# Driving your motorhome



## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

I only have one vehicle - my motorhome - and I regularly drive around London in it. 

I didn't see a "driving" thread, so thought this was the best topic area.... (if not, then moderators, please feel free to move it). 

So, my questions are:

1) Do you agree with my rule of thumb as to who gives way to whom on a narrow road - 

a) lorry
b) Post office red van
c) white van
d) motorhome
e) old, beaten up car
f) nice new car
g) porsche, ferrari


2) do you wave to say "thank you" when you have driven aggressively into the road, forcing someone to give way to you, when they probably didn't want to, but being anyone in categories e)-g) they were forced to? 

3) do you sometimes use your width to straddle lanes to stop cars going up the inside or outside and then pushing in, hence slowing up everyone who is already in the "right" lane? 

4) do you have any other driving observations that apply more to motorhomes than to cars?


----------



## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

Hi Heather,

Sorry don't understand questions 1 and 2.


----------



## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

BillCreer said:


> Hi Heather,
> 
> Sorry don't understand questions 1 and 2.


Oh sorry

Well, it's like this....... there's a narrow road (usually because cars are parked on either side)

So cars in either direction both need to drive in the middle of the road.

Who gives way to whom?

My view is..... if you drive a motorhome, you probably get priority over a car. If there's a white van, you probably give him priority.

This is not a "rule"... it's more like asking whether you take into account the kind of vehicle coming towards you in deciding whether you drive into the middle or they pull into a space and let you drive first.

And question two is... if you saw a nice ferrari coming towards you and "made" him pull into a space so you can drive through, do you wave "thank you"... even though really, you just made the judgement that the nice Ferrari man would give way to you?


----------



## rowley (May 14, 2005)

Oh yes, I agree with that Heather! :lol: You are higher than a Ferrari anyway. Remember, I look down on him, and he looks up at me!


----------



## Fatalhud (Mar 3, 2006)

I Usually base it on who is closest to the widest bit of the road (Passing place) 

If there is a steep hill I also try and use the theory that the vehicle coming up the hill should have the right of way, Although most other road users don't

Alan H


----------



## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

I don't think it's possible to have a "rule of thumb" since every scenario is different, never mind every vehicle and their driver have their own set of often incompatible rules. I generally go for the option which I believe will less likely end in a bump, altercation or stalemate. 

Because to the uninitiated we look like a panel van we seem to get away with much more then when we had a coach built. In cities we were treated with "you shouldn't be here" attitude when driving where as now we're in the same class as white (well, silver) van man.

If someone has stopped (or been forced to stop) for me then I always wave a thanks - it takes little or no effort.

I've lost track of the number of times I've seen someone squeeze through a gap next to me and actually close their eyes as they pass the narrowest point!


----------



## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi.
Your Rules?,You will have to issue a book to every motorist,so they will know "Where"LOL you are coming from or going to,wait a minute,there is one,a "Rough guide" The Highway Code,or .........Common sense. You forgot to mention emergency services.
Keep death off the road,drive on the pavement. The old ones are the best.
Ted.


----------



## iandsm (May 18, 2007)

*Rules*

There is only one rule, that is drive in a defensive manner to avoid an accident with whoever is driving whatever.


----------



## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

On narrow hills I believe in the old 'rule' that the descending vehicle should allow the ascending vehicle to keep moving, as it is easier for the former to regain momentum than the latter.
As regards level ground, its first to 'arrive' at a wide bit should pull in to let the other pass.

Both the above assumes that the driver who should do the waiting is actually observing all that is happening on the road ahead not driving with his/her gaze firmly fixed just a few metres ahead of the bonnet, as seems to be so often the case.

Many, many time when driving my MH or an HGV I have just waited, with a wry smile, while a dopey other driver reverses back to a 'wide bit' they had just passed, presumably because they hadn't 'seen' my large shiny white MH or dirty big oil tanker (which you would drive into the verge at your and the environments peril) coming toward them on the narrow road :lol:


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

I apply the ascending/descending hill 'rule' to other heavy vehicles.

I have driven a lot of panel vans (not MHs) and trucks(7.5t).

Since driving my 'A' Class, which is only a little narrower and lower than the trucks, I notice that most trucks, vans and car drivers give way to me as though I were driving a truck rather than a van.

My, unproven, theory is that they notice the size of the cab/window and take less notice of the body size behind.

When driving vans for NHS I found people more courteous than to other vehicles that I drove.

Geoff


----------



## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

I was driving in a narrow lane in Wales a few weeks ago and met a shiny new Mercedes, we sat there looking at one another and I realized he couldn't or wouldn't reverse up so I did and didn't find a passing place for nearly quarter of a mile, good practice using the reversing camera and the mirrors though.
Gary :wink:


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Jean-Luc said:


> Many, many time when driving my MH or an HGV I have just waited, with a wry smile, while a dopey other driver reverses back to a 'wide bit' they had just passed, presumably because they hadn't 'seen' my large shiny white MH or dirty big oil tanker (which you would drive into the verge at your and the environments peril) coming toward them on the narrow road :lol:


I had just the opposite a while ago on a single track road leading to and from a landfill site ( :roll: nice bit of traffic planning there).

An artic tipper drove less than his own length past a passing place as I (in the m/home) was over 90% of the way along the narrowest section of the road and was over 100 yds past the last passing place I could possibly have stopped at (he wasn't even visible when I passed it!) - he then stopped and gestured to me that I should back up.

I "gestured" back and he then deliberately made a show of putting his parking brake on. So I just drove right up to his bumper and made a show of putting my parking brake on, turning my engine off AND picking up my paper for a read. 
About 2 minutes later an 8 wheel tipper appeared down the road behind me and also drove straight past the passing place the artic driver was expecting me to use.

The artic driver then gave in and backed up all of 30ft to let us both by.

[email protected]!


----------



## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

Stanner said:


> So I just drove right up to his bumper and made a show of putting my parking brake on, turning my engine off AND picking up my paper for a read.


Fabulous! I must carry a paper in the van in future.


----------



## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

99% of the time I give way.

I'm in a leisure vehicle, I'm retired and never in that much of a rush to get from 'A' to 'B' so can afford to let other drivers get on with their errands.

Plus I learnt the hard way that other drivers are very unpredictable so if I stopped to let them pass then I was in control of at least one part of the situation.......and haven't lost a door mirror since :roll:


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

HeatherChloe said:


> Stanner said:
> 
> 
> > So I just drove right up to his bumper and made a show of putting my parking brake on, turning my engine off AND picking up my paper for a read.
> ...


Don't worry the owners manual from the glove box will do instead.

Probably the only time you'll get to read it - ohh sorry, forgot you are not a man, so you've probably read it already. :wink:


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Maybe waving a filled kettle might be more effective!

[Stanner, for a Rigid I may have stood my ground, for an a Artic, against my having to reverse 100yds I would have probably reversed]

Geoff


----------



## Sprinta (Sep 15, 2010)

I was out yesterday and went to Putsborough Sands near Willacombe. Now I know I'm a bit too big for those roads and have previously had problems just getting the car round, but I went anyway.

I was staggered by the amount of crap car driving skills shown to me every time I made oncoming traffic get into a passing space, and how many would attempt to drive past one rather than try to parallel park 

Reversing skills quite clearly aren't mastered by the majority even in tiny little cars, it was hilarious on occasion watching them 3 point turn reverse up into the hedge, and then clearly get all flustered and embarrassed. It quite made my day :lol: 

And yes, I did on occasion reverse back to a passing place when I was close enough, and uphill. 

I don't dislike reversing, and, especially with a trailer on the back I quite enjoy demonstrating the skill, but it's nowhere near that of a decent artic driver


----------



## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

nicholsong said:


> [Stanner, for a Rigid I may have stood my ground, for an a Artic, against my having to reverse 100yds I would have probably reversed]
> 
> Geoff


Reversing, even into really awkward places, is part and parcel of an artic drivers daily grind and should not pose any difficulty to any capable driver.

The one Stanner met was obviously not 'reading' the road ahead or was just trying to be a bully.

Getting 'back up' from another truck was nice though :lol:


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

nicholsong said:


> Maybe waving a filled kettle might be more effective!
> 
> [Stanner, for a Rigid I may have stood my ground, for an a Artic, against my having to reverse 100yds I would have probably reversed]
> 
> Geoff


He had to have seen me coming as I was on a long straight and he had just come round a bend onto the straight.
All he needed to do was stop a few feet short of where he did, but he actually deliberately drove into the narrowest bit between two thick hedges before stopping with his trailer alongside the passing place.

So, no chance, artic or not.

If HE couldn't back up less than the length of his tractor unit HE shouldn't have a HGV licence.


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Jean-Luc

But as you know reversing the trailer where you have room to swing the unit is one thing, but down a narrow line with little juggling space for the front wheels is a little more tricky.

My experience is it would be quicker for me, and all concerned, to reverse 100yds. 

Geoff


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Jean-Luc

But as you know reversing the trailer where you have room to swing the unit is one thing, but down a narrow line with little juggling space for the front wheels is a little more tricky.

My experience is it would be quicker for me, and all concerned, to reverse 100yds. 

Geoff


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

nicholsong said:


> Jean-Luc
> 
> But as you know reversing the trailer where you have room to swing the unit is one thing, but down a narrow line with little juggling space for the front wheels is a little more tricky.
> 
> ...


He didn't need to juggle anything, all he had to do (and eventually did with no trouble) was back up in a straight line 20 or so feet as the passing place was on my side of the road.

Actually all he needed to do was stop 20 ft before he did. :roll:


----------



## BillCreer (Jan 23, 2010)

The ones who worry me in Manchester are the people who don't slow down but visibly move their seating position to nearer the centre of the car when they pass you on a very narrow street.
I just close my eyes and go for it. (the last part was a joke)


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Previously living and working in London driving large trucks and RVs. Most side roads are lined with parked cars. Often when I met a car coming the other way they would stick the bonnet into a space expecting me to pass. But they completely forgot the other 8 or 10ft. sticking out in the road preventing this. 
I had to get out of my cab and explain their car was over 6ft. long.

Ray.


----------



## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

Best tale I've heard on the "which vehicle trumps which on a narrow lane" topic was from comedian Ross Noble on Top Gear a while ago.

He has a weird and wonderful garage of "motorised toys", amongst which a tank (well strictly an Abbot 433 self propelled gun). When this was delivered, the low loader wouldn't fit up the lane to his house, so the delivery folk had to drive it, with him going ahead clearing the way. He met someone coming the other way on a single-track road, who got beligerent and refused to reverse and insisted he should. They soon changed their mind when his tank came around the corner behind him... :lol: :lol:


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Always remember "Might is Right"

And the mightier you are the more right you can be.

Ray.


----------



## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

That's a good question HeatherChloe,

Many years ago I asked a colleague who effortlessly drove a large vehicle around London what his secret was.

He said there was no secret - He simply "Commanded the Road, but with courtesy".

I try to follow his advice, and also remember that I am in the leisure vehicle , possibly with a little more time on my hands.

I also try never to put myself in a stupid position.


----------



## IanA (Oct 30, 2010)

Defensive driving does sometimes call for asserting yourself to other road users - if I am driving up a hill and the car coming down doesn't look to be stopping I make sure that I take up a more central position to persuade them that it would be a good idea to pull in - not done aggressively, just assertively. 

I can't understand why it seems to be the norm to try and force traffic coming up a hill to stop - have they forgotten where their brake pedal is?


----------



## mrbricolage (Jun 30, 2008)

I dont apply a rule according to what vehicle is approaching. If I can give way I will. If I can reverse I will. Seems absolutely ridiculous to discriminate against someone who drives a Ferrari. Have you ever tried to back one of those up a road. It's not that easy!
A little less haste gives a little more speed.

Obviously if an HGV driver is coming the other way I will try and help him out, but it's not always possible.


----------



## Zozzer (Aug 13, 2006)

No rules, just comon sense. I will always give way to a large truck especially if they are ascending a hill because they are at work and I'm on the road for pleasure. 

When driving on a narrow street were vehicles are parked either side, then no-one has priority , I'm afraid it's dog eat dog.


----------

