CHP Updates Thursday’s RV Crash On HWY 120

Tuolumne County, CA – The CHP has released more details regarding an RV crash down a steep embankment on Highway 120 near Lake Don Pedro in Tuolumne County.

The collision happened on Thursday (4/18), just after 3 p.m., near Jacksonville Road. The CHP detailed that 67-year-old Robert De Wall of Curacao in the Southern Caribbean, near Venezuela, was driving a 2022 Ford F350 motorhome on the highway westbound with his passenger, 28-year-old Thomas De Wall from outside Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The pair decided to pull off at Vista Point on the lake. “While driving about 5 mph. Robert brought the RV to a stop at the curb end of the parking lot when the RV suddenly accelerated forward and traveled through the fence,” according to CHP spokesperson Steve Machado.

The trailer traveled down a steep embankment, smashing into a tree where it came to rest. As earlier reported here, officers reported smelling propane around the camper. Luckily, fire crews reached the two tanks on the RV quickly and turned them off.

Due to the steep, rough terrain, the two men could not climb up the embankment, so a rope rescue was done to help them reach the highway. Luckily, both men were wearing seatbelts and were uninjured in the crash.