Randonneur Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Yesterday I hd a phone call from my Daughter, who was in our local Town, 2 miles away. She had just seen the remains of a British registered 2003 Benimar which had tried to get under an underpass for the railway line which is well signposted at both ends with barriers and 2.6m height restriction. The motorhome look as though it was an overcab bed model. We have been into town this morning and it is parked at the local Fiat garage and I must say it looks a mess. All the overcab bed part and the bit that the conversion attaches to the original cab is crumpled. My other half doesn't think it looks repairable but you never know. It doesn't look as though there would have been any injuries to the people involved but they are probably in shock. On one hand I feel very sorry for the people involved but on the other I can't understand why they didn't see the signs and the barriers. They must have rattled all the way along the top of the van. One thought was that they were following their SatNav and not looking at the signs. We have nearly done this twice in the last 18 months but have always been able to stop before. When we first bought our motorhome we made 2 stickers for on the sunvisor with the height, width and length of the vehicle in Imperial and Metric just in case. Please everyone out there, in places that you don't know BE CAREFUL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Thanks for the reminder - my one big worry is trying to "squeeze" under bridges with the MH. My husband thinks it is fine to use bridges with over 11 feet clearance (our MH is officially 10'2" high) BUT does this include the TV aeriel??Is 10" enough gap to allow? My concerns are that the road can have been surfaced and narrowed the clearance by a couple of inches, or that the clearance refers to a particular part of the bridge etc.etc.etc. I used to worry about our mast and bridges when we sailed so perhaps I just worry too much? :-| This posting though proves to me that over worrying is probably a better bet than being complacent *-) I just hope the driver and any passenger are OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norma Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Reminds me of the time we were having our low top, commercial, van serviced. They lent us a, thankfully old, luton van. Our employee then drove the 10 foot high van under a 9 foot high bridge at the Glasgow Garden Festival. Ripped the whole luton off the chasis. Somewhat less damaging than this poor tale. Mind you we were caught in Rouen - while the first in a row of the bridges was marked 2.6 meters - the next in the line wasn't - and it is lower! Thankfully we only slightly damaged the air con box . Sat Nav couldn't be blamed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsandywhite Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 8-) That reminds me of 11 years ago in our Autohomes Frontier. We had visited friends at the Boat yard in Aguadulce, Spain. There was a narrow underpass at the exit which cut out a 1 mile detour back to the main road. There was a sign but I didn't read it. Half way through I realised the underpass was getting MUCH lower. Luckily I stopped before we got wedged in. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmoorman Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 When I was a kid, we (the family) were on holiday in France and driving down to the Med coast, and we went through (it think it was) Clermont Ferrand. The road south went through the city, and as is the fashion in France the road consisted of a series of underpasses. Each one had plastic strips in advance to check the clearance. We'd been happily driving under each one without a problem, when suddenly 'SLAP', the plastic smacks the front of the over-cab bed area... brakes applied, traffic stopped, and my mum had to get out to watch as we slowly adged our way under the underpass... we were ok in the end!! Kieron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little-jack Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Reminds me of one of the main roads through Le Havre to the ferry terminal which has a whole series of underpasses at 2.6metres, for which it is quite easy to miss the (very late) warnings if you are in a line of traffic, fortunately the road also goes above ground alongside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 I have just been talking to the couple whose motorhome it is and they are OK. The local Fiat garage has pot-rivetted sheets of aluminium over the damage and sealed it so that they can return home albeit slowly. Just thought I would let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Sorry but this hardly constitutes a "tragic" event though does it *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 JudgeMental - 2008-07-11 3:40 PM Sorry but this hardly constitutes a "tragic" event though does it *-) It would be tragic if it was your van. I am just glad that the people have not suffered any injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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