I'm not sure as to when you actually need a commercial license here. At the same time I am not aware of any special license you need to drive an RV regardless of type or length. When we bought our first big class A we were handed the keys, and the seller said "Have fun." (In all fairness this was a private individual, not a dealership.) But we still didn't have to take a driving course or pass a test or anything. And we're not so sure that is a good idea. I know I will probably take some hits on this one, but I don't think it would be a bad thing to require some kind of a driving course for RVs over a certain length. We could all stand a little more safety on the highways. As for 18 wheelers--time is money for them. They need to deliver their load asap so that they can pick up the next one. This certainly doesn't give them the right to be dangerous, but it does cause them to push it to the limit. Fortunately truck speeds are sometimes less than cars, and there are some highways that don't allow trucks in the far left lane. They do tend to go very fast downhill so that they can get a good run at the uphill. If you want some real fun the next time you're here try driving on I-35. It is one of the main corridors out of Mexico, and it is wall-to-wall trucks. We hate to drive on it even in a car. RVing in the UK. Hhmmmm, something to think about.
It cant be easy for truckers at times I must admit, over here we have a different problem, We have one huge 45 tonner following another on the motorway, truck one is going 55Mph, truck two behind wants to overtake, so out he pulls into lane 2... he accelerates up to a nice 56mph where he hits the limiter, so we now have two side by side big rigs that take about 40 miles for one to overtake the other, two thirds of the motorway is now blocked, Lane 3 is usually occupied by hurtling Beamers and Ford Mondeos so its hard to get into that one too. When I return my rented RV I usually like to have a potter round the workshops and look at the repairs going on, the amount of damaged units is amazing, the guy told me it can be as much as 1 in 3 that are damaged in some way upon return, seems folks can have few ideas about handling such a large vehicle, some class 'C's aer now in excess of 30ft and many European renters have never driven anyhting more than a small hatcback. Fortunately we have horses so I often drive a large horse transport truck so have some experience, but it seems the long rear overhang catches many out on tight turns, also a lot seem to forget to take corners much wider,yes the back will follow the front, but if you take the right hand corner at an intersection too tightly it will follow it up the sidewalk, over the people waiting for the bus, up over the parked cars and possibly through the convience store. So you are correct, maybe a small driving course for folks not familiar with what is essentially a large bus.
dementinator, We spent couple weeks in the UK some years ago and I will say this. Your drivers are 10 times better on the road ways than ones here in the colonials. Main roads have speed limit signs that change as problems come up down the road. The round-a-bouts are the best thing we have ever found anyplace on earth. Everyone moves and no one needs to slow down or stop anyplace. Road speed is under control due to photo tag, if you drive to fast your speeding ticket will be sent by mail to you with a note to have a nice day. In our two weeks we found one truck that had a turn over problem. No car wrecks in our travels over England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Here at home we see cars wrecks any time we go anyplace. Shops here are full of car wrecks all the time. People in the UK were great to be around and love to drink beer and ale. Each time I see an 80,000 lbs truck running down hill on I-70 east at speeds of a race car, I think next time we see him will be in a pile of junk on side of the road. No prizes for first one down the mountain. We hope you enjoy the states as much as we enjoyed the UK. We hope to return back to London before to long. We need to spend more time on tour and see more places.
QUOTE(John Blue @ Oct 22 2008, 11:24 AM) [snapback]13641[/snapback] dementinator, We spent couple weeks in the UK some years ago and I will say this. Your drivers are 10 times better on the road ways than ones here in the colonials. Main roads have speed limit signs that change as problems come up down the road. The round-a-bouts are the best thing we have ever found anyplace on earth. Everyone moves and no one needs to slow down or stop anyplace. Road speed is under control due to photo tag, if you drive to fast your speeding ticket will be sent by mail to you with a note to have a nice day. In our two weeks we found one truck that had a turn over problem. No car wrecks in our travels over England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Here at home we see cars wrecks any time we go anyplace. Shops here are full of car wrecks all the time. People in the UK were great to be around and love to drink beer and ale. Each time I see an 80,000 lbs truck running down hill on I-70 east at speeds of a race car, I think next time we see him will be in a pile of junk on side of the road. No prizes for first one down the mountain. We hope you enjoy the states as much as we enjoyed the UK. We hope to return back to London before to long. We need to spend more time on tour and see more places. Glad you enjoyed the UK, next time you are here visit my home county of Herefordshire, yes thats where the Hereford Cattle come from and its a really nice part of the country near the Welsh border. I guess all countries have their problems driving around, Italy is supposed to be real fun.
QUOTE(dementinator @ Oct 22 2008, 09:57 AM) [snapback]13639[/snapback] When I return my rented RV I usually like to have a potter round the workshops and look at the repairs going on, the amount of damaged units is amazing, the guy told me it can be as much as 1 in 3 that are damaged in some way upon return, seems folks can have few ideas about handling such a large vehicle, some class 'C's aer now in excess of 30ft and many European renters have never driven anyhting more than a small hatcback. If you are familiar with the "Redneck Comedians," I like Jeff Foxworthy's routine on rental cars. "Do you want the additional insurance Mr. Foxworthy?" "Yes I DO!!! I have seen what people DO with rental cars! My grandmother, who won't drive more than 35 miles per hour, DOES DONUTS with rental cars!" I hope people don't take that attitude with RV's...... That's too big a vehicle to take the "rental car" attitude..... JJ
QUOTE we now have two side by side big rigs that take about 40 miles for one to overtake the other, two thirds of the motorway is now blocked, Lane 3 is usually occupied by hurtling Beamers and Ford Mondeos so its hard to get into that one too. That is not something exclusive to your area of the world. We have that same problem here except there are usually only 2 lanes, not 3, so there is no chance of getting by. QUOTE it seems the long rear overhang catches many out on tight turns, also a lot seem to forget to take corners much wider, Oh yes, we've all done this. There's a gas pump in Roswell, New Mexico, that will never be the same after our visit. This happened on one of our first trips driving the big rig, and we did not swing wide enough for the tow car to get past the pump. That was the first time we had to unhook. Now there have been 2 more. You would think we would learn!
Indeed the M-25 is a parking lot !! Our usual trip lands us at Heathrow - then express train into Paddington Station. Two or three days in London - then back to Heathrow to rent a car (not sure I am ready to drive IN London) - and then we head out to some part of the country.. JohnBlue - check out Cornwall and The Lakes District and Kent and ....oh heck.....just go anywhere it is ALL good. Dementinator we have probably 'circled' your farm (here you would be a ranch...lol) Driven up from Bristol to Llandrindon Wells then on to Shrewsbury and also a stop a Great Malvern (for a dog show) - it is indeed very nice country. Our experience with drivers in the UK is that they totally ignored the posted speed limits...have the cameras slowed people down? I like the idea of separate lanes for lorries but am not fond of separate speed limits - that seems to bottle up traffic especially on two lane interstates. I also do not have any knowledge of a separate license - we drive a 40 ft motorhome and like Texasrver we were handed the keys....Texas how bad is I-35? we have driven as far south as San Antonio but this winter we are heading to Mission Tx - any advice? So Dementinator - Wolves fan?
bigredoes, If you have driven on I-35 as far as San Antonio you have been on the worst part (in my opinion) which is between San Antonio and Dallas. It's just that there are a lot of 18-wheelers and all the problems that they bring. Also there always seems to be construction on some part, but I'm not sure where they are working right now. And actually if you are heading to Mission from San Antonio you will get off I-35. You will take I-37 out of SA and then get on Highway 281 the rest of the way. I-35 goes to Laredo from San Antonio, and Mission is much farther south in the Texas valley (southern tip of Texas). You should do fine, but if you are concerned there are two alternate routes that a lot of RVers take. You can switch over to Hwy 281 somewhere south of the Texas/Okla. border. It is to the west of I-35 and actually runs way up into Kansas or Nebraska. It goes through SA and then on down to the valley. OR you can take Hwy 77 out of Waco. It is to the east of I-35, goes to near Corpus Christi and eventually winds up in the valley also. Both roads are good and are 4 lane undivided in many places, but they do go through many little towns with stop lights. Hope you enjoy your stay here, and let me know if you need more info. TX
Theres something about driving through Salt Lake City that I never enjoy, the outside area seems to start somewhere in south Montana and finish 80 miles south of Vegas, ok I am perhaps exagerating somewhat there but boy oh boy it goes on and on, intersection after intersection, freeway after freeway, traffic hurtling in from all directions and never ending construction. I remember back in 95 driving north through there in a Southwind Storm, the ones on the old Chevy Chassis, you know, where the wheels were located about 2 feet inside the outer body work, so if you took you hand of the wheel for even a nano second you got up close and personal with nature. Well I got to about 40 miles from SLC and the dreaded Concrete dividers started, the RV had a width of 102" and the nice construction people had given us a huge 104" of space between them, so there I was, clinging to the wheel, mirrors over hanging the dividers on both sides trying to keep the thing from bouncing all over and not holding up traffic, this went on for 30 odd miles and I was a wreck by the time I emerged at the other end, several pounds lighter and with a strange facial tick. Hence I seem to always dread that part of the I 15, they seem to know I am comming and up go the dividers, fortuantely the modern RV handles so much better now and even stops when asked to, god that old P30 Chassis was frightening at times.
Man does this bring back memories. Seems there is ALWAYS wind in the mixture as well. Last time thru this gauntlet was not as bad for us. Perhaps knowing what's in store...and we're now pulling a tow-car...tail of a kite effect...ha! :lol: My nemesis is 1-15 dropping down out of St. George, Utah into Nevada. Mr. Toad's WILD RIDE...
QUOTE(bigredoes @ Oct 22 2008, 12:43 PM) [snapback]13646[/snapback] Indeed the M-25 is a parking lot !! Our usual trip lands us at Heathrow - then express train into Paddington Station. Two or three days in London - then back to Heathrow to rent a car (not sure I am ready to drive IN London) - and then we head out to some part of the country.. JohnBlue - check out Cornwall and The Lakes District and Kent and ....oh heck.....just go anywhere it is ALL good. Dementinator we have probably 'circled' your farm (here you would be a ranch...lol) Driven up from Bristol to Llandrindon Wells then on to Shrewsbury and also a stop a Great Malvern (for a dog show) - it is indeed very nice country. Our experience with drivers in the UK is that they totally ignored the posted speed limits...have the cameras slowed people down? I like the idea of separate lanes for lorries but am not fond of separate speed limits - that seems to bottle up traffic especially on two lane interstates. I also do not have any knowledge of a separate license - we drive a 40 ft motorhome and like Texasrver we were handed the keys....Texas how bad is I-35? we have driven as far south as San Antonio but this winter we are heading to Mission Tx - any advice? So Dementinator - Wolves fan? Ah the Wolverhampton Wanderers eh? How in the name of all thats holy did you find yourself in that area? not exactly a tourist destination hehe. To be honest, unusual as it may seem I am not really a huge soccer fan, if I do support anyone its my home town 'Hereford United' but I am more into tennis really, hence my forum name, I am a fan of a Russian Female player called Elena Dementieva. I was just thinking how the modern RV has changed so much, even just in the last 10 years or so, they now handle so much better and even stop, I can remember having to call 40 miles ahead to see what the traffic lights were doing so I could start slowing down in readiness and the steering used to be done by committee its seemed, now things are way better indeed. We used to have an old Tiffin Allegro 30ft Class A back home in the UK, a 1989 model we picked up cheap at a local auction, it was fitted with a Chevvy 6.2 non turbo Diesel, dear god that thing was slow, it didnt have a speedometer but a Theodolite to check if there was any forward progress taking place and hills were to be feared and avoided. Nowadays you can zoom along at 70mph in near silence, a much better deal.
