Ok, I will just start this by saying that my wife was proud of me for using the airhorns. Yep, I used them. I pushed down hard and did so very hard it was like I meant it. And I did!
Ok, short story and then a video as we have dash cam of it. (You all know we use a dash cam right? If not, we use a BlackVue Dash Cam.) Anyway, if you have ever been with a professional caravanning group you will know that one thing they do not do is travel in a long line. Nope, only 3 to maybe 5 RV’s at a time will head out even if they have 30 of them. Now there are a number of good reasons for this. Here are three which come to mind…
1) You have a less chance of blocking cars coming onto the expressway/Highway/Interstate etc seeing you are not a long train of RV’s.
2) When you all are getting on an expressway/Highway/Interstate etc, you are not all trying to get on at once.
3) You are not all trying to keep up with the leader and thus speeding or making other poor choices as you will see in the video.
But other than traffic issues, you also then have the issue of all of you arriving at the RV park at the same time and thus blocking traffic and entranceways! That is just bad for the park owner and does not get you all off on the right foot. :-) These are just a few reasons, if you want to know others, check out what a professional caravan group offers and take a trip. They are great fun and well planned.
But with all that said, doing a caravan with a group of friends is a great time. It is just so fun traveling with others and having a like experience and even make new friends if you do not know everyone. You also feel a sense of safety when traveling in more “out there” places. Brenda and I have been in a number of “friend caravans” and even took leads on the one we did when we went to Newfoundland. Oh how none of the group can forget the “Gooooooooood Morning Campers!” coming over the radios each morning as we headed out with complete drive details and weather reports. One day I did not do it, it seems, soon enough when we hit the road and I was reminded over the radio. (Dang you Curtis…I would have got to it.) But I digress.
Our Caravan of Friends waiting to get on a ferry.
We are here to talk about a BIG NO NO when it comes to traveling with large groups and that is…DON’T BUNCH UP and NEVER WAIT ALONG A ROAD SIDE! For in doing so, you are just an accident waiting to happen and endangering others. But why just say it when this would be come off much better if I just show you why from footage taken from our dash cam with me narrating. (Thus the info you will see at the bottom of the screen. Good thing the mic was off or you would have heard some “Bleep, Bleep you Bleep’en Bleep” kinds of things.)
All in all, safety first. After all, you will get there when you get there and travel is part of the adventure. The addition of a Dash Cam can also be a very good thing and does not hurt to have onboard.
Have always wondered how traveling with a caravan would work on busy highways.
WOW! Thanks for sharing.
The Roaming Ross’s
Loved the footage from your dash cam. Wow, scary stuff. Your words of wisdom are Great! See you and Brenda in Quartzite!
I clicked the Black Vue camera link that you provided and it shows a rear camera as part of the package. Did you install the rear camera as well?
Hi…Yes, we use the rear camera for the inside the coach facing the door. Seeing the camera is motion activated when parked, it records anyone come in or out of the coach.
Hi Brenda & David,
reading this and watching video clip I
had some SMILE on my face, why, you
can ask same as my wife ask me …,
I told her, this guy David is real driver and
I have to met him.
David, love your moves on the road …:-)
Bobo
Thanks for the BIG tip. I have not caravaned but if I every do I will certainly keep this in mind.
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing this especially the video.
Thanks for the video. It was very helpful for someone who has never caravaned. It makes so much sense, but most would probably not realize it before setting out. Keep blogging and safe travels.
Thanks for the great video and tips, the narration after the fact was pure wisdom as well! I really would not have thought about all those great points, but once I heard you explain it I had to share my thanks!
Dave,
Thanks for the spotless video…I recently moved to an area where we have “hard water”. I bought the CR Spotless de-ionizing system and now my RV is looking good!
Great advise, David. I do a lot of caravaning/ convoy action with my Jeep club and I am always preaching this practise to them as well. It’s OK if we get separted with our Jeeps I teel them. I can’t imagine trying to keep this going with a large number of RVer’s. No way.
It’s so great that you see some unsafe acts & are willing to post it to help others. In my experience the leader should always have a person at the end that they can communicate with. We call that the Tail gunner. There job is to watch for any problems between them and the leader & to communicatie that back to the leader. And the leader should always check there mirrors to make sure all is well . But communication is the Key.
Great vid David! Love your others ones as well. Very helpful.