Crash on I-10 NM

[JandC]

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces...ly-fiery-crash

We went by this yesterday but couldn't tell if the RV involved was a fiver or not. Devastating scene with all the burned remains still off to the side of the road. The winds were blowing in this area again yesterday at about 20 mph. About 15 miles west of the accident scene we hit a gust that had to be over 60mph! There was a car that had just passed me and it knocked him over 1/2 of a lane. A motorcycle was getting ready to pass me and it moved him over 3 or 4 feet. It made me do a little swerve but not as bad as you would think it would have. Scary area and one that I probably would not drive through in the future if the winds were predicted to be in the high twenties or above.

[DQDick]

We travel that route as well as I-8 and I-40 a lot and have stayed where we are numerous times because of the threat of wind and wind gusts. Multiple vehicle accidents are common in sudden and sometimes forecast dust storms. The way the mountains can funnel the wind, there are areas where I've worried about it turning the Monty over. It does happen to semi's occasionally.

[thekennys]

tough stretch of road
i'v had to pull over there in the past scarred
mikey

[JandC]

I am just going to throw this out there, because most members on the MOC have been RVers much longer than I. Over the years as a State Trooper I have known semi units to get blown over in extremely high cross winds. Almost 100% of the time they were empty box type trailers. I never had a incident involving a fifth wheel being blown over on the interstate due to high winds. I know it probably has to happen but I have never been involved in any such incident or heard of one. A 5th wheel is narrower, lighter, and just as high as most semi trailers. Do you not see them getting blown over as frequently just because there are probably 10,000 semi units out there to every 1 fiver? I know on this trip there have been a couple of times (Oklahoma last week and New Mexico yesterday) that I have wondered about getting pushed over.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Yes, it happens. The incidents I am aware of were all with sustained 40 MPH winds, gusts to 70 or 80.

If the forecast is for more than 35 sustained, we reconsider.

We prefer less than 20. Sometimes it just cannot be helped, but, the higher winds, we stop. Period. Same as we do not travel in snow or ice. Period! It's just our rules.

[grayghost03]

quote:Originally posted by Mrs. CountryGuy

Yes, it happens. The incidents I am aware of were all with sustained 40 MPH winds, gusts to 70 or 80.

If the forecast is for more than 35 sustained, we reconsider.

We prefer less than 20. Sometimes it just cannot be helped, but, the higher winds, we stop. Period. Same as we do not travel in snow or ice. Period! It's just our rules.

Dang good rule, too.

[drknapp]

35 mph is our limit also, and only if we have too. From my mirror, I can see the trailer lean in my level on the hitch and makes me a bit nervous. We've only been out once or twice at those speeds and we were pretty tired and stressed by the time we arrived where we were going.

[Recumbent]

On Memorial Day we were on I-40 heading east in Amarillo, TX and exiting to the Oasis RV Park at about 5 pm and it started to hail, quickly drove into Love's diesel bay and thought we were home free. Suddenly a big wind (maybe a micro-burst or down-draft) broke one side window and one back window, unraveled and stretched a slide topper, and pulled and bent our awning on the Montana while sucking the doors open at the Love's store. We are scheduled for a visit to local Montana dealer for ordering parts for later repairs, insurance company has stated they will pay all but $100 deductible. Used a cardboard box (pink grape fruit) to patch windows. Our cardboard windows will look normal back in Rock Island, Tennessee.