# Using a table in a motorhome when travelling



## timbop37 (Jun 28, 2006)

Any help would be appreciated on a legality issue. Can you sit at a pullman type table with forward/rear facing seats (with seatbelts) whilst travelling. We need to know before buying. Will be for keeping the kids amused.

Thanks a lot in anticipation.

Tim


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## 97993 (Mar 5, 2006)

Yes is the simple answer, but beware possible injuries from the table if too close 
Geo
ps Trains do it all the time


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## timbop37 (Jun 28, 2006)

*Re: using a table, etc*

Thanks, Geo, for such a prompt reply. Sorry for being such a newbie. I may have another 1000 questions in the near future, if that's ok.

tim


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## 97993 (Mar 5, 2006)

Its not that long ago I was a newbie too , fire away its what we are here for
Geo


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## Brock (Jun 14, 2005)

With children, make sure they are properly strapped in as mine had a habit of not sitting properly and thus were less secure in their belt. With the table, the biggest risk is often those sat at the front of the van. Unless the table is properly secured in transit, a head on collision will catapult the table forward and possibly decapitate those in the passenger seats. 

My Hymer has a permanent fixed table which is a hefty piece of engineering (fixed to the chassis I think). My last van had a clip on table that would have been dangerous in the event of a crash. The manual should say whether the table is secure enough for travelling and all good dealers should be willing to let you peruse the handbook. Do not take the dealer's word on safety. Whilst trains do have tables, you need to consider the risk of crashing (much greater in a car than train), the structural integrity of the vehicle, and the dynamics in a crash (a train will often hit another train but is rarely involved in a multiple train pile up).

We did not travel with out children with the table up. 

There are numerous games they can play on the move without a table. When things were really bad, we let them have a handheld GameBoy. We often tired them out before we travelled and let them sleep (sat upright with pillows and belted in) as we drove. 

Our children loved motorhoming and because they could usually see more out of the windows than in a car, felt less claustrophobic, and appreciated the novelty value of a motorhome, we found they could keep themselves amused for long periods.

Overall, we managed to travel long distances (2,500 miles in two weeks holiday was not unusual) without any problem.

Having said all that, we travel with our Hymer table in place with two passengers sat behind it. Interesting that the older the boys got, the less tolerant of travelling they became!

I hope you get the same enjoyment out of motorhoming with the children as we did. It's a great life for the family.


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## camoyboy (May 9, 2005)

If you put a couple of lengths of that non slip matting stuff on the table, it will stop all the kids things sliding onto the floor at the first roundabout. We also used an old ice cream tub for pens and pencils etc. and made sure books and mags were spread out, not stacked. We have progressed to DVD players now so not so much of a problem.
Colin


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## timbop37 (Jun 28, 2006)

*Re: table, etc*

Thanks everyone. Got a girl with special needs, 9 years old, table essential. Very autistic and other problems. Put a deposit down on a CI Carioca 5, £20000, 2003, 4500 miles. Getting it checked out but seems ideal. Setup perfect for us due to rear bunks, and table, of course! Got a boy of nearly 3. Appreciate all your advice. Most welcome.

Tim


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

That sounds like an excellent deal, Tim. Hope everything goes through all right for you. Good choice!

Gerald


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## 108401 (Nov 22, 2007)

Ressurecting an old thread... We hired a van a couple of years ago and happily toured Europe with 3 passengers sat around the table in the dinette area. The table was not bolted down - it fixed to a rail on the wall and then just rested on the floor with a leg. There were no warnings of dire or impending doom if you travelled with it down. It was a very handy arrangement.

The Hymer that we have bought has exactly the same setup, only with strict warnings that you should not travel with the table down. 

Presumably the risk is that in a really heavy impact, the table could tear itself from the wall and flap about causing considerable injury. Or is it the risk of a passenger headbutting the table? 

Sort of talking aloud, but I wonder how serious that risk is for some manufacturers to warn about it, and others not. Just Hymer covering their backside (odd given they're happy for you to drive about with the gas open)?

Has anyone come up with some sort of clamp to anchor the table leg in place during transit?


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

mrtrilby said:


> Presumably the risk is that in a really heavy impact, the table could tear itself from the wall and flap about causing considerable injury. Or is it the risk of a passenger headbutting the table?


More like the risk of someone sueing Hymer is the real reason. :wink:



> (odd given they're happy for you to drive about with the gas open)


Not really, it's a requirement of German law that gas appliances should be safe to use when moving so they can't wriggle out of that one quite so easily. :lol:


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

If you really can't travel with the table up or are not happy to do so then what about a couple of those lap trays - the ones with a bean bag cushion and a hard top ?

G


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Tables*

Hi

Many coaches are fitted with tables - particularly on the lower deck of double deck vehicles. The tables are however securely fastened etc and have recesses to hold cups in place, aswell as a lipped edge.

R


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## timbop37 (Jun 28, 2006)

We use a table whilst travelling. It is secured at the side wall but not to the floor. I appreciate that it is a risk although in a major accident it would probably be the least of our problems. However, I'm a Paediatric ICU nurse and I should be advocating safety. We haven't yet had a child in, injured by a flying motorhome table. though, but there is always a first.

I am in two minds whether to try and obtain something to retain the leg to the floor. I expect O'Leary's may have something appropriate. At the extreme end I'm sure they have all the parts to make a new table with a securable (is that a word....it is now) leg.

Tim


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## camper69 (Aug 30, 2007)

We have a table which is clipped to the wall and free standing on the floor.

We always remove it when travelling as it will go flying if involved in an accident and we always have a least one of our children travelling in a rear facing seat. 

While I appreciate that other things will also fly in an accident I think that having a reasonably heavy table infront of someone is taking too must of a risk. Also the front facing children stand a good chance of hitting the table even under heavy braking

Derek


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## 106389 (Aug 11, 2007)

*Re: table, etc*



timbop37 said:


> Thanks everyone. Got a girl with special needs, 9 years old, table essential. Very autistic and other problems.
> 
> Tim


Hi Tim,
Sounds like your in the same boat as us (sorry Motorhome), Charlotte our 5 year old has learning difficulties & Autism she loves going away in the motorhome (cara as she calls it, as we had a caravan til last august), we also have a 18 month old Katie, I'm sure your kids will love going away in the M/H as much as ours do.

Paul & Jackie


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## WingPete (Jan 29, 2006)

*Rapido*

My new Rapido has a table fixed to the floor directly in front of the 2 belted passenger seats, no way of removing it. It swivells and locks in various positions, plus is telescopic, so goes down to form a single bed base when required ( I doubt it will eever be so used by myself) therefore it must be acceptable.


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## StAubyns (Jun 4, 2006)

We have an arrangement that debars storing the table anywhere except where it is!

It is fixed to a slide on the wall and to remove it you press 2 clips down;this is only to convert it into the bed base because the leg "kneels" with the top of the leg permanently fixed to the bottom of the table and a joint in the centre of the leg "breaking" and then bending 90 degrees so that half the leg lays on the floor.

Really its a pain, and I have pondered on find an alternative folding leg so that I can maybe use it outside on odd occasions when the sun shines.

Geoff


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## CaGreg (Mar 28, 2007)

I cannot claim any technical knowledge about this issue, but the reason it is safe to have a table on a train is probably that if a train were to be in an impact it would be less likely to stop suddenly, as a small vehicle would, but would continue going forward for some distance, lessening the possibility of damage by the table.

I would be very seriously looking at how safe this practice is, including the strength of the belts in relation to the distance from the table, the stability of the table in the event of a high impact. If manufacturers don't recommend it, I would take that advice seriously, more than I would take the advice about 'best before dates' on tins of beans if you get my drift.

Local police districts usually have personnel trained to give this kind of advice e.g. collision investigators and Public Service Vehicle Inspectors. If you have any doubts check, check, check.

Ca


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