Motor Home Crash Kills 6, Hospitalizes 13 in Kansas
- Posted on April 1, 2012 at 8:40pm by
Erica Ritz
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(AP) — A packed motor home headed from Texas to Minnesota crashed Sunday morning in northeast Kansas, killing five people and sending 13 others to hospitals.
The Kansas Highway Patrol said the northbound vehicle was filled with 18 people and pulling a trailer when the driver lost control at 9 a.m. on Interstate 35. The vehicle hit a guardrail and a concrete bridge rail before crashing into a creek ravine near the small town of Williamsburg, which is located about 70 miles southwest of Kansas City, Mo. Debris was strewn around the crumpled Freightliner box truck, which had living quarters inside.
Trooper Don Hughes said the fatality victims included adults and children. The crash is under investigation. Hughes said he couldn’t immediately release the names, ages or hometowns of the victims because their relatives were still being notified. Hughes said the vehicle was not registered in Kansas but would not confirm where its license plates had been issued.
Officials work the scene of a Minnesota-bound motor home on Sunday, April 1, 2012 in a ravine off Interstate 35 in northeast Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol said the northbound Freightliner motor home was carrying 18 people and pulling a trailer when the driver lost control at 9 a.m. Sunday, and crashed into the ravine. Five were killed. (AP Photo/KMBC-TV)
The survivors were sent to several surrounding hospitals. One of the hospitals, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, received two adults and an 8-year-old boy who were in critical condition, said spokeswoman Chris Hamele. The adults remained critical Sunday night, and the boy was transferred to a children’s hospital, which declined to release any information about him or a 3-year-old who was transferred there.
Hospitals in Topeka, Olathe and Ottawa reported discharging five of the victims, while another victim being treated at a Kansas City, Kan., hospital was listed as fair. The conditions of the other victims weren’t immediately known.
“Every once in a while you will get a large number of fatalities in one accident,” Hughes said. “We are lucky they don’t happen very often.”
The crash stalled traffic for several hours on the interstate while crews worked the accident.
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wewantchillywilly
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 12:45pmhttp://www.startribune.com/local/145753205.html
the fatalities are two young adults and three kids. the mother is in critical. a bunch of her other kids are in critical/serious condition. their father died a few years ago due to a medical problem. the driver was a 17 year old son, also in critical. 12 children total in this family.
this is just a horrific story.
Report Post »metroryder
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 8:34amI see motorhomes and travel trailers speeding on the highways all the time. I have a 32″ motorhome and will not exceed the posted speed limit for any situation. I have loved ones inside and will not place their safety and lives at risk in order to “beat the clock”. In most cases, I will not exceed 65 mph no matter waht the speed limit is. People behind me have the option of passing if they don’t like the way I drive.
Report Post »PimpleJuice
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 11:45amI respect you and not every driver of a large motor home handles it that way.
Report Post »NavyVetGreg
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 5:41pmAs the owner of a motorhome, and a CDL holder I will say slower is NOT safer, it is just slower and more likely to cause an accident. http://sense.bc.ca/research.htm http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/February-2010/The-Fast-Track/
Report Post »PimpleJuice
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 8:16amThey don’t require a CDL for the operation of a vehicle that is as long as an 18 wheeler. I have my class A doubles/triples and these guys annoy me when I’m on the road. They need training to take driving these things more seriously. Plus you should have the mindset your working when in motion. I bet there’s a lot of stuff going on in these things. Loud tvs, people drinking, nagging wives, etc.
Report Post »felix
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 8:21ami thought you did need a cdl over 20k,or certain wheelbase lenght?
Report Post »PimpleJuice
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 11:44amThey are exempt.
Report Post »claymoremacm
Posted on April 3, 2012 at 8:09pmDepends on the state I had to get a non-CDL class B in NV( passed first time airbrake indorsment) when I moved from NH,I wish the article had said the make and specs of the motorhome,mine is similarF-Liner truck cab, but has a steel framed coach this one appears not too… maybe a home- built…RIP
Report Post »nmvet
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 2:45amMy wife and I drove past this on our way to visit her relatives in IL this morning. I knew from the amount of manpower on the ground that something horrific had happened, but had NO idea it was this bad. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims along with our prayers for the survivors.
Report Post »GeneralCustar
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 1:13amDoesn’t anyone look at any other news sources. It was an extended family returning from vacation in Texas. They were hauling motorcycles. One of the boys was evidently a talented MC racer. God bless this family.
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 7:13amThanks, that was about tens times more informative than the actual story.
Report Post »avgconservative
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 11:53pmNow I can hear the liberals screaming, “Every person in a motorhome needs a seat and restraint!”
http://FlipTheLib.com
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 10:08amThe sad part is even our 40 footer had only four seat belts on the two couches-plus the two front chairs. They tell you when you buy a new one that no one should be at the table when traveling. When people buy used, or make their own, it’s up to them to figure out safety. I was never comfortable trying to sleep while moving, and as a rule, when we got tired we pulled off and got rest, so when we were moving we were in seat belts. They are big and scarey (I couldn’t drive it-too short) so we never did anything other than posted truck speeds and sometimes less. Sad for the family.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 10:02pmThe Ironic thing, these guys were actually storm chasers, trying to catch up to a tornado. This proves, God hates homes on wheels.
It’s a joke, come on, take a deep breath, and before you type condeming remarks, realise, I Don’t Care. at least I don’t post over and over and over and over……
lukerw
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:45pm18 people in a Motor Home! — Are you kidding Me? Was this a Protest Group?
Report Post »Bluefish49
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 10:22pmThis was no storm chasing vehicle…it was family’s of poor hespanics trying for a better life and even trying to flee the drugs and crime in their home country….I know I work with them every day and they are truely good people and not the vermin some think….and this is coming from a white, southern Conservative from SC.
Report Post »Mrs. Bowers
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:45pmI’m so sorry to read this. God be with the surviving family members and all friends and loved ones.
Report Post »Kuasimodem
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:41pmIt looks like it was a family from Minnesota returning from a vacation and some racing in Texas.
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/145595155.html
5 dead, 13 injured. It was a Freightliner box truck converted into a camper, pulling a box-type trailer full of ATV’s and dirt bikes.
Report Post »NeoKong
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:34pmI’ll bet somebody cut them off trying to pass them.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:26pmIt was a motorcycle racing family thing. God grant this family peace.
Report Post »taxpro4u03
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:05pmBureaucrat fuzzy math?? 6 dead 13 hospitalized = 19 – ‘story’ sez ‘filled with 18.’ — Nation of Idjits? ‘Secular journalism skooled…’ ;-)~ Even a peon like me doesn‘t need an abacus to ’do the math’ on this one heh-heh! Life is full of ‘accidents.‘ Most are ’accidents due to preplanned carelessness. Like thinking that train is going to STOP as you waltz across the tracks with your earbuds in – but hey! It’s OK to exercise stupidity in a free country. Sad, very very sad times we live in.
Report Post »kindling
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:00pmHow odd, I was not aware a Freightliner tractor could hold 18 people. It sounds more like someone was transporting people in a tractor trailer and lost it on this trip. I realize I can be way off here but had this truck just come from perhaps south Texas?
Report Post »Nod
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 9:30pmA motorhome on a Freightliner chasis–Quite expensive–Doubt it was a load of illegals.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 10:23pmNOD:
Report Post »Don’t kid yourself. There’s BIG money in transporting illegals. They load the up in the Broker Companies several blocks from the border and a new Kenworth or Peterbilt will drive in and hook up the loaded trailer and away they go.
lowermytaxes
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 8:57pmThese combination vehicle drivers need training and lic. you can drive these campers pulling 40′ trailers with a reg. drivers lic. and no drug test.
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 8:55pmBTW: I’m not making fun of the dead and injured. I’m making sarcasm of the typical politician response to tragedy, blame the device or it’s industry, then take away the device from everyone else.
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 8:51pmJoe Biden is going to start an inquiry into killer RVs.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 8:50pmHorrible. But is it six dead or five? The mistakes get old.
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