Fatal RV accident underscores importance of proper training and maintenance for summer travelers

The fatal accident involving an RV in West Valley City has safety experts emphasizing the importance of proper training and maintenance for recreational vehicles as the summer travel season begins.Early Tuesday, a 46-year-old woman was killed when the RV she was in along the Mountain View Corridor caught fire. When the driver himself was engulfed in flames and jumped out, the RV then went down a hill and fell on top of the woman as she was trying to escape."From safety, sometimes it's negligence and sometimes it's ignorance, so we're just wanting to educate people," said Kelly Bradley, Chief Operating Officer at the RV Training Academy.Bradley notes there are more than 11 million RVers across the country, with summer being the peak season for recreational vehicle travel.The West Valley City accident comes just after another deadly collision involving an RV outside the National RV Training Center in Athens, Texas.Tonya Taylor, a longtime RV owner who traveled the country for three years and now works with the National RV Training Center, stresses the importance of preventive maintenance."This is the time of the year when everybody is hitting the road," said Taylor. "Did you do the preventive before you got out on the road? You know, double-check down everything. Something that's very important is while you are traveling to do those points of check, as well."Brian Henson, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the center, emphasizes the extensive safety checks required before travel."All the way from hooking up to making sure the safety chains aren't dragging to making sure the brake away switch is hooked up to move the trigger brakes away from the truck itself when we come to a stop, all the way to tire inflation and driving down the road with your propane on," Henson said.Henson also stresses the importance of proper training for handling larger vehicles."If you don't know how to pull a vehicle or drive something that big, you really need to take the time away from traffic and be able to learn how to drive that stuff," he said.Despite the risks, Taylor highlights the benefits of RV travel when done safely."It's a wonderful way to travel," she shared."You're traveling in your home. You know, you don't have to worry about loading and unloading and stopping for bathroom breaks or finding a hotel," Taylor added.The National RV Training Center offers educational resources for RV owners."We offer an amazing one week course for RV owners, teaching the basic essential skills of maintaining that RV and keeping it safe and gearing towards the preventive maintenance and keeping them from breaking down on the side of the road," Taylor said.Beyond safety, RV enthusiasts point to the lifestyle benefits of this mode of travel."So, having an RV and traveling in your RV makes it very fun and convenient. Plus, you get to stay where you would like to stay and not just in the metro areas, but you know, more rural," Taylor said.Henson added that the social aspect is also rewarding."The friendships that you build, lifelong friendships, that last the rest of your lives," he said, "and I think that's the biggest fun part of doing all the traveling."Those interested in the one-week training course can visit www.nrtva.com or call 903-386-0444 to speak with a student advisor on their free helpline.This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.