Reflections on a Rollover: Safety Lessons For Life on the Road (a few small pics)

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highest_vision

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currently SW CO
I think this is the right spot for this, and I wanted to share my thoughts about my experience, even though they are rather lengthy. I guess this is an essay, but I included pictures so I guess that makes it a graphic novel… No blood, but there is car carnage,

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When building a vehicle for short or long term use, it seems we tend to think about ergonomics and safety as they pertain to us while living in the vehicle, but we do not think about these things as they pertain to us while driving. While going down the road. While having an accident. During a wreck, after a wreck, where do things go? How secure is secure? Will relatively benign objects suddenly become deadly? Did I put the butcher knife up? We probably won't think about these things during the incident, or even in the immediate aftermath, but with proper planning we will have the opportunity to not just think about these things, but to pursue the life we enjoy again. That is the goal, and the purpose of this attempt at personal and collective reflection.

I rolled my vehicle a few weeks ago. It was a fairly high speed rollover, 60 or so miles per hour. From my vantage point, it was hard to say exactly what happened other than I was subject to forces I hadn’t previously experienced. I was airborne at one point, managing to go over a barbed wire fence. Almost everything in the cab was ejected except for me (seat belts are amazing!). The fiberglass camper shell, secured with six clamps intended for holding shells on, came off. The clamps bent, the shell was damaged. The driver side bedside collapsed. Given this failure of an important structural component (the bedside), anything connected to that side would have failed. Because my fuel tank is on the passenger side, all my (limited) storage was on the driver side. None of the storage was designed to be upside down. Most cab windows, and a couple shell windows, were broken.

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My vehicle was heavily injured (totaled), but I was not nearly so bad. My injuries would have been the same if I was driving a vehicle with nothing in it but me: I had a closed fracture in my neck (but could easily have been very different), some damage to my right shoulder (possible aggravation of old torn rotator cuff), minor lacerations due to glass (no stitches), and minor contusions. None of these injuries were from flying objects, except for glass. The roll started perhaps 30 feet from the road, and ended perhaps 150 feet from the road. My tool box, perhaps 40 pounds, was about 50 feet from where I stopped. Lots of stuff all over.

The living situation I had did not have any real design in it with regards to safety beyond the nature of a pickup bed being separate from the cab. I had a plywood, shelf-type platform to create a sort of basement for storage. This was held in by one bolt, a twist lock shower curtain bar, a sliding door lock bar, and gravity. The tool box, my “filing cabinet” with things like birth certificate, and kitchen items like my two burner were “in the basement.” All my design thoughts related to a frontal collision. I didn’t want my toolbox attacking me! My front grill is plastic. It was unscathed in this accident.

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So what? With the recent posting of rollover videos in another thread, I really felt it important to share that it isn’t just what happens to the outside of the vehicle. It isn’t just what happens to the people inside of the vehicle. It isn’t about just the vehicle, it is also about that stuff. With keeping in mind that almost nothing we do can be expected to emerge from an accident unscathed, some things have come to my mind that, in my opinion, can help us emerge less-scathed.

Bulkheads. These are clearly not sexy in the RV world, but for most folks “rolling their own” from a blank canvas van, buying an ex-contractor van with this already installed seems easy. Could they deform in an accident? Maybe, but as a sacrificial component to keep a camp chair outside of my cranium, they will work.
Cab Clutter. If we want to keep things from entering the driver area, we shouldn’t put them there to start with. Because I had a pickup, the jack and the related items mount in the cab. The key word is MOUNT. The jack and its friends stayed put. I also had a DSLR camera in the cab, in its large, padded case. It left the cab. So did maps from the map pocket, a book, and a tape measure. Any of these things could have gouged an eye or caused a head injury (which I didn’t have). Interestingly, the glove box and console remained closed. My metal-framed sunglasses came off, but were fine! Also good eye pokers.
Secure Stuff! We can’t (and shouldn’t) plan for everything, but we can close doors and secure clasps. This is especially critical if you drive around with important documents (I probably shouldn’t do that and am open to options!). My “filing cabinet” was a little red plastic thing. I had two (the other with nothing important), and they were stored right next to each other in “the basement.” The one with important stuff exploded. While it was special to find snow-soaked adoption papers from Calypso, a cat I adopted close to 20 years ago (who has been gone for half of that), it was also stressful that I needed to see if I could locate things like my birth certificate and vehicle title. These things need stronger storage. And things like that tool box? Once loose, something that dense is gonna be bad. Like a fire extinguisher, it needs to be secured. I imagine heavy, dense things like a toolbox can be secured with one or more ratchet straps that are properly mounted. I obviously didn’t do this.
Consider Insurance. This will vary on your financial situation, but if you are like me, and don’t generally have thousands of dollars in the bank, full coverage insurance on your vehicle, even if it is older, can be amazing. I will be getting roughly $3500 for my 25 year old, 234,000 mile pickup, minus $500 deductible. This is close to what I could probably sell it for. This is also way more than I have in my bank. In the five years I have owned the pickup, I have spent about $3000 on insurance, so there alone I am breaking even. I am also getting $5000 in medical. I will not go bankrupt from this accident. My health insurance will cover some. It isn’t even fancy health insurance, it is from the marketplace. I’m not looking to make a political discussion about health insurance. Having it will help. It costs me, right now, about $1600/year. The ambulance ride alone will probably cost that.
Have Friends. This would have been so much harder if I didn't have people to help me. I like to be independent, but sometimes we need Bill Withers. I still need Bill Withers. This website is Bill Withers! Going forward, I personally am going to be better at building and maintaining bridges. In my experience, and unmaintained bridge is just as bad as a burnt one. 

That is all! Feedback from others is awesome. I have almost no experience at building living spaces, but am looking for my next one! So don't just listen to me. I don’t want to have another wreck, but if I do, I want to come out on top. Actually, I want to come out inside, buckled. But anyway. Safe travels, and to quote one of my favorite bosses, make good decisions!
 
Wow James! I'm so sorry you had an accident. I'm glad you were not hurt badly or killed. You bring up some really great points and I know I'll look around my rig today to see what needs to be secured better. I hope you find a vehicle/rig that suits your needs at a great price.
 
I'm so glad that you are okay! Very smart of you to consider everything that could happen during an accident. Thanks for posting about what you learned. I cringe sometimes when I see how people set up their living quarters - knives hanging, heavy objects on the dashboard - yikes! All of the upper cupboards in our RV are used for clothing storage, canned goods and pots and pans are stored at floor level. Even so I'm sure we could arrange things to make it safer.
 
glad you were not seriously disabled during the accident.
 
Glad you are Ok.
Often think about worst case scenario at highway speeds. I agree with you and what others  say regarding loading up the cabin with stuff that really shouldn't be there. Keeping all the heavy stuff secured low down keeping the centre of gravity low, tyre pressures, tyre heat a just other things to remember.
 
I put a bulkhead in the van because I was T boned in a pickup and had everything in the cab hit me. It tilted but did not roll. Thank goodness you were as well as you did come out of your roll over. Wishing you luck on finding a new rig.  -crofter
 
Back in the '70s I was asleep in the back section of my boyfriend's Land Rover when we were rear-ended. He had all his ham radio equipment sitting on a shelf he had mounted above the windshield. It was the first trip for the rig and he hadn't had time to secure the radios to the shelf yet. They all came flying back and hit me. Luckily I was only slightly hurt and only the Land Rover had damage. It was totaled but we drive it home. That was a lesson in flying objects, but one I seem to have forgotten. Thanks for the reminder.

Glad you weren't hurt worse than you were. And your logic on insurance is why I keep full coverage insurance on my 21 yo motorhome that is my full time residence.
 
Thx for the great post and reminder to all.
Accidents are inevitable.
Couple things to remember as well as I see that your accident pics appear to have happened in snow or ice. Which means reduced traction and control on slippery surfaces.
Minimizing accident impact is smart. So is reducing speed to avoid it. Many accidents are driving too fast for conditions due to reduced friction and control for braking, curves and avoidance maneuvers.
Speed control and reduction, in poor traction situations. Pump and test the brake/vehicle response is a quick little test to help you know how slippery it is. Don't go faster than you can stop.
If you sense sliding when tapping the brakes, that's too fast for proper control. Slow down to the speed that will allow your brakes to stop the vehicle.
Old quote, slow down and live.
Glad you survived unscathed.
 
Thanks for the well wishes! And what minivanmotoman says is true. Even though most of that snow is old (this was at 8000' elevation), there was intermittent snow blown on the road. Slower would have certainly meant less bad. I don't know that the accident was avoidable, I think a lot about it and wish I was able to talk to the person who saw it. Anyway, I had great tires (mountain snowflake), would consider myself a great driver, and was behind two others who went through the same section of road. I did something different. We can't always prevent things, but we can plan for things. One of my key takeaways is exactly what minivanmotovanman said. I expect to be driving slower.
 
Good things to think about and better to do something about. I need to rethink the paperwork file as it is just a little cloth bag right now and while that wont hurt it wont protect things either. And as far as heavy stuff I will relook at what is in the van that could fly, besides me and dog and hubby.
 
So sorry this happened. I hope your recovery is not too long. Excellent post with a lot to think about (and rethink) I’m afraid to drive in snow to begin with. And where I live there’s so much traffic we go bumper to bumper anyway. I’m usually not fearful but your post is exactly what has been my fear about car living. I’m really glad you’re ok. Thank you for taking the time to post the whole story.
 
both the Ford and Dodge extended vans that kept the short wheel base have roll over issues. if you research this it is well documented. there is really nothing surprising here. highdesertranger
 
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