You have spent years planning your first RV trip. You’ve researched all of the destinations across the country. You’ve mapped out your preferred route. You’ve researched the RV rentals available in your area. You are ready to join the thousands of RV enthusiasts who take to the road each year, experiencing adventure, exploration, and fun times with your family. Now that you have the perfect journey planned, it is time to focus on some key safety tips that will keep you and your family safe and sound throughout the journey.
Practice Your Driving!
Once you have decided on the RV to rent for your journey, make sure that you know how to drive it. Driving an RV is not the same as operating a regular motor vehicle. RVs are larger and can feel unwieldy at first, so make sure to rent your RV several days ahead of time and practice your driving before you embark on the journey.
Get Insured
In case of accidents, theft, breakdowns, or other potential pitfalls on your journey, you need to make sure that you are fully insured. In the case of accidents, you want insurance that covers damages for your RV and any drivers of other vehicles involved, just like you have with your auto insurance. You will want to make sure that the insurance covers the towing of your RV in case of breakdowns. Also importantly, you will want to make sure that you are covered for any items stolen from the RV or the RV itself if stolen. This way you can enjoy your journey with the peace of mind in knowing you are fully covered.
Check Road Conditions
You may have your route all mapped out, but have you made sure to check if there is any construction or other road conditions which will throw your plans and timing off course? Make sure to check if there is construction planned for your route and make up one, or several, alternate routes so that you can be prepared for any unplanned holdups such as accidents, weather, or emergency service. A great and simple way to stay on top of this is to check the US DOT Federal Highway Administration site, which keeps an updated map of the States that you can use to check the current conditions, up-to-the-minute, for your journey.
Make A Checklist
You will certainly not want to have any mechanical troubles or breakdowns on your journey, so do what experienced RV drivers do to make sure all is well with their rig: keep a checklist. From your tires to your propone tanks to your awnings, all aspects of the RV should be checked thoroughly before the journey. Keep a checklist of everything that will need to be inspected and make sure that each point is hit before you take off. Depending on which type of RV you are going with, look up the various checklists online and make sure you have all the key points for your model checked off before you roll out.
