Help :( we've really bitten off more than we can chew (1 Viewer)

Emp

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We're in switzerland and driving a 7.4m van for the first time in our lives AND it's in snow. We are from Australia and had no idea the roads would be SO small. Today i had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. We ended up on a mountain road we couldn't turn around on so kept going forward because Google maps routed us through it to the other side. We hit a patch of snow though (my first time ever seeing snow) and we slid a little and i thought we were goingto go backwards down the mountain side. We stopped but couldn't go forward or back. now I'm curled up in the back of a police car on the side of a snowy mountain while they attempt to tow our hire van backwards. I know we were really really silly to get stuck there in the first place. I have been in total panic thinking we are going to fall off the mountain and i am beyond terrified to drive again. We went with the van instead of trains because i am disabled and use a wheelchair. We didn't know a way to transport myself and my partner around for our holiday on trains because i can't pull my own suitcase because I'm in the chair. Please can anyone tell us how to know which roads are wide and safe? We keep getting caught out with Google maps getting in scary places on tiny roads but today i thought i was going to die and this isn't really how my holiday is meant to be. I've not travelled since becoming disabled 6 years ago. We don't know how to manage when we can't predict the roads.
 

Carol

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Living in Austria and never having seen snow before ?
Something doesn`t add up
If it`s genuine I hope they can get sorted

Re read .. it's we come from Australia they said not Austria in Australia the roads are wide straight and long.

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fairford rambler

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Where has the original poster gone, perhaps he has now gone over the mountain..lol. Posts an impassioned plea for help and advice and then just buggers off with no thank you's. Of course it's a wind up. Should have saved it until April 1st! He says he is from Australia and he does sound like a bit of a Wombat or a Dingbat even.

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Carol

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Where has the original poster gone, perhaps he has now gone over the mountain..lol. Posts an impassioned plea for help and advice and then just buggers off with no thank you's. Of course it's a wind up. Should have saved it until April 1st! He says he is from Australia and he does sound like a bit of a Wombat or a Dingbat even.

It's a woman not a man, and if it is a genuine shout for help then at least she has had a lot of good advice
 
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Langtoftlad

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You cynical lot :rolleyes:.
Prefer to give the benefit of the doubt.
So they haven't been back on (yet) - last seen at 8.53.
Had I had a day like that, having been recovered by the emergency services, probably been given a stern talking to by the police, confidence shot, wondering why they'd travelled halfway around the world...
I'd probably be curled up in back of my hired camper, with a stiff brandy...

BTW, not every road in Australia is a major multi lane wide highway :whistle:.

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dabhand

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So EM joined fun yesterday whilst in the back of a police car on a snow covered mountain in Switzerland, good internet then, please let us know your provider when you get sorted and I’m sure you will, to be honest if your really scared ask the police to drive the van to the nearest “resort” at the bottom of the mountain and regroup! Good luck.
 
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Another bang of the drum for CoPilot Caravan. Only £49.99 anywhere with good internet.(you dont need internet to use, just to download it)
If you dont want snow come to southern Spain. Swmbo has sunburn.

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movan

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Should`ve gone to Specsavers !
Going to bed now

Why are you going to Bedford?

9cdddcffb3af920d7e4525c19bf4f339.jpg
 
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Another bang of the drum for CoPilot Caravan. Only £49.99 anywhere with good internet.(you dont need internet to use, just to download it)
If you dont want snow come to southern Spain. Swmbo has sunburn.
What version of CoPilot allows you to put in vehicle size or restrictions and does CoPilot include traffic and camera alerts. Are future updates included in the price or are they an extra cost.
 
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Emp

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We are currently in montreaux and our next stop is somewhere near zermatt. Sorry I didn't respond sooner, took us a long time to get towed down and things have been a bit crazy since. The police chose not to fine us though we should have been: they had mercy on us because of the cost of the tow (450 francs-ish). They took us back to the base of the mountain and told us somewhere we could park for the night near chillon. Fortunately one of the police spoke English, i heard a lot of conversation between them in french though which i think may have been related to the touristic ignorance we showed. Apparently we passed a sign saying no vehicles on that road and didn't see it. Thank you so much to everyone for the advice and emotional support, we are very grateful everyone has been so kind and helpful. We went looking in montreaux for a truck map today but haven't found one yet :/ we were given a gps with the camper van but the agency told us not to use it cuz Google maps is much better they said :/ we didn't know about the truck setting.

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Hollyberry

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@Emp , glad you're safe. It is bl***y scary when things go wrong. I got stuck on a single track lane in Devon, sat and cried-- nice man offered to drive the motorhome forward for me and like a wimp I let him :)
Also ended up in a field in France, farmer directed me out, but forgot to mention the bog and low branches of trees!
You'll be fine in low lying areas and if you drive along south of France it'll be warmer. Good luck and stay safe.
 
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TerryL

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@Emp Thanks for posting that you're okay - you've certainly got a bit of an adventure to tell in the future. Please don't let it put you off, just perhaps take a little more care with your planning!!! Good to see the gendarmerie were sympathetic - unusual!
 
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Emp

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I really appreciate the offers of help but i think we're much further north than everyone who's offered? Also not a troll post- this is the road we slipped on, beyond the snow on the side there is a pretty sheer cliff, our back tyre got much to close when we slid a bit : '(

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fairford rambler

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@Emp , glad you're safe. It is bl***y scary when things go wrong. I got stuck on a single track lane in Devon, sat and cried-- nice man offered to drive the motorhome forward for me and like a wimp I let him :)
Also ended up in a field in France, farmer directed me out, but forgot to mention the bog and low branches of trees!
You'll be fine in low lying areas and if you drive along south of France it'll be warmer. Good luck and stay safe.
Hello Hollyberry. Looking at that, are you sure you should be doing this motorhoming thing!! Only jesting, enjoy your next trip to the bog and watch out for the low branches which can still stick up quite high - ouch!
 
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Puddleduck

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Thanks for letting us know you are safe. It's really scary when things go wrong and especially when you are vulnerable. Please have a couple of days to relax and get over your shock and then get behind the wheel again :)

Driving in snow is quite a skill and a skill that needs to be taught and then kept up to date. Living in Scotland we get an enforced refresher most winters but having been near Cambridge when "The Beast" and then "Emma" struck a couple of weeks back and seeing the people who don't know how to drive in snow (even the very small amount they had) made me appreciate what a skill it is - one we take very much for granted.

We had a Japanese exchange student with us a few years back and he had never seen snow so got a real shock! The snowball fight was an experience for him as well :)


I don't quite get this. In a wheelchair and now beyond terrified to drive again ? Am i missing something ????? No doubt I am !

I am disabled and sometimes use a wheelchair and I drive. I now have an automatic car with dual accelerator plus hand controls. The motorhome is also automatic.
 
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Emp

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Also for everyone curious about the wheelchair thing- i can walk very short distances but i lose consciousness very fast in a standing position because of a neurological disorder that disregulates my blood pressure and heart. It's actually my boyfriend who is driving, i choose not to because i get faint even sitting up at times however others with my disability can drive. Wheelchair doesn't equal paralysis. Also more proof

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funflair

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I really appreciate the offers of help but i think we're much further north than everyone who's offered? Also not a troll post- this is the road we slipped on, beyond the snow on the side there is a pretty sheer cliff, our back tyre got much to close when we slid a bit : '(
WoW I don't know where you were heading But I don't think you wanted to be there(y)

Martin
 
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fairford rambler

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Thanks for letting us know you are safe. It's really scary when things go wrong and especially when you are vulnerable. Please have a couple of days to relax and get over your shock and then get behind the wheel again :)

Driving in snow is quite a skill and a skill that needs to be taught and then kept up to date. Living in Scotland we get an enforced refresher most winters but having been near Cambridge when "The Beast" and then "Emma" struck a couple of weeks back and seeing the people who don't know how to drive in snow (even the very small amount they had) made me appreciate what a skill it is - one we take very much for granted.

We had a Japanese exchange student with us a few years back and he had never seen snow so got a real shock! The snowball fight was an experience for him as well :)




I am disabled and sometimes use a wheelchair and I drive. I now have an automatic car with dual accelerator plus hand controls. The motorhome is also automatic.
And does this motorhome have hand controls and a dual accelerator?
 
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funflair

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What version of CoPilot allows you to put in vehicle size or restrictions and does CoPilot include traffic and camera alerts. Are future updates included in the price or are they an extra cost.
At the risk of hijacking the OP thread but it is still related, CoPilot Caravan allows size and weight input under user profiles, and yes speed camera and traffic (which you pay yearly) and updates are included.

Martin

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Puddleduck

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And does this motorhome have hand controls and a dual accelerator?

The hand controls on the car were already fitted when we bought it (as was the dual control). I've never used the hand controls except to try them out but was advised to leave them on "just in case".

The motorhome will have the dual accelerator fitted sometime over the summer (a quick and easy job) - it means I can have the accelerator on the left or the right (not both at the same time) at the press of a lever.
 
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