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Mrfoto · 11-23-2016, 12:15 PM

My wife is a Nervous Nelly when riding in class A Motorhome. We had a C class for 8 years and it was not a big problem with only minor issues. For some reason being higher up and over front wheels scares her. She can not look down and see edge of road and only sees dropoffs and ditches 3-5 feet from bus. She tried setting on couch and that didn't seem to help. When up front, she is very useful as another set of eyes watching merging traffic and off ramps. We have had several people race around us on right shoulders and merge ramps to beat us that really scared her. We usually are withing 5mph of speed limit in traffic that prevented them from passing us in left lane. Or they are on ramp merging and have it floored trying to catch up and beat us before merge lane ends. My question is how do other co-pilots handle front seat stress and anxiety? Need answers and suggestion before winter I-95 trip to FL.

bluepill · 11-23-2016, 12:39 PM

We had the same problem. DW would scream every time a gust of wind would push sideways a bit. We talked about it a few times. I mentioned that it was very distracting and tiring for me. I finally said that she had 2 choices; quiet down or drive our towed vehicle following me. I also had her take a tennis ball and hold it in her hand so that she could squeeze it instead of screaming. It finally worked.

dons2346 · 11-23-2016, 01:00 PM

I guess mine handles it OK. She knits, then reads part of a book, then maybe a little crochet, then back to the book, etc.

hayward3411 · 11-23-2016, 01:03 PM

Heck, I am the nervios one when it's my wife's turn to drive!

vsheetz · 11-23-2016, 01:33 PM

I am the better passenger, so she often drives, and I nap.

Waywards · 11-23-2016, 01:42 PM

Have you tried gluing a small fish-eye mirror on the passenger window so she can see the white line on the road next to the tire/side of the vehicle? This would give her a reference point to locate where the vehicle is relative to the road. Works for my DW.

petrel · 11-23-2016, 01:44 PM

I don't own a class-A, but I test drove and rode in a few. It can be a bit disarming sitting up in front of the axle like that, with so little machine in front of you. I can see where it would take some time to get accustomed to it.

I think your best bet is to let her drive it. She will get the same sensation, but will understand that the coach is just responding to the driver inputs. Even if she just drives it around a big parking lot when there is no traffic, I think that would help her get a feel for your new rig and an understanding that the driver is in control. Best of luck!

rapid rick · 11-23-2016, 04:21 PM

How about a nice big magnum bottle of merlo for the co-pilot?????

Or a nice big shiny new class c???

I know, I shoulda been a comedian

Mrfoto · 11-23-2016, 04:53 PM

Thanks gang for suggestions. The tennis ball and fish lens may work. I am sure the Merlot would be a hit once we stop! She loves wine! Our Bichons names are Merlot and Shiraz ! Now to just convince her to drive it!

alank · 11-23-2016, 05:13 PM

The DW hits the bottle of Xanax, then we hit the road. Actually, she does better in the motorhome than she does riding in the car through heavy traffic. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with my driving.

Dale70 · 11-23-2016, 05:19 PM

Here is my suggestion which I hope is a bit more constructive.

This is the same thing we do from the drivers seat.

Mark the window in front of her with two pieces of tape -- the right one will represent where the right edge of the road is when looking through the front window. The left one will represent where the left highway stripe should be when looking through the front window.

Therefore -- when she sees those tape stripes inside the sides if the road, she will know the RV is positioned correctly on the road.
(give yourself a few feet when setting the tapes so you can move a bit within your lane.)

Basically she could then see that as long as the right tape is inside the edge of the road as she sees it, all is good. The same thing on the left -- as long as the left tape is inside the left lane line as she sees it -- all is good on the left.

If this is confusing let me know and we will figure out how to post some pictures of what ours looks like from the driver seat.

good luck -- Dale

lnanne · 11-23-2016, 07:44 PM

I am not a good passenger so I do the driving and my husband likes to read and nap. I think the tape idea is a good one. When I'm the passenger, it feels like we're too close to the edge (and I wondered if it was because my husband drove a right hand side postal jeep for work and didn't feel right unless he was close to the right side!). But he's a good driver - I'm just not a good passenger!

rvtrekers · 11-23-2016, 07:53 PM

No help from me. My wife is normally snoozing within 10 minutes of getting in the coach.

tombottcat · 11-23-2016, 08:14 PM

the wife used to get excited when we first got the unit until I got into a tight spot and had to do a U turn in the middle of the hwy and put her over the ditch-wheels never went in because there behind you-she's never said a thing since TOM AND JOANNE THOR TUSCANY