End of our holiday

[Lazy-Ferret]

Not even a mile from home. Car and caravan written off. Waiting recovery.

 

[AD Ent]

What??? Is that yours

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

The terrano and caravan were. The Corsa hit us up the rear.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

This is why the car is wrecked

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Surprisingly the caravan faired better than the Corsa, which looked even better once the fire brigade had cut her out.

 

[larson]

well i hope your all ok

 

[firebobby]

Sorry to hear about that, I hope all are well, but...WTF was the corsa driver doing, you can't miss a bloody great caravan in front of you, unless you were looking at other things :augie

 

[jims-terrano]

Jeez, hope you are all ok even the lady in the Corsa. Make sure you are both OK, if you have any neck or back pain seek medical advice. A dull ache can turn into months of pain I know!!! It can take a week or so before pain and stiffness really set in so be very careful.

 

[macabethiel]

What a bummer !

Sounds like you had a lucky escape.

Despite all the bad press about faked whiplash it is a real injury and often does not strike you for 24-48 hours as the bruising spreads.

Make sure you do as advised by the Ambulance / Hospital as it is very painful when severe.

I have never had whiplash but my Missus was shunted many years ago and it was 6-8 months before she was back to normal.

 

[jims-terrano]

Sounds like you had a lucky escape.

Despite all the bad press about faked whiplash it is a real injury and often does not strike you for 24-48 hours as the bruising spreads.

Make sure you do as advised by the Ambulance / Hospital as it is very painful when severe.

I have never had whiplash but my Missus was shunted many years ago and it was 6-8 months before she was back to normal.

It is very painful and can take over a week before it really hits too. A very long and slow recovery too.

 

[zippy656]

How big do things need to be

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

hi, glad you ok, can replace cars and caravans.

so has towbar given way and creased chassis,

would have thought caravan would have buckled not
passed force on?

whatever was the closing speed? appreciate you'll not know yet.

 

[rustic]

The important thing is that you are all ok.
Sorry to hear the bad news regarding your holiday.

A long time back, we were on Holiday in Benlech, Anglesey, just arrived, set up the caravan, we were all having lunch, and CRASH.... A run away Volvo tried to come in through the open door, it knocked the van sideways.

We were shocked but generally ok, we dragged the caravan home after someone gaffa taped the door back on.
We were at home phoning round a few sites and managed to hire a static at Barmouth, we were detmined to have a holiday.

The car, an Ambassador, was untouched as this was parked at the side.

Where has your tow bar gone? I thought these were very tough, or has it damaged the rear chassis?
I think too many people are in too much of a rush these days.

We were just out shopping, I saw a young lad get in his car, eating what looked like a pie, drove off one hand sometimes on the wheel, and he had no seat belt on.
Where are the Police when these incidents take place?

Distractions on the road by drivers include the mobile phone, texting, messing with Sat Nav, or even lap tops, newspapers and I once saw a driver reading a book...

Take care,
Rustic

 

[macabethiel]

Driver Distraction

When I am on the M1 I often stop off at the Services near Junction 26 and walk over to the other side to the M&S food shop as I am addicted to the Italian Cold Coffee Milk Drink.

If I stop on the walkway that connects the two sides I am constantly amazed by what I observe.

Women texting whilst driving is so common place its hardly worth a mention but last year I saw a HGV driver with both his feet on the dashboard and an enormous laptop in front of his steering wheel watching a film !

I assume he had cruise control fitted !!

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

I will post more pictures later, but it really does take some believing. Our Van has not only 2 huge brake lights, but also a high level one as well, and seeing as we were not even a mile from home, they had all just been checked as working.

We are on a nice straight, 40mph road, with a huge hatched section in the middle of the road, with great visibility.

I was slowing down, as I wanted to double check I had taken the adjustment bar off of the stabiliser (I didn't remember putting it in the boot, so I indicated to pull over, and as I have a rear view camera on the caravan, connected to a monitor in the car, I knew there was no one behind me as far as into the distance as I could see.

Just as I was about to come to a complete stop, I heard the screeching of tyres, and looking into the side mirror, watched her pile into the van. I was still not fully stopped.

The air bag in her car did not deploy, and she hit the steering wheel. She would not talk to anyone, even the police, so the only info we have is from the police.

The Fire Brigade cut the car up to get her out.

We had 2 ambulances, as my wife is asthmatic, and through the worry suddenly had problems breathing, and her blood pressure went up to critical, so they called a second one. The other lady had no visual injures, and the ambulance people said she was complaining of neck injuries, and chest pains from hitting the steering wheel, but was not in any form of life threatening danger.

It was actually not raining at the time, and road was dry, she left skid marks of about 20 foot before she hit us.

The good news for us, is the caravan took most of the impact, and the tow bar took the rest, so apart from shock, we are ok.

On quick inspection, it has not stopped raining since the accident, we have had over 3/4inch of it, it looks like the bar that comes straight back from the tow bar cross bar, to the flange that has the towball on has buckled up and side ways. The towball (it is a ball pin through a jaw), did not snap, but as it folded over, the pressed steel caravan coupling has been destroyed and popped off, resulting in the caravan going through the rear bumper, and into the back of the car.

I hope the lady turns out to be OK, and do not wish any ill on her, but boy am I P155ED at her...

 

[(RIP) rustygates]

Thank goodness you were able to walk away from this, the female driving the corsa was also lucky,and her not wanting to speak to anyone makes me think that this is not first time she has been involved,I wonder where her mobile was???

rustygates

 

[rustic]

...I wonder where her mobile was???

If the time of the accident was noted, ie from the time of the first call to the Police, then phone records will show if she was taking a call at the time, but would not show she was compiling a text, unless they found the phone...

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

hi, glad you ok, can replace cars and caravans.

so has towbar given way and creased chassis,

would have thought caravan would have buckled not
passed force on?

whatever was the closing speed? appreciate you'll not know yet.

Here is the pictures of the towbar...

You can sort of make out, the two 10mm thick plates that come from the cross bar, are twisted.

On the Near side, there is now a gap between the drop plate, and the angle that attaches it to the chassis., so the cross bar is bent.

The caravan has buckled, but she hit it on the corner, which is of course the strongest bit.









This was the view taken looking back from the caravan, you can see how far much road she had to see us in.



And I walked some of the way up, and took a shot looking back..

 

[jims-terrano]

If you were indicating left to pull in do you think she miss read what you were doing and thought you were turning left into that junction? This in no way excuses her bad judgement/driving and impacting your outfit. Also the fact that she wouldn't speak to anyone makes you think she knows she was in the wrong if not doing something that she shouldn't of been doing.

 

[firebobby]

Loving the old route master bus.:thumb2

That road is plenty wide enough, it almost looks like she was going for an over take, then changed her mind or had her mind elsewhere.

Sounds like the towbar took most of the force, hopefully the chassis will be OK.