Montana wrecked, all over the highway

[Ozz]

High winds.
Check it out....I got this on RV Net.
Wrecked Montana!

[rak]

Thank God no one was hurt. Some people just don't use their heads. You would think anyone with common sense would park it and weight out the storm. To bad they lost the 5er and probably had a lot of damage to the TV, but both can be replaced.
Dick

[Ozzie]

Someone sure wasn't using their heads when venturing out in that weather.
I don't ever need to get anywhere that bad. I like to get to my destination.

[marisolwithsol]

I've never seen anything like that before! What were they thinking?! Thank goodness the people were okay!

Marisol

[richfaa]

We made our feeling known about driving in high winds not to long ago, We do not do it. Not many folks thought it was much of a problem.. These folks were very lucky.

[exav8tr]

My dealer here in Anchorage was trying to get me to head south in Oct or Nov. He said he did it all the time. Being a first time rver I said not only no but H___!!! NO. I hope this wasn't a fellow MOCer out of North Dakota. Anyway of checking on that?????

[bsmeaton]

Our friends came up from Albuquerque to Denver Friday and passed the accident. They said the day was sunny, calm, and the roads were dry, until you reached this stretch of highway. It is a bad part of I-25 for crosswinds, and very few places to find refuge. Truckers end up under overpasses, on the ramps, and even off road facing into the wind to wait out these storms.

Let's not be too hard on the guy. He was from out of state and probably had no idea what he was getting into or the severity of it. I honestly say I'm not sure how I would have handled it if I were in his drivers seat. Bottom line is he came out of it alive and no one else got hurt.

[EagleRunner]

Seeing the license place from North Dakota, these folks were probably heading South to get out of just that kind of weather back home. I've been through North Dakota in the winter, and it is one place during that time of year I would rather be quite a bit further South. They get some nasty wind storms there and sub-zero weather to go with it. I'm talking 40 below zero and that is not the Wind Chill! They probably drove through much the same heading out of the Dakotas and figured it couldn't be any worse further South.

We have had several high wind storms in this area this past winter. if they were anything like what was happening when this Monte was lost, then it is no wonder it tore the heck out of this 5er. I wonder if this was a MOC member? Sure hope all turns out ok for them!

[Montana Sky]

I am glad to hear that nobody was hurt. Since I was not there to see what caused this accident to happen, I am going to reserve my comments to "I am just thankful that nobody was seriously hurt."

[Glenn and Lorraine]

WOW, sure glad it wasn't my Monty and very happy to here they survived without much else happening to them personally

[ARJ]

Hey Brad!

Where is that stretch of I25? I may be coming back via I25 in March and would like to avoid any potential problems.

Thanks

[Bob Pasternak]

Thank goodness no one was hurt. But it does bring a question to my mind. I wonder about the tow vehicle also. If he had a 4 way 5th wheel and didn't have the side to side locked, he might have been in trouble before he realized it. I don't know about Chevy/GM or Ford, but with Dodge a "camper/tow" package gets heavy duty sway bars and shocks. And not having a longitudal axis on the 5th wheel will help keep ALL the wheels on the ground in case of sudden evasive manouvers(sic), going into a curve faster than you think you are or cross winds. There is a valid reason they're not put on large trucks, and in 4 years of 5er towing I've never needed one.

[Dustytuu]

So glad no one was hurt.
We have had some bad wind going accross NM, the worse was on 40 highway. Never went accross NM with out wind. Going or coming back.

[bsmeaton]

This was actually one of 3 accidents along that stretch of highway observed by our friends Friday. They encountered the one pictured first, but the TV had already been towed away. Further north, another fifth wheel traveling northbound laid down in the median with the TV still attached (also believed to be a Montana). This one did not come apart like the first one. Further north yet, they saw a semi that jacknifed and went off the highway into the ditch on the east.

This stretch of highway is between Walsenburg and Colorado City. It has terrible cross winds coming off the foothills. There is so much snow still on the ground, it turns this into an ice field, catching many drivers off gaurd. Once you drive into it, there is not alot of escape. Very few exits, no room to pull over on the side of the road, and if you do find a spot, it is already full with other hi-profile vehicles taking refuge.

I feel really bad for these folks. Hope the news on the other Montana is good as well.

Brad

[Bill Frisbee]

Perhaps I am naive, hopelessly risk-averse, or lacking sufficient confidence in my driving ability but I cannot think of any situation so critical that I would consider towing our Montana anywhere in the dead of winter unless I could see Mexico, the Gulf Of Mexico, or some other landmark at a similar or more southerly latitude through the windows of my truck.

Bill

[bruiser]

Those types of driving conditions are exactly the reason we changed our mind about pulling the Monty south in early January. Our original plan was to travel as quickly as we could through the cold weather, hoping not to have to drive on icy or snow covered roads. Common sense prevailed and we decided we would have lots of time for camping this year without having to worry about driving in extreme weather.

So here we are in Puerto Vallarta instead.

Bruiser

[rrheik]

Thanks Ozz and Brad for the story and info on the area.. How fortunate nobody was seriousily hurt. Good reminder to stay hunkered down until storms pass, concur on reserving comments since I wasn't there. We wih the very best for the family involved.

barb and bob

[rickety]

I'm with you Bill Frisbee, No way, No how, No reason am I going to pull in high winds in the middle of winter. I love my wife too much to put her in that kind of danger, not to mention about a $100,000 worth of rig.

[Bowie]

Wow!!! That was some accident. Thanks for posting Ozz--a good reminder to all of us to think several times before we decide to head out into uncertain weather. Brad--thanks for pinpointing the stretch of I-25 where the accidents occurred. We thought that that was probably the area. High winds are not unusual in Colorado as all of you who live there know. We're not surprised that 5ers could be blown apart or rolled by the winter winds. When we lived in Boulder, we had some winds strong enough that a nearly completed home several blocks from us was blown flat. There's a reason that some of the photos from the early days show long logs braced against the downwind sides of buildings--it was to keep them from being blown away! Those folks were lucky that they will get to talk about this accident. We join with those who won't drive when the weather is ferocious--which is why our new 3400RL is still sitting in MI. Safe driving all.

[cmp-shooter]

The real tragedy will be getting a prompt and correct payoff from the insurance company