Keep you and your RV Safe While on the Road

Safety on the road is top of mind for all RVers.  It doesn’t matter if you are going out on weekend or spending your entire lives in your RV – safety is your underlying focus.  What are some key points you should include in your knowledge base before you venture out on the road?

Necessary Maintenance

Really, in the end, all maintenance is necessary.  Sometimes lack of maintenance just means irritation or being uncomfortable.  Other maintenance requires constant checking because it can mean danger or destruction.  Here is a list of items you should have a daily or weekly checklist to maintain so you don’t end up stuck beside the road or worse.

• Wheels – Wheels on the bus go round and round.  And because we want them to keep doing that, we should check them every time we get in and out of the RV (or truck).  They carry our home or weekend getaway!  Make sure they are inflated correctly before every major drive.  Each time you stop, do a walk around and make sure they look aligned, inflated with no extra unwanted nails.  (Getting a TMPS is a good idea – mentioned below).
• Fuses and batteries – Make sure your batteries are working in your detectors.  Checking fuses will prevent damage to wiring and protecting wiring can prevent fires.  According to the NPS (National Park Service), 2,000 RV fires occur annually and many of those fires are from 12-volt shorts.
• Leaks and seal – Check leaks on your propane tanks.  We know what can happen if these are not contained.  Check seals on your water tanks.  You don’t want drinking water to become contaminated.

Make sure to check all the necessary maintenance before you get ready to leave in your RV.

Personal Safety Measures

What makes each of us feel safe can vary widely from person to person.  You might start by listing out what your top concerns are about RVing and put measures in place to stop your concerns.  Here are a few RV safety ideas based on RVing facts.

• Security system – All or some of your RV might be tempting.  In September 2022, NIADA even introduced legislation to help prevent catalytic converters from being stolen.  If you are with your RV all the time, this might not be a concern point for you.
• First aid kit – I’m pretty sure a week does not go by that my full-time spouse and I are not using a band aid, peroxide or at the very least a rinse of some kind.  The more active you are, the more aid you should keep available. Be sure to get rid of outdated medical supplies as poisoning is the number one safety killer.
• Rails – You don’t have to be an older person in an RV to consider rails.  According to the injury facts by the NSC (National Safety Council), falls are the number one preventable death in homes.  Being in an RV can be a little more complicated as we know.  So, analyze the areas of your RV where falls are likely to occur and modify stairs or add handrails.

Make sure all of your safety equipment, including fire extinguishers are accounted for before setting out on your trip.

Safety Equipment

· Fire extinguisher – According to the NSC again – the third issue in homes are fires, flames, and smoke.  Because our RVs suffer earthquakes with every move, little things can jar loose which can contribute to fires.  Make sure you can put them out.

·  Detectors – Also on the top five list for preventable injuries is mechanical suffocation.  We sometimes need to operate generators or heaters in our RVs.  It is very important we have detectors in place to monitor the gases and fumes from these items.

·  Tire Pressure monitoring system – One thing our RVs have most homes don’t are our tires.  Apply a monitoring set up to your tires so you know when they are getting low.  Before we got our TPMS, we actually drove about 20 miles in our fifth wheel before we even knew a tire had blown out.  We heard nothing but another RVer told us we had a completely missing tire!

Sometimes we get so busy in life that working on being safe goes to the bottom of the list.  But all the other areas of our life are saturated with unrest, concern and even fear when we don’t address the central issues of staying safe.  So, take a little time to put some of these in practice or at least move them up on your list of things to do.