Motorhome Newbie, or a partner that doesn't like driving the Motorhome?

[cyberyacht]

OH is no longer allowed to drive, so it's all down to me. Navigation is dependant on my memory of the road atlas as she never has any idea of where we are or ability to plot an alternative route if we wish to divert. I am kept supplied with sweets/drinks though.

 

[Realist]

If peeps find it hard to drive a little Motorhome then try a 40ft arctic.

Specially reversing one.

 

[JockandRita]

If peeps find it hard to drive a little Motorhome then try a 40ft arctic.

Specially reversing one.

I'm at my happiest driving an Artic, and a dab hand at reversing one too. I've been in some places to load/unload, where you wouldn't want to take a car and caravan, never mind an Artic.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Realist]

I'm at my happiest driving an Artic, and a dab hand at reversing one too. I've been in some places to load/unload, where you wouldn't want to take a car and caravan, never mind an Artic.

Cheers,

Jock.

Yep Same here.

 

[Jim]

Have you ever noticed that your ability to carry out things like parallel parking, reversing caravans and trailers is directly dependent upon how many people are watching?

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[Mr Mrs T]

Slow & steady and don't feel pressured by motorists behind you.

 

[Trevor Wbm]

Mrs W won't drive the MoHo anywhere or the car in Europe, but that doesn't stop her having opinions about the quality of my driving, albeit "Feel free to swap seats any time" stops that for a while. Tried a few tactics to change her mind, but I know when I'm beaten. To be fair I'm not expected do much in the way of domestic chores when we pitch up.

 

[JockandRita]

Mrs W won't drive the MoHo anywhere or the car in Europe, but that doesn't stop her having opinions about the quality of my driving, albeit "Feel free to swap seats any time" stops that for a while. Tried a few tactics to change her mind, but I know when I'm beaten. To be fair I'm not expected do much in the way of domestic chores when we pitch up.

My poor suffering Dad had the same problem, with my Mother being the "non qualified" passenger seat driver.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Abgs]

Mrs Abgs drives our current A Class and the previous Mercedes Sprinter PVC both here and abroad. She is not bothered whether it’s LHD or RHD, her only requirement is that it has to be an auto.

My only issue is that she tends to drive the motorhomes like her car and my carefully curated MPG takes huge hit evey-time she takes over.

This is the girl who, somewhere south of Bordeaux, thought our Mercedes Sprinter was displaying in kmph when in fact it the instrument panel was set to mph, and she was wondering why it was struggling to get over 85 .....

For ten years she would only drive a Left Hand Drive car in the UK it ‘felt safer’….. she eventually agreed to have a RHD replacement as the cost of importing a replacement would have been too great.

She's a bit of a hooligan but a stickler for lane discipline on motorways. I've just been driven by her along the M62, you should hear what she's says about middle lane hoggers!

 

[JockandRita]

I've just been driven by her along the M62, you should hear what she's says about middle lane hoggers!

She'll do for me. I detest the inconsiderate twaaaaa... shiiiiii.... morons. I had to move out into the outer overtaking lane of the A1M the other day, as matey in the middle lane was going slower than traffic on the inside lane. WHY? Because the Richard Cranium was texting on his phone, completely unaware of what was going on around him.
Had I been driving an Artic, (prohibited from the outer overtaking lane), he would soon have been made aware of what was going on around him.
What planet are these people on?

Jock.

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[mondo]

My late partner Dawn never drove the motorhome..however I did manage to get her in the pilots seat for a cabbie..round about 30 minutes on some fairly wide roads...I explained she needed to be able to drive it if I was incapacitated..broken limbs etc.
She was quite competent but said only in an emergency.
She was a damn good navigator/map reader..taught by my good self..in France she would pick where we would go..and we would discuss the route..no peage N routes and D routes..one time going round Rouen..(sorry for the R word) she said off at this next slip road..I said no it's the next one..she raised her voice and said OFF AT THIS ONE NOW..so I did..she was bang on...never doubted her again..and she got us all the way across France down to Peniscola in Spain...

 

[cyberyacht]

Have you ever noticed that your ability to carry out things like parallel parking, reversing caravans and trailers is directly dependent upon how many people are watching?

Same with yachts picking up a mooring. Do it spot on - no-one around. Cock it up and everyone from the Commodore down is watching.

 

[JockandRita]

Have you ever noticed that your ability to carry out things like parallel parking, reversing caravans and trailers is directly dependent upon how many people are watching?

Nope, not yet Jim.

Jock.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Have you ever noticed that your ability to carry out things like parallel parking, reversing caravans and trailers is directly dependent upon how many people are watching?

Yes like first time in the States and with a left hand drive car, I had to parallel park outside a cinema made a right hash of it and embarrassed even more as a table of diners outside where watching me and shaking their heads

Felt like telling them that back home I drive about 30k miles a year with my plant or boat trailer and can reverse that onto a dime without even thinking but i just put my head down and walked off

 

[JockandRita]

Yes like first time in the States and with a left hand drive car, I had to parallel park outside a cinema made a right hash of it and embarrassed even more as a table of diners outside where watching me and shaking their heads

Felt like telling them that back home I drive about 30k miles a year with my plant or boat trailer and can reverse that onto a dime without even thinking but i just put my head down and walked off

I wouldn't even have admitted to that.

Cheers,

Jock.

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[Coastal Cruiser.]

I wouldn't even have admitted to that.

Cheers,

Jock.

I know everyone thinks they are perfect but I don’t mind admitting I’m not I’m only 99.5% perfect

 

[JockandRita]

I know everyone thinks they are perfect but I don’t mind admitting I’m not I’m only 99.5% perfect

I'm not either Mark..........................but I do my damnedest to be right up there, especially when driving or manoeuvring is concerned...............cos as Jim intimated, you never know who's watching.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

you never know who's watching.

There is always someone watching Jock and these days it’s caught on a phone

 

[JockandRita]

There is always someone watching Jock and these days it’s caught on a phone

Another good reason to make sure we get it right first time.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[the1andonly]

I'm surprised at all these Women not driving thier Motorhomes, confidence you must learn how to give it to them. If SWMBO didnt drive when would i kip on our journeys. She is more than competant driving a 6m C class towing our UP. Confidence and decent tutoring , sometimes add up to the same thing.

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[Suenliam]

After getting our first new MH in 2005 I took a day’s course at our local HGV training place. It gave me the confidence I needed to drive well and in particular how to use the mirrors correctly. I can now even reverse with confidence!!! It might have been a bit pricey but worth every penny. Also despite my fears the instructor was very helpful and not at all patronizing. Would thoroughly recommend.
sue

 

[ManTheVan]

Same with yachts picking up a mooring. Do it spot on - no-one around. Cock it up and everyone from the Commodore down is watching.

We often used to sing the Average White Band’s “Let’s Go Round Again” when we were picking up an unfamiliar new mooring…

 

[MR BLO]

Great read Jim , I agree with Louisesjpp about the height. Peripheral vision is greater in the horizontal rather than vertical plane. As a MoHo pilot it is my main concern - I always leave the
Front skylight / sunroof blind open to increase my awareness of what is going on above.
Kelly won’t take a C1 to drive the motorhome because she is not as comfortable driving long distance or on motorway. Not too bothered about the size, it’s more about the confidence at speed with other road users. That is something that comes with real world practice (not sure a Tesco car park is the correct place to practice swapping lanes at 70 ).
It’s a shame really because I would rather have her drive because she is such a sh*te navigator.
Reading your article has made me think that maybe I should try to get her confidence up somehow. Maybe by familiarising herself with a single stretch of motorway first in her car and then stepping up to her 3.5t horsebox. If she is comfortable enough with that then maybe if she still does not want to drive the MoHo we could downsize to a PCV.

 

[RedFrame]

Great article, lots of practical advice.

However I would suggest that a large industrial estate (if available) at a similar time on a Sunday morning would be a far better place to practise, providing a much more realistic training environment, probably with less traffic.

This is where I take Chris, it provides T-Junctions, Roundabouts, and Service bays to reverse into.

Cheers
Red.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

My assigned woman used to drive fire engines for a living, with annual training/assessment for driving at speed under blue lights etc. Consequently she has more than enough confidence for driving a Motorhome. She drives our van more than I do, allowing me time to be nosey and then bugger up the navigation accordingly.

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[nicholsong]

My assigned woman used to drive fire engines for a living, with annual training/assessment for driving at speed under blue lights etc. Consequently she has more than enough confidence for driving a Motorhome. She drives our van more than I do, allowing me time to be nosey and then bugger up the navigation accordingly.

"My assigned woman" gives me images of her father at the church door with a shotgun.

[P.S. when you going to change QC to KC?]

 

[bobnick]

Straight from post 1 to here.
My Mrs will never ever drive our truck no matter what aides, help or training she WONT take. She has never even sat in the drivers seat.
And i prefer it that way.

 

[Roby2008]

Herself is willing to drive when we have hand controls fitted for her, but the idea scares the s*** out of me, she is a kerb hugger and corner cutter, just had the alignment done on her car again due to this, the alloys are trashed too, imagine a MH where the rear track is wider.........
We will have it done though and I will need my brave pills...

 

[nicholsong]

Straight from post 1 to here.
My Mrs will never ever drive our truck no matter what aides, help or training she WONT take. She has never even sat in the drivers seat.
And i prefer it that way.

My OH has driven our 7m MH 3,850kg around an empty CP and she was impressed with how easy it was, in terms of handling and visibility, but still does not fancy the C1 course and test.

If it were a real emergency situation I think she would step to the challenge.

 

[Gillygrim]

When we bought our camper, an Auto homes Avalon, in 2005 I was very reluctant to drive, even though she was relatively small. I tried in Sainsbury's carpark and although I managed OK I still left the driving to John. On our way back from France in late 2005, John wasn't well and I had no option but to take over. I found I quite enjoyed it and when we swapped to a Swift coach built in 2006 I occasionally took a turn at the wheel. By 2009 when we bought Rosie, Elddis Firestorm, I was doing the majority of the driving, from home in UK to Antibes in the south of France every year. We now have an old Hymer B534 and as John is 91 I do all the driving (I'm nearly 81) and thoroughly enjoy it. The only point I would add to Jim's list is to make sure you're fully conversant with the dashboard controls, lights, wipers, washers, indicators etc as it's easy to lose concentration when you hit the wiper switch as it starts raining and the indicators start flashing instead !

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