Rookie Mistake Disaster Averted

[Benbill]

We narrowly escaped disaster on our last trip as we were leaving Skidaway Island State Park outside of Savannah Georgia when I acted and didn’t think and began following the directions to Charleston South Carolina using Waze GPS Maps. The next thing I know Waze has dumped us onto a one-way street heading toward I-95, but it was going through an older residential area and now I’m getting concerned. Suddenly, I see a railroad trestle ahead and I call out to my wife to look for signs of the height of trestle. Within 75 yards of cleaning the roof we see the first clearance sign...13 feet. We are 13‘6“! Fortunately, I was able to get the truck and 5er stopped without incident, but we were stuck. I had to have my wife get out of the truck and direct traffic around us, so that I could back up enough to pull into a church parking lot. Remember, we were on a one-way street and now we are trapped with no exit. I called the Savannah Police Department and asked for assistance, and they gladly assisted in blocking traffic at the nearest intersection, so that we could reverse our path on the one-way street and follow a workaround to get past the tracks.

Lesson learned. Never leave home without an RV GPS or RV Trip Wizard in conjunction with RV Life’s GPS RV Safe mapping feature.

What is your closest call flirting with disaster, or your worst disaster as you have traveled the highways and byways in your large RV camper? Maybe we can all learn something from each other’s mistakes.

[Logan X]

My disaster moment was not taking into account the rear end swing of the trailer when I was making a sharp turn. I hit a parked car with the back side of the trailer.

[travelin texans]

My DIL always has us using Waze, it will always take you in a round about way rather than a straight line.
She says " it warns you of traffic & law enforcement", well yes it'll be clear, why would ANYONE take that route to get from point A to point B.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

My DIL always has us using Waze, it will always take you in a round about way rather than a straight line.
She says " it warns you of traffic & law enforcement", well yes it'll be clear, why would ANYONE take that route to get from point A to point B.

From what I understand, WAZE priority is "speed traps, traffic congestion and smooth traffic flow"... As long as those are "considered priority" traffic flow suggestions are being met... Little to NO consideration is given to lane width, overhead clearance or lane turn clearance... After all, a Prius fits under any railroad trestle.....

[MerlinB]

Waze navigation absolutely sucks!

It is great for traffic information, hazard warnings, police locations, red light cameras, etc.

Just don't use it for navigation.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by MerlinB

Waze navigation absolutely sucks!

It is great for traffic information, hazard warnings, police locations, red light cameras, etc.

Just don't use it for navigation.

Absolutely agree!

[Customer1]

Good job on being alert to the low bridge.

Waze is great at getting you around snarls, construction, and heavy traffic, but never when towing the trailer.

[Getn off]

I pay for “Co-pilot GPS” which is customizable for my rig. Did the same thing to me on an old road in TN. Lost a tv antennae but kept the roof! Even sent us over an old bridge that was 8 ton max... not even close.
Hate to spend good monies on something that advertises against all this crap.
Troy

[FlyingAroundRV]

We rented a 25' class C in 2017 when we were dipping our toes in the RV world. I bought a brand new Garmin GPS with lifetime map updates and updared it immediately out of the box. So it should have ben good to go... Right?

Not quite. We picked up the camper in Atlanta and our first stop was to be Fort Mountain park.

The gps sent us down two dead end roads, one of which ended up at the front gate to someone's property. In trying to do a U turn, I put the wheels into a ditch that looked like solid ground that wasn't and we were bogged up to the chassis.

A friendly local came with his 4WD pickup and hauled us out. I asked him whether that road actually went through to the park. He said that he had been living there for 25 years and that road hadn't gone through in all the time he was there.

So much for "updated" maps.

[Peacemkr53]

OR carry a motor carrier atlas at least. I missed the right turn to get to the RV park in Dothan, AL. Samantha(my GPS) dutifully had me turn into an apartment complex and I had no way out. Fortunately, I was able to drive on the wrong side away from the really nice LOW shade trees. Lesson learned.

[billsr]

Originally Posted by Logan X

My disaster moment was not taking into account the rear end swing of the trailer when I was making a sharp turn. I hit a parked car with the back side of the trailer.

I did the same thing pulling into a parking space at East Harbor State Park, OH. Lesson learned. Watch the trailer rear when turning.

[mtofell]

A few years back I was heading west through the Columbia River George on I84 and looking for somewhere to dump my tanks - had 35' 5th wheel in tow. Saw a sign, hopped off the interstate and headed down a small narrow road. So, about 200' down said narrow road was a nicely placed sign that said, "No trucks/trailers" and traffic was solid going the opposite direction - absolutely no way to turn around.

It turns out I was on the Old Historic Columbia River Highway which is the road that goes directly past Multnomah Falls. Calling this a tourist destination is an understatement. Sunday afternoon, solid traffic both directions. The road felt like it was 12 feet wide. Thankfully traffic in both directions was just inching along so at least I had time. Mirrors in, rubbing my tires on the curbs of bridges, passing opposite cars and trucks where I couldn't slide 5 pieces of paper between our folded in mirrors. At one point when stopped and talking to a guy going to other way in a big van with his window down he was about 3X closer to me than my son in the passenger seat. Our doors were about 2" apart - no idea how my trailer made it by him!

Needless to say I don't follow signs off the interstate for dump stations anymore. I never did even find the damn station I was looking for. In case there are any traffic engineers reading, you might consider placing signs at the START of roads rather once people are already committed! Live and learn, I suppose.