When Driving Your RV On Trips: A note from a tourist town resident

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About the only thing I can agree with fux0r on is that those of us driving bigger-but-slower rigs should make a special effort to be courteous to those that can and want to move faster.
 
fux0r said:
...Personally, I believe that if you cannot drive your RV at LEAST the speed limit on highways, you shouldn't be allowed to own one because some of you are causing dangerous situations because of your inability to drive the speed limit and to take others into consideration.....
We never drive over 65 MPH on major highways due to fuel economy reasons.

Last week we were driving down US 285 from Denver to Buena Vista, 285 is a twisty road with 7% grades up and down. Some of it is two lane, some four lane and some grades have a third lane. Due to the altitude, grade and the need to manage my engine coolant temps,  I'll be running 35-45 MPH which could be 10 or 20 MPH under the speed limit.

When traffic builds behind me, I'll be looking for a turnout to let traffic pass but it could be miles before I find one large enough for our overall length of 65'. That's just the way it is. Our combined weight (coach, trailer, Jeep) is over 40,000 pounds which is a handful to manage on some roads.

I'm going out on a limb and guess you are a younger person and/or an aggressive driver. Patience is a virtue which I encourage you to cultivate.
 
We have a total length of 50-55' between our truck and trailer. We can drive speed limit pretty much anywhere because the truck is more than capable of towing our TT. That being said, I pull over any time I can when traffic lines up behind me, even if I am driving the speed limit. I get frustrated myself when I am behind a motorhome or TT going 45 in a 55 zone and passing by signed, marked, hard surfaced, and quite long pull-outs! If we RVers just took opportunities to be kind instead of saying "I have a right ..." I think we would all be better off. I would never ask someone to pull over unsafely, but if traffic is lining up behind you, start looking for a spot to let them go by. It is only polite.
 
fux0r said:
This has gotten so bad it actually made me register to hopefully educate some of you RV owners and hopefully save some lives and some nerves.

Personally, I believe that if you cannot drive your RV at LEAST the speed limit on highways, you shouldn't be allowed to own one because some of you are causing dangerous situations because of your inability to drive the speed limit and to take others into consideration.

I travel a highway to and from work that goes to a tourist destination and 90% of the slow traffic (meaning 10-40 MPH UNDER the speed limit) are caused by RV drivers.

Not a day goes by that I travel the highway and it's not being congested by an RV driver doing 10-40 MPH UNDER the posted speed limit.

They have even put in a pull over lane for those of you slow drivers but many are too oblivious to figure out that the pull out lane is for THEM (you) and take no regard for others. Pretty selfish.

There are some folks who dont mind passing RV's in a safe and lawful way when it's clear to do so. Unfortunately, there are some non-RV drivers who dont realize they are causing another dangerous situation by following RV drivers (by not passing themselves) making it a long line of cars for those of us who want to drive the posted speed limit.

So please, take into consideration that big long line of vehicles behind you as you tinker along in your own little world giving no regard for those of us who can actually drive the speed limit.


Nice troll post
Get over yourself.

 
all great points- to the OP- I would rather be behind a slow moving RV than someone taking pictures while driving  :)  or any other distracted driver.
 
UTTransplant said:
If we RVers just took opportunities to be kind instead of saying "I have a right ..." I think we would all be better off.


This certainly applies to all drivers, however in my experience I have found far more kind RVers than automobile drivers.
 
Maybe the OP would like us to operate our RV's in this manner:

https://youtu.be/ohkAxbeMxVo

 
One thing that the OP wrote that I totally agree with:  The car that pulls up behind me and 'will not pass' even when there is plenty of straight open road.  That happens a lot.

On the other hand I see to many RV'ers oblivious to the vehicles behind them, or on multi lane highways and interstates impeding traffic by driving in lanes toward the center of the multi lane hwy.  I try to always drive in the 1st or 2nd lane from the right, almost never in the center or farthermost left lane. 

On 2 lane hwys, when I come up to a passing lane, I stay to the right and reduce my speed an additional 10-15 mph.  HOWEVER what aggravates me is the cars behind me have no sense of urgency.  Some of them kind of putt, putt along and pass me at a little under the speed limit.  Some have been hanging back 10 car lengths and don't bother to notice the passing lane coming up so they can prepare to pass me, thereby allowing the vehicles behind them to get around me as well. 

Going up a hill with 3%-10% grade, I generally will not pull over and stop in pullouts.  I really dislike loosing all my momentum and the need to start up from a dead stop again.  As stated earlier in passing lanes I do pull to the right and reduce my speed to allow as many to pass as I can.  I do make exceptions.  If I see a long string of cars, 6-10, I will pull over and stop.  Also I more often pull over and stop in pullouts going downhill. 

When a trucker comes up behind me, I work much harder to allow them to pass.  I will anticipate a save passing zone and pull as far to the right as possible and reduce my speed.  Many times I will turn my right hand blinker on as well.  The vast majority of the time the truckers will pass me and usually blink there running lights to say thank you. 

The OP could protest to his state to build some or more passing lanes on the hwy he drives on. 
 
UTTransplant said:
That being said, I pull over any time I can when traffic lines up behind me, even if I am driving the speed limit. I get frustrated myself when I am behind a motorhome or TT going 45 in a 55 zone and passing by signed, marked, hard surfaced, and quite long pull-outs!
We are about 55' long between the coach and toad. The O/P's concern is one reason why I prefer driving on multi-lane interstates instead of back roads. Most of the time there isn't sufficient notice as to where the next pull-out is, if there is a place to pull over. By the time I see the sign about the pull-out there isn't enough road left to slow down and safely pull over without bringing everything in the back of the coach to the front. I used to get frustrated as well, but not since I started driving an RV. And that video was awesome.
 
It is frustrating at times but the op has to learn to be patient or move to a less congested area. We live in a tourist mecca and traffic is horrendous right now. Turning on or off the two lane highway past our home can test the nerves and at times be hair raising. There have been several wrecks recently, each one caused by an impatient driver overtaking at the wrong time. Fortunately no fatalities yet.
SeilerBird is correct, the posted speeds are the limit under ideal conditions. They are not recommended or mandatory as conditions change rapidly. When towing I stay at 90kmh, 55 mph. That is where I am comfortable.  If I see traffic backing up behind me I will pull over as long as it is safe to do so. There are several 4 lane roads in the province with a 120kmh limit, I don't travel that speed under any circumstances but lead foot drivers charging up behind and making abrupt lane changes make me downright nervous.
 
You sound alot like me. I keep an eye on the traffic behind me and pull out when safely possible. Being an x-truck driver I understand the frustration of being stuck behind a slow RV. My truck had a speed limiter set at 62mph. Try passing someone doing 55 when you can only get up to 62. You don't! Even passing in a passing lane I had people speed up to keep me from getting by, then slow to 50-55mph again.  :mad:

AStravelers said:
One thing that the OP wrote that I totally agree with:  The car that pulls up behind me and 'will not pass' even when there is plenty of straight open road.  That happens a lot.

On the other hand I see to many RV'ers oblivious to the vehicles behind them, or on multi lane highways and interstates impeding traffic by driving in lanes toward the center of the multi lane hwy.  I try to always drive in the 1st or 2nd lane from the right, almost never in the center or farthermost left lane. 

On 2 lane hwys, when I come up to a passing lane, I stay to the right and reduce my speed an additional 10-15 mph.  HOWEVER what aggravates me is the cars behind me have no sense of urgency.  Some of them kind of putt, putt along and pass me at a little under the speed limit.  Some have been hanging back 10 car lengths and don't bother to notice the passing lane coming up so they can prepare to pass me, thereby allowing the vehicles behind them to get around me as well. 

Going up a hill with 3%-10% grade, I generally will not pull over and stop in pullouts.  I really dislike loosing all my momentum and the need to start up from a dead stop again.  As stated earlier in passing lanes I do pull to the right and reduce my speed to allow as many to pass as I can.  I do make exceptions.  If I see a long string of cars, 6-10, I will pull over and stop.  Also I more often pull over and stop in pullouts going downhill. 

When a trucker comes up behind me, I work much harder to allow them to pass.  I will anticipate a save passing zone and pull as far to the right as possible and reduce my speed.  Many times I will turn my right hand blinker on as well.  The vast majority of the time the truckers will pass me and usually blink there running lights to say thank you. 

The OP could protest to his state to build some or more passing lanes on the hwy he drives on.

 
Regarding those pullouts.  Murphy's Law being what it is, you usually top a hill or round a bend and there it is without any warning and too late to pull off.  There are seldom signs about upcoming pullouts so trying to find AND USE one SAFELY on some roads is darned near impossible.  I'm not going to endanger myself or my RV trying to pull off onto a space that is too short or too soon in the case of someone on my tail who's dying to pass.  With 65 feet length and 40,000 pounds it's not as easy as the uninitiated might think.  We do the best we can!

ArdraF
 
Regarding posted speed limits.. For my RV the "Sweet spot" is about 60 MPH. faster than that I burn too much gas.. So I obey posted limits.  Many do not.. I once got a 9-1-1 call from an angry motorist  He was upset because there was a state trooper driving exactly the speed limit and nobody wished to pass him so traffic was backing up.. Well he was not happy with my answer so he ask for my supervisor.. He was not happy with Sgt. Harry either.

I do pull over when I can and lewt traffic pass.  Sometimes they even say THanks.

When Driving the RV.. Well for one thing I'm listening to channel 19.. But I operate on the theory I have all the time in the world to get where I'm going... I see many who seem to be in one "Heck" of a hurry.

Well what we (The speeder) and I have in common is our destination.. I'm going to my funeral. As SLOWLY AS I CAN.. He seems to be in a hurry to get to his. I just hope he goes alone.

Channel 19.. Well more than once I've heard about problems on the road ahead and avoided them.. THe last was not one but two places, about 3 miles away where people arrived at the aforementioned destination. Not one but TWO Fatal accidents.. I found the exit just as the police closed the road had a relaxing evening and continued on in the AM on a clear highway.
 
John Canfield said:
I'm going out on a limb and guess you are a younger person and/or an aggressive driver. Patience is a virtue which I encourage you to cultivate.

My thoughts exactly too, or an "inexperienced driver" in general.  And by inexperienced I don't mean the OP just started driving, but likely has limited experience with vehicles/routes other than their daily commute in their daily driver car/truck.  I'm 39yo and far from retired, but my job has granted me experience driving a dozen different types of vehicles in varying conditions + I've owned two RV's (a big ol' motorhome, and a big ol' trailer towing combo) that have greatly widened my perspective on driving.  I have a lot more awareness of other RV'ers, truckers, agriculture equipment operators, etc. that I would not have otherwise.  I still don't like getting stuck behind any of them when I'm in my car, but I can certainly understand their situation.

Oldgator73 said:
Maybe the OP would like us to operate our RV's in this manner:

https://youtu.be/ohkAxbeMxVo

LOL!  And I actually laughed out loud while watching that.  ;D
 
On freeways I do 60 mph and stay in the far right lane.I also leave a lot of space in front so I will not have to make panic stops.  Maybe if cars like the OP respected rvers like he want us to respect him I would feel guilty.  People making right turns on red right in front of us, and my favorite is cars coming down ramps but not seeing there is 50+ feet of truck and trailer in the spot he wants to be. 
 
While keep myself aware of vehicles behind me and use pull offs when I see cars collecting behind me, regardless of how fast I am traveling many pull offs are not well marked to advise that I am approaching them.  In my rig it sometimes a challenge to brake in time to turn into these.  Perhaps the OP could put more effort into having local pull off marked to advise of approaching pull outs.
 

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