BajaNomad - Caravan of Motorhomes on Feb 2,3,4 - One bad driver is all it takes!

Caravan of Motorhomes on Feb 2,3,4 - One bad driver is all it takes!

vivaloha - 2-7-2009 at 11:33 AM

Dear Fellow Nomads-

I was returning from my annual winter's break (6 weeks in BCS) with my wife in my 2003 Toyota Truck, driving along, safely, aware, careful etc...we were on day #2 of our 3 day drive home...and somewhere north of Santa Rosalillita, pretty much in the middle of the desert on those high curves that don't have guard rails I was almost run off the road by a crappy driver of a motorhome that was third in line in a motorhome caravan. Fancy motorhome with a Canadian Leaf.

You can imagine the scenario...Seeing motorhome caravans in baja is not uncommon...Total desert desolation and solitude...Some hacker driver of a beastly big motorhome thing almost killed my wife and I. His front tires were about 2 feet over the centerline, on a curve, on a tall hill, with no guard rail and I had to seriously thread the needle to make it past him. Very uncool to say the least. Frickin' hack driver almost killed us.

I understand there are certain risks associated with driving in baja and this is a prime example of one of those risks.

I am asking motorhome drivers to please be very familiar with their rigs and how to handle them before they take on the challenging Transpeninsula Hwy #1.

It was very upsetting at the time and I'm still having flashbacks of this incident.
Post Traumatic Baja Driving Disorder...

I know we all have our baja driving close call stories but man this one was scary and I'm still trying to let it go...

If you are a motorhome driver, or you know motorhome drivers please be very careful with your large rig. Its a big responsibility driving a rig that big and I don't feel that every single one of these owners / drivers are totally capable of handling something so large.

If you are a baja driving person in a normal rig I recommend you really take care and use extreme caution when you see these blasted motorhome caravans.

This year we just started storing another Toyota down in La Paz with Jim near the airport and I'm thinking we'll just fly next year and my wife and I will share that one rig.

Welp, at least we got home safely...I know, all the veteran baja travellers out there are thinking, "yep, been there too" ...cuz we all have...I've made about 30 round trips to the tip and I've had my share of close calls too...

MOTORHOME DRIVERS PLEASE - BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS

woody with a view - 2-7-2009 at 11:36 AM

the culero probably figured you were taking up too much of the road......

The Gull - 2-7-2009 at 11:37 AM

Hey, when do you think he would have taken that cell phone call had it not been at that moment? :fire:

comitan - 2-7-2009 at 11:42 AM

Why should motorhome drivers be any different than the truck drivers, I don't think I ever make the trip without meeting someone on my side of the road and have to thread the needle.

Bajahowodd - 2-7-2009 at 11:46 AM

I've witnessed several incidents where even the pros- big rig truckers have rolled over. And I, too have had my life flash before my eyes as trucks, busses and motorhomes have suddenly appeared way over the center line on a blind curve. I know the adrenaline rush that can cause. My take on the problem is that it's a combination of high expectations about getting to a distant destination combined with long stretches of boredom. People should be realistic as to how far they can safely travel in a single day, and should stop and get out of the vehicle and walk around every couple of hours at the least. Gotta keep vigilant.

[Edited on 2-7-2009 by Bajahowodd]

vivaloha - 2-7-2009 at 11:46 AM

Comitan-

Truck drivers do it for a day to day living and yeah they get over on the wrong side too...but its their job and many of them do their job quite well...

RV owners are sometimes unreahearsed, unpracticed and inexperienced...

jack - 2-7-2009 at 03:45 PM

Motorhomes and semi's aren't your only worry. On my last trip down a Mexican in a mini van lost control on a wet road and totally wiped out my enclosed utility trailer. As I was on my way down and just south of Ensenada it pretty well ruined my whole trip. Getting in an accident in Mexico was definitely one of the worst experiences of my life. I don't know why but wet pavement in the Baja is way slipperier then any wet pavement I have been on in the States or Canada. When in Mexico be very cautious when the roads are wet!

woody with a view - 2-7-2009 at 03:59 PM

in october we were heading to GN to replace a torn sidewall and stock up on supplies. as we crested a small curving hill we noticed a suburban off the road bouncing and throwing up clouds of dirt and going FAST coming our way. there was just enough time to think, "they should have rolled already", "oh chiite, he's trying to make it back to the pavement", "OH @%&! HE'S COMING RIGHT AT US!". all the while (5 seconds!) i'm trying to stop as the realization that timing is everything, THIS TIME it's gonna be ugly! the guy turned back onto the hiway just as he was lining up to t-bone us at 50+mph and all i can still see is the big grins on the faces of the 20ish kids in the front seats as they went on their way. seems there was a parallel track that is a fun detour? :fire:

it was as close as i ever wanna get...

BajaDove - 2-7-2009 at 04:21 PM

You ain't livin' in the Baja if a bus hasn't slapped your mirror into you drivers window.

dtbushpilot - 2-7-2009 at 05:03 PM

We were driving between Santa Rosallia and San Ignacio and met a rental motorhome coming the other way. It was a fairly straight section and he was crowding a bit but everything looked ok up until the last moment when he moved a foot over the line and we hit mirrors. I was going about 60 mph, don't know how fast he was going or how he made it that far down the peninsula in a rented motorhome without hitting someone else but it made a heck of a noise. If my window had been down the mirror would have probably killed me. As it was it just became more of the trash thet you see along the road. I was picking glass shards out of my eyes and skin for 2 days, really made for an itchy, uncomfortable trip....dt

Bajahowodd - 2-7-2009 at 05:20 PM

Ouch! This again, what with the fairly straight road, leads me to believe that the monotony of such a long trip contributes to the problem. Or maybe it's just too much Tecate!

dtbushpilot - 2-7-2009 at 05:26 PM

After the accident I stopped in Viscaino and bought a roll of masking tape to tape up the inside of the window as it was continuously shedding shards.......and a Tecate......dt

vivaloha - 2-9-2009 at 09:24 AM

Thanks for listening and sharing stories and photos...

VA

David K - 2-9-2009 at 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jack
Motorhomes and semi's aren't your only worry. On my last trip down a Mexican in a mini van lost control on a wet road and totally wiped out my enclosed utility trailer. As I was on my way down and just south of Ensenada it pretty well ruined my whole trip. Getting in an accident in Mexico was definitely one of the worst experiences of my life. I don't know why but wet pavement in the Baja is way slipperier then any wet pavement I have been on in the States or Canada. When in Mexico be very cautious when the roads are wet!

Jack... how did the insurance company/ police, etc. handle everything... How long were you detained, etc.

Thanks!

Taco de Baja - 2-9-2009 at 10:31 AM

This guy was unable to thread the needle last August south of El Rosario.....Only access past the accident was the "frontage road", small vehicles only.

LancairDriver - 2-9-2009 at 11:21 AM

I drove a big RV down to Mulege in October. It was definitely one of the most challenging driving experiences of my life, and this is after years of racing cars, airplanes and motorcycles. It takes 110% of your attention full time. I didn't run anyone off the road and never got used to the 18 wheelers passing within inches. Driving back in a full sized Dodge pickup seemed like a vacation after that. There are definitely some RV drivers that are on the edge, but that also applies to any vehicle particularly when driving the roads in Baja.

Skipjack Joe - 2-9-2009 at 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
My take on the problem is that it's a combination of high expectations about getting to a distant destination combined with long stretches of boredom. People should be realistic as to how far they can safely travel in a single day, and should stop and get out of the vehicle and walk around every couple of hours at the least. Gotta keep vigilant.

[Edited on 2-7-2009 by Bajahowodd]

And yet we nomads advise people here weekly on how to schedule their vacations to maximize daylight hours to get to their destinations. "You can get to la paz in 2 and a half days if ....."

jack - 2-9-2009 at 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Quote:

Jack... how did the insurance company/ police, etc. handle everything... How long were you detained, etc.

Thanks!

I was very lucky as there were two local police in a pickup truck following the van that hit me. Therefore there was no question as to who was at fault so I was not detained by the police. I did have to wait by the side of the road for about seven hours to get a visit from the highway police, the insurance adjuster and finally the tow truck. Then I had to follow the tow truck back to Ensenada and drive around town for about an hour going from place to place until they could find a spot to leave the trailer. The two local police in the pickup could not speak any English but the highway cop that came later could. He was very helpful in explaining what was going to happen and he contacted the insurance adjuster for me. The insurance adjuster could hardly speak English at all. This was surprising as the insurance company advertises that their adjustor's can all speak English. I had to contact the adjuster about 10 times checking on the status of my trailer repair and we pretty well couldn't understand each other. I lucked out there also as I carried on to Los Barriles with out the trailer and once there a Friend who can speak Spanish did all the talking to the adjuster for me. The insurance company I used was Lewis and Lewis and I have no complaints with them, but I had a little trouble dealing with the company they are brokers for, Qualitias. The repairs to the trailer were sub par. It was repaired by the owners of a junk yard in Ensenada using parts they scrounged from the wrecks in the yard. It took them 22 days to fix the trailer so I never bothered to get it and return down the Baja, I just picked it up on the way home. The surprising thing was that the trailer was in that very busy junk yard for six or seven weeks and everything that I had in it was still there when I finally picked it up. I had some some very desirable items in it including a brand new 650 Honda, tools, camping gear, etc.

David K - 2-9-2009 at 05:00 PM

Thanks for that... so, for being in Mexico... a good ending for you, really!

bad driver

hisworker - 2-10-2009 at 07:05 PM

on 1-17-09 at12 noon just north of the cut off to Santa Rosaliita this happen when a Dodge Ram towing a 28 foot trailer was all over the road he was 2 feet over the line i was to the right as far as i could get, by this time my wife was telling me to look out on her side when there was a big bang. my mirror had folded in and hit my window, i thought i hit his trailer. we where able to stop he didn't we turned around and had to chase him down to get him to stop, we had hit our mirrors almost 4 inches in on each mirror he lost his mirror also. the scary part of this was we where parked for over 30 min talking with each other and (no) other vehicle past us we could have been in a ditch with injuries with no help. we have traveled i baja for over 35 years and never had anything like this happen we just pray it dosn,t happen again.

EnseNADAslim - 2-11-2009 at 11:00 PM

Last year in February I ran into a caravan of Motor homes as well, I think my wife counted over 20 of them and we were behind this mess heading North. The bad part was the constant stopping as we were all heading up hills and around sharp curves. You could tell some of these people had never driven such large vehicles before-----there were a few very close calls and we were glad to get past that mess.

Bajahowodd - 2-11-2009 at 11:50 PM

Some of it is merely the luck of the draw. If you encounter a convoy of RVs on some of the long flat straightaways, it's no big deal. Hit the same thing in the mountains, and it's major frustration. It's sort of like getting in line at the market. Sometimes, you get behind someone who has a fistful of coupons and then decides to empty their purse of all the coins they had.

Steve&Debby - 2-14-2009 at 10:01 AM

We met a bunch of them in January,Fortunatley it was on the flats above the steep grade coming out ofSanta Rosalia.All of that group seemed to be doing pretty good.We drive a 40 foot motorhome pulling a 20 foot trailer with a jeep on it.We have had more close calls with trucks than other motorhomes. But it is a little nerve racking to see one of those rentals driveing toward you.Since they are driveing a rental ,makes you wonder if this is their first time driveing a vehicle that big. :?:

[Edited on 2-14-2009 by Steve&

ebby]

CaboRon - 2-14-2009 at 01:04 PM

And remember there is not a man alive who doesn't think he is the world's greatest driver :lol:

CaboRon

DianaT - 2-14-2009 at 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CaboRon
And remember there is not a man alive who doesn't think he is the world's greatest driver :lol:

CaboRon

Now, if they could only ask for directions so they would know where they are going. :lol: