Do women drive motorhomes that often, if not why not?

Casper46 said:
One of the problems of ladies driving lots of different vehicles is ‘ their legs aren’t long enough. I have driven lots from motorbikes to 40 tonne trucks in my working life. I have also bodged all sorts of blocks so that my diddy legs and size 3 feet would reach the pedals without me having to be jammed tight up to the steering wheel.
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Mrsambulancekidd has legs which are a lot longer than mine (aren't I a lucky boy), so reaching pedals is never a problem, oh & she will drive pretty well any vehicle from trucks to her mobility scooter!
 
ShaKen said:
Just go for it, have someone beside you that’s driven it, if your are a tad concerned try it out at a quiet industrial estate and just remember to use your mirrors, you’ll be surprised how easy it is.

Thanks- Mr the Dobbsters is very supportive and we have an industrial site 2 mins away so i have absolutely no excuse really so perhaps this week if it stops raining i will have a go!
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KiwiKampers said:
Not for putting on your lippie!

Haha, thanks for the tip! Luckily (?) I dont wear any at all so i am far more likely to be distracted by sight of another m
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Northernraider said:
Try it on motorway or main roads first see how you get on with the size etc before taking it in to towns etc


I had am ex partner that woukd happily drive the vw caravelle towing a 23 ft caravan in the motorways etc which gave me a break then we swapped back before having to manouver etc
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Thanks, all good advice and very brave ex partner! Don't fancy that tbh!

I am a bit vertically challenged so hope i can reach the pedals to start with! ?
 
The Dobbsters said:
I've just had a thought, if i am driving moho how am i going to crochet and catch on things here ? ?
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I thought wimmen could multitask

I'm always posting on here while driving:P I just put it on cruise and Milo takes the wheel
 
Well i would obviously driving and ironing (can't be seen to be slacking at wimmins work now can i?) at the same time which would leave me no hands at all to do fun things would it?.......

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I have driven our MH, but I'm only 5'0" and struggle with the handbrake, especially if I have to do a hill start, so hubby is the main driver. How do other shorties cope with the handbrake?
 
I will let you know if i manage to have a go driving this week! I am about 5'1 so it will be interesting to find out if i can reach!
 
I bought a handbrake extender from Rare Spares.It folds down when parked so that you are able to swivel the driver’s seat.They are a small firm and so don’t keep a huge stock.There are a few left on eBay at the moment.
They cost £80 inc.postage. I rang them up before I ordered mine just to confirm it would fit my van.
 
I haven't driven the Hymer yet but did drive the Devon when we picked it up - a whole 9 minutes - and it felt like it would tip over every time I went round a corner.

Waiting on my ankle to heal a bit more before I get to grips with Hymie but want to start on a work day when its less busy on the roads... the plan is for me to be able to have a few nights away on my own sometimes.
 
ambulancekidd said:
Mrsambulancekidd has legs which are a lot longer than mine (aren't I a lucky boy), so reaching pedals is never a problem, oh & she will drive pretty well any vehicle from trucks to her mobility scooter!
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Yes I am boasting, but I can also reverse anything I happen to be towing in a straight line.
I think having to get my 6x4 trailer round, up a steep drive & into a garage taught me a lot, it became a challenge...…..even more so when there was a car parked across the road.
Not as well as MrA though.

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I’m more than capable of driving our Autotrail Dakota and have many times, my darling Husband even though he won’t admit it absolutely hates it when anyone other than him is in the driving seat. He very kindly says I can drive if we have an emergency, it must be a Man thing ?.
In reply to 569 WTF!!
 
596 said:
Not a sexist or funny question but serious, my wife would drive in an emergency but can't say she would be enthralled by it, when I drive to the South of France and back I RARELY see a female driver from any country, same when vans arrive on site its the poor wife/partner being shouted at waving her arms about and trying to stop the van by leaning on it while hubby revs up, WHY IS THAT, are they down the back making Tea?
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596 said:
Not a sexist or funny question but serious, my wife would drive in an emergency but can't say she would be enthralled by it, when I drive to the South of France and back I RARELY see a female driver from any country, same when vans arrive on site its the poor wife/partner being shouted at waving her arms about and trying to stop the van by leaning on it while hubby revs up, WHY IS THAT, are they down the back making Tea?
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596 said:
Not a sexist or funny question but serious, my wife would drive in an emergency but can't say she would be enthralled by it, when I drive to the South of France and back I RARELY see a female driver from any country, same when vans arrive on site its the poor wife/partner being shouted at waving her arms about and trying to stop the van by leaning on it while hubby revs up, WHY IS THAT, are they down the back making Tea?
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I put it down to the fact that I’m the majority of couples the male always drives the car when they are together so this is a natural progression.
However in our household I normally drive when we are together to give him a break and this includes the motorhome! I enjoy driving and therefore I am the main driver. Having just returned from a two week touring trip in the uk he didn’t drive once ?
 
I drive ours but find driving rather boring, especially on motorways. Martin likes driving and in any case I am by far the better navigator both using maps or by programming and then checking the satnag. The satnag isn't always correct as to best route!!!

I usually do the fiddly driving such as putting onto ramps or any tight reversing as my close spacial awareness is better.

We have walkie-talkies for communication when parking up or tight maneuvering which have been worth every one of the few pennies we spent on them. They are not high end radios, more toys but they do the job!

In emergency situations we share the driving - one drives the other sleeps / rests but in the belted seat not on the bed :)
 
You lot are very inspiring, i need to have a go for emergencies at the very least but also so Himself can admire the view on the odd occasion. I do the ramps and other bits and when necessary do some navigating- as long as i have the map the right way up!
However i came down all fired up to have a go then remembered i have a fox that i promised to sew up for my grandaughter so i am going to do that first, will need to have a couple of goes in moho first before driving and crocheting at the same time ?
Good idea Puddleduck for walkie talkies, got some of them somewhere
 
Both Mrs DDJC and I drive the bus with or without the Suzuki Ignis on a 5m trailer or on the A Frame. No issues, although she prefers me to drive it onto the Channel Tunnel trains. And that she tends to go faster than I do. :whatthe:

Other than that, we take turns, although as she will tend to do nearly all the Suzuki driving when we get to a destination (it's her car!), I probably do 2/3 of the moho driving.

Don't understand the issue of height being a factor. Mrs DDJC is about 5'2"-ish. After years of anguish, we found this brilliant lever under the driver seat that if you lift it, the seat can be moved closer to the pedals. Look under your own seat and see whether you have one.

:rollingeyes:::bigsmile:

On the continent, I would agree that more of the moho drivers are blokes. I've noticed that you do see more Brit buses being driven by women, than you do for Dutch or German buses. Nice to see that Brits are more 21st century than our neighbours.

For coms, we use our phones. The cab has a bluetooth handsfree thing

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I love driving our MH that’s when I can prize my husbands hands off the wheel with a crowbar ?having been in haulage all his life he’s not happy sitting in the passengers seat, and of course I get a running commentary on how to drive it, when to change gears and lots of other wonderfully helpful tips? I just smile and cock a deafen ??
 
DDJC said:
Don't understand the issue of height being a factor. Mrs DDJC is about 5'2"-ish. After years of anguish, we found this brilliant lever under the driver seat that if you lift it, the seat can be moved closer to the pedals. Look under your own seat and see whether you have one.
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Yes, I can get myself near enough to the pedals (the steering wheel is in my lap, but not a problem) but it's reaching down to the handbrake when stopping and starting especially on a slope. I've got short arms, always have to turn sleeves up, so can't manage to reach pedals and handbrake easily at same time. Will try one of those extenders thanks Koppersbeat
 
I can drive the van but hate the oh and ah’s ! However driving alone is fine but not great at reversing ! OH had an eye problem when near Seville and other eye had previously had a detached retina so driving home was out of the question . I had to take the van and motorbike trailer 11metres total the 1500km home . So we ladies can do it and many do as shown by the posts on here .
Actually in our French motorhome club there are a large number of female drivers mainly I think because husbands are much older or have passed away and they want to continue motorhoming . Our President is a lady and ex truck driver !!
 
I’ve driven lots of vehicles over the years including tractors with trailers, flatbed trucks, transits, etc and none have fazed me - some have been uncomfortable though. Some are very definitely not woman friendly.

When we were deciding on our motorhome we test drove a manual version of it - I realised straight away we needed an automatic, having size 3 feet and being 5’3” meant I had trouble depressing the clutch and leaning over to use the gearstick, which was on the central console. Also, having the steering wheel in an almost horizontal position didn’t help as it made it more difficult to reach over to the gearstick.

We bought the automatic version and it’s for me to drive. :giggle:

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My wife drives our 7.4 m with no worries and we are the same height so it does not need any seat moving .
 
SmithsInFrance said:
I have driven our MH, but I'm only 5'0" and struggle with the handbrake, especially if I have to do a hill start, so hubby is the main driver. How do other shorties cope with the handbrake?
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Now I am not familiar with all models of motorhome, but maybe some have the handbrake on the ceiling?
All the ones that I have seen have the handbrake on the floor, so being relatively short should give one the advantage of being closer to the handbrake than those lanky types who have to stretch downwards. Or have I missed something crucial? :-)
 

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