and then lock the wheel position. Do not swerve back or react to the motorhome movement. Lock the steering wheel position until the coach stabilizes and then correct your position in the lane.
I had a recent experience where driver fatigue caused my to misjudge my surroundings. I had the cruise set and was comming up on a vehicle I needed to pass. I was waiting for this truck to get past me while I was closing quickly on the vehicle in front of me. When the truck went past, I moved behind the truck quickly and did not realize he was towing a flat empty trailer with no side markers. I yanked the wheel as hard as I could and swerved back into my lane. I actually felt the front end slide as it went turned back. But the important issue was that when I swerved back, I immediately locked my steering wheel position and waited to feel for the coach to stop moving, before adjusting my position in the lane. It actually didn't sway at all, but since I didn't know what it was going to do, I just waited momentarily before turning the wheel again.
I learned this technique from driving an old jeep with a lift kit, bad wheel bearings and no shocks. Any time it hit a bump, it was all over the road. If you tried to correct it, you would loose control. You just learned to wait till it settled down before trying to straighten it out. You turn the wheel and wait, turn the wheel and wait, never reacting to what the vehicle was doing, but just waiting momentarily between corrections.
stevelv wrote: Drove to a campground late last year and our friends were following an hour or so behind us. Passed a coffee table in the fast lane with 3 legs - mentioned it to them when they arrived - when they passed it an hour later it only had 1 leg left.
If you have no choice but to hit something then hit it rather than swerve - there are enough YouTube videos showing what happens when busses and RVs try and swerve to miss things.
Good advice on messes in the road, will caution though that after, ans as soon as safe, pull over and check out the toad.. what is safe to drive over with the big rig, can be a nasty with a 4 wheeler..
Generally, I'm cautious about trying to miss something in the road because avoiding something causes worse problems too often. I DW to just try to slow down and NOT try to avoid whatever it is--typically deer around here. Better to hit the deer and stay on the road than to try missing the deer but hitting it anyway and then going off the road and hitting a tree.
I did hit a Christmas tree on the Interstate in Chicago. Didn't hurt the car, but spooked us pretty good and left needles in every crevice of the car. Had a bag of cement fall off a truck in front of me many years ago. Not fun being on a motorcycle having a bag of cement spinning around in your lane.
Steve & C. J.
"Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise
Another trick you can do if you get lucky (I have from time to time) Last trip out west as I was headed from Las Vegas to Palmdale I hooked up with a couple of truckers We were all doing the same speed (Getting passed a lot, not doing much passing) and we had a nice chat on channel 19 Since I was the "Rocking Chair" (Rig in the middle) the "Front Door" (Lead rig) let us know about anything we needed to avoid. I had a good half mile to "Swerve" around it and the guy behind me nearly a mile.. No sudden movement needed.. No You Tube video.. Just nice smooth ride
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would be an exception, avoiding if possible by any means! 
