Frank R. Gummersall
Driving a motorhome, that weighs from 12,000 lbs up to 40,000 lbs, safely takes some skill and practice and good sense. Adding a dingy from 2,000 to 5,000 lbs behind that motorhome takes a lot more skill, practice, and a good sense. Driving an automobile, or motorhome, requires no certification of skill beyond the very basics. Most drivers acquire their "skill" through the experience of driving. A high level skill is not required to drive, except when an emergency situation happens. So even if you get advanced training and have a high level of skill, you get rusty in using it.
As we get older, our reaction time increases, our eyesight worsens, our motor skills and reflexes slow. So the average motorhome driver compounds these and other considerations every time we get behind the wheel.
I was fortunate enough to be able to take the "Bob Bondurant School of High Performace Driving". This class was taught by professional race drivers, on a race track using highly modified Mustangs and Formula Ford racing cars. I always fancied myself as a great driver with quick reflexes, great eyesight, and excellent motor skills. But taking this class made me realize just what a car can do and what it can't; and more importantly what I could do with the car and what I could not do. The skid tests, the fast lane change, the advanced trail braking, and all the other things that they taught gave a real appreciation for the task of driving safely. This program is used to train Law Enforcement Driving Instructors, so it was really a great school.
When I can, I practice the skills that I learned in this class, but they still get rusty, since I don't get a chance to get on a race track under controlled condition of a back road very often. I recommend this type of training to all of you since it will make you a better motorhome driver. I also took the time to get a commercial drivers license (Class B) for bus drivers, so that I could get additional training driving heavy things. I recommend this training also (all you have to do is agree to be a substitute school bus driver and they will train you and pay the expense to get licensed). You can probably tell where this article is going, so here we go.
Back to motorhome driving -- For the vast majority of the time behind the wheel, not much skill is required to get this big hummer safely down the road. We have to remember that it hangs out on all sides more than a car, so parking, turning on residential streets, getting in and out of fuel stops, etc are our biggest challenges. These are not normally life threatening situations and related accidents are only financial challenges. But at highway speed when a car cuts off our path, or a deer jumps from the side of the road, or some debris or chuck hole winds up in our lane, turning a reducing radius curve in the rain, child darts out between two parked cars, or hundreds of other infrequently experienced challenges is when we need all the driving skill and proper equipment we can get. The accidents caused by these situations frequently result in personal injury or death as well as large financial losses.
Think about the physics of a 4000 lb weight, placed at the end of a lever (tow bar) swinging side ways at 60 miles per hour when you try to do a quick avoidance lane change. Think about adding 25% (4000 lbs) to the weight of your motorhome (16000 lbs) and then trying to stop. Toads increase the stopping distance at highway speeds from 30% to 80% depending on all the variables involved. Think about having to slow the combined rig down half way through an unanticipated steep incline and how hot the brakes will get during long down grade driving. Think about having to avoid hitting a small child dashing out between parked cars. You each can add to this list the your experiences when you needed to stop or maneuver to miss hitting some obstacle.
I am arguing for all of us to be responsible motorhome drivers with the best skill and equipment available; and to select dingies (toads) that will be the safest rather than the most trendy or the most comfortable. When I see a motorhome towing a full size van filled with goodies, or a Suburban crammed full of fishing gear plus a boat on the top, I wonder about the driver and what his skill level is, and how he's going to feel when all that extra weight causes a personal injury. We all know that accidents happen even with the best driver, equipment, conditions, etc., but we should not drive an accident waiting to happen down the road on purpose. I am almost finished with the article comparing toad braking systems that can add significantly to the safety of dingy towing but the more I worked on it the more if felt driven to say a few works about common sense.
See you down the road, (I hope not hanging 5000lbs out the rear of the rig).