Community Forums

outthere · 03-22-2016, 01:09 PM

DW wants to drive more but I'm the driver 99% of the time.. The reason, I'm 55 yrs old and still have motion sickness.. I would LOVE to change that, she's a great driver! I've tried over the counter meds but they just make me dizzy,, and,,, sick!

Dennis Dean · 03-22-2016, 01:21 PM

My wife doesn't drive but my girlfriend does all the time. She has no issues with that.

( oh wait..... i dont have a wife anymore, whew i got worried)

RedRaider93 · 03-22-2016, 01:48 PM

When I was in negotiations with my DW about buying an RV, one of her conditions was that she would never drive it. For the most part, I enjoy driving. But on long days, I have to admit it would be nice to get a break for a couple hours. But oh well, it is what it is!

Mr_D · 03-22-2016, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frantz

When DH & I married 11 years ago, I came with a 35' DP; he had never been in a motorhome.

First trip he sat in passenger seat, watched the world go by & dozed. Got to the coast & watched while I backed into the site, hooked up water, sewer & electric. He decided this RV stuff was pretty fun.

Today we are full-time & the motorhome is a 40' DP with toad & I still do 99% of driving. DH now does the outside connecting & he does do most of the car driving at stops. DH is also one of the best guides for placing the motorhome in a spot. DH does drive a couple of hundred miles a year to keep his knowledge up. Yes, we have had the situation when I was incapacitated after cancer surgery so he drove us back to our site from the hospital.

It was pretty funny at an FMCA Rally when he went to a co-pilot seminar with 1 other man & about 75 women.

Their recommendation was for ALL co-pilots to learn drive their rigs.

Most annoying experience is when we get someplace & inevitably a man will come ask "can I park that for you sweetie?" or ask my DH why he would let "her" drive?

Wish Cindy was that capable! Always fun to see you drive in and people stare!!

beaverfever · 03-22-2016, 03:11 PM

i am scared to death to ride in a car with my wife driving. in a mh no way! i will walk first, she is a wonderful person but a lousy driver

dms · 03-22-2016, 03:30 PM

My wife does all the driving.....all I do is work the steering wheel and the pedals and follow instructions.

frankdamp · 03-22-2016, 04:05 PM

We never checked for adjustability of driving position when we bought our F53-based rig. DW isn't very tall (<5') and diminutive in other ways also. It never occurred to me that the steering column wouldn't have a telescoping adjustment or that the driver's seat would have such limited fore/aft adjustment travel, no height adjustment and such a long cushion.

I'd been driving Gillig passenger buses for a couple of years and just assumed RVs would be similar -Wrong!!. Those in our fleet had telescopic steering columns with two universal joints and Recaro seats with more adjustability than I can remember. The fleet had drivers ranging in height fro 5' 1" to 6' 9" and everyone could get a comfortable fit.

For the 4 seasons we used the RV, I had to do all the driving. With my tendency to upper thigh cramps, most days were limited to 150-200 miles. We got by, but it wasn't a lot of fun.

southernlady · 03-22-2016, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drjnick

When we purchased our coach,( our first) the wife and I hired an instructor for a few days of driving instruction and learning how to care for the coach. I wanted my wife to be able to handle a 45 ft coach should I become unable to do it while on the road.
She does quite well and is even able to parallel park it!!! However, she prefers to sit in the co-pilot seat. I love to drive so it works for us.

Susie, John, and Babygirl (doberman)
Tiffin Zephyr 45ft
Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit
Blue Ox
Air Force One

My husband and I also took classes.
Two days at about 6 hours each day and it was local to us. I spent as much time behind the wheel as my husband...and our instructor said I was better.

BUT my husband prefers to drive and I let him. I did learn so that I could do it if he needed me to do it or I wanted to.

sunset4k · 03-22-2016, 07:21 PM

My DW drives a lot of the time. I think she just likes the control lol. It is nice to have someone to help tho on long hauls. She will not drive at night and she doesn't like driving in the rain but she will.

RVNeophytes2 · 03-22-2016, 07:59 PM

[QUOTE=motohomo;2987866 I know from reading posts on this site that many women/ wives do not drive the motorhome. I dont know why because women can drive as well as, and even better than us men. [/QUOTE]

Funny, several years back, I flew with a fellow airline pilot whose girlfriend still didn't trust him to drive her new Class A diesel pusher. Another of my airline peers considers herself the equal of her husband, when it comes to caring for and operating their 45' Country Coach.

Meanwhile, my wife drives ours; but, she can't muster the discipline to master it to the point of driving in rush hour traffic. Nor does she possess the mechanical understanding requisite to effectively caring for a 45' tag axle rig like ours. She had, however, taken our 40' Fleetwood on several solo trips, pulling a car. These days, with a 45' rig pulling a 20' enclosed trailer, she happily fills in only on open stretches of interstate highways. Even then, we conduct a full review of blowout procedures, every time she takes the wheel. Oh. She does all the parking, with me outside giving directions.

Meanwhile, one of my closest friends is sending his wife out onto the road this month on her fourth solo trip pulling a horse trailer with their Holiday Rambler Endeavor. She'll be on the road alone for six days, this time. A veterinarian who attends horse events, she's quickly mastered the art of dry-camping. But, she's enjoyed all things mechanical since childhood, is an avid biker, and has owned several muscle cars.

Ironically, two of the first RV'ers among our circle of friends and family are women married to each other. We've camped alongside two other female couples this year, and count a longtime couple of wives -- they are retired military -- among our current (and most active) RV friends.

That said, it's fully understandable why many women would shy from taking the wheel. Many female friends -- I'd rank my lawyer wife among them -- have no real passion for vehicles or mechanics. It's not their thing. I support their decision, and don't think that anyone, male or female, should ever be pushed into something for which they don't feel prepared or capable. Remember, safety is paramount. Plus, every rig has seats for both driver and navigator

Mr_D · 03-22-2016, 08:07 PM

My DW has always refused to drive any of our MH's, not even the 17' Type B we bought new in 1988.
Now, due to ill health, the Dr. has told her no more driving, not even a car, and frankly, I' m glad! Maybe she'll be able to drive after the liver transplant but I'm not that hopeful of it even then. She never has been able to help navigate either.

c92vette · 03-22-2016, 08:29 PM

When we bought our Bounder she drove it home from the dealer 60 miles or so. We started sharing the duties with her doing most of the duty. Until..............

We lit out for Florida for our first long trip. She drove right through Atlanta no problem. She drove down the east coast of Florida right down the middle of Daytona no problem. Me? All I did was blow the tires. (Long story in another post) She drove it through Tampa / St Pete and at one point noted the wind was pushing her around. (Pre-CHF) I took over for a while to the next rest stop on I-75. When she got in the saddle again and up to speed she said immediately the wind was almost to strong for her to handle. Then a semi came whizzing past sucking her into the rig (we didn't hit it but it was close). Once the semi passed we went halfway into the left lane and the wind almost blew us into a guard rail all the way back across the right lane. She got the rig stopped on the right shoulder and had to sit there for a few minutes to collect herself. We then eased up the shoulder to the next exit and switched. She hasn't and will not drive the coach on the road unless emergency. She's an excellent driver in the driveway though.

Note: After the CHF was incorporated she did drive it 10 miles on I-75 but was not comfortable doing so.

W3SI · 03-22-2016, 08:39 PM

My DW is a great driver. She has driven many many miles in a VAN before we even met. Now I drive 99% of the time in the VAN and the Miata and 100% of the time in the RV and HD. You might ask how much we drive..... about 6K/yr in the Van and Miata, 20K/yr on the motorcycle and 15K/yr in the RV. That is a lot of moving from place to place but we love every adventure.

Wryly Blithe · 03-22-2016, 11:32 PM

My wife can drive our rig, and has - though only on BLM roads - but if she had to she could. However, she just doesn't dig it. She freaks herself out that she's going to break the rig, or dent it or scratch it and it makes it a horribly unpleasant experience for her... and don't even get me started about how she'd feel driving the rig while towing our car! She's so freaked about the little stuff (that I honestly couldn't care less about) that I'm afraid she won't be mentally ready for a real emergency, like a blowout or something, which freaks ME out.

I love driving our coach, so why would I put either of us through that?