RV Driving Tips

You must adjust your driving habits to allow for the unaccustomed weight, length and width of most recreation vehicles.

Clearances

Allow more clearance for parking, turning, braking, passing, being passed and overhead clearances. To prevent damage to your unit by a low overhang, measure your unit's clearance, including air conditioners and roof storage pods. Transfer these measurements (in both metric and imperial) to dyno tape and place them within your normal driving field of vision for quick reference.

Passing

When passing another vehicle, allow three to four times the distance you normally would with a non-recreation vehicle. Give vehicles a break when they are trying to pass you; move as far to the right of your lane as possible, and slow down to let them safely back in.

Stopping

Since your recreation vehicle is probably heavier than your usual vehicle, you must leave more distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you in order to stop safely. The easiest way to calculate this distance is to use the one-second rule. For every three metres of length of your recreation vehicle, leave one second of clearance.
For example, if your recreation vehicle is 15 metres long, leave a five-second clearance between you and the vehicle in front.

Travel Speed

Since most people buy a recreation vehicle to travel and enjoy their surroundings, getting there quickly isn't the point. Your level of enjoyment will increase and you'll see more of the countryside if you keep your speed to 90 kmh (55 mph). If you feel you're going too slow on the highway, then find a slower road. Secondary highways often give you better scenery, friendlier people, lower fuel costs and a more leisurely pace.