Driving Lessons

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Deb will be doing some of this in the weeks to come and I am looking forward to it. Some day-trips are in order. The bus needs the exercise as much as she needs the practice

I would really enjoy her doing some of the driving in the future.

After some practice if she is comfortable she has agreed to drive home from Florida!

[adamdegraff]

Joe,
driver (AKA, my wife Lisa) was nervous at first, but has really done an amazing job of learning how to drive. Driver is a great gal, but perhaps not the bus driving type at first glance.... or second glance for that matter. But she has taken to it like a fist to water. I'd say she has about 8-10,000 miles under her belt.

You didn't ask for any tips, so I won't offer any up... but if you should want to know how Driver went from full time passenger to an excellent captain, let me know and I'll be happy to share.

Go Deb!!!

~Adam and Driver

[merle&louise]

These buses are easy to drive, all it takes is practice learning under the right circumstances. Empty mall parking lots on Sunday mornings or 4 lane roads with little traffic. My wife Karen can do anything with our coach that I can do. After a comfort level is reached; braking distances, turning, and understanding the gauges will give your wife the confidence she needs to be at ease behind the wheel.

Be patient with your wife, and you will enjoy traveling much more. You will be able to enjoy the amenities of the bus if you're not stuck behind the wheel for 10 hours a day. If I had to drive all of the time; I wouldn't want to travel in the coach!

Another thing to consider is if you become ill and are in the middle of nowhere, it would be nice for her to be able to drive the bus.

I don't know about the Prevost family, but over 20 Newells are owned by women! No husbands - boyfriends - nada! Trust me, the gals can do it!

[BrianE]

As a group, Poggers seem to be enthusiastic about getting the gals in the left seat. Since we've been here, many of the girls have become excellent drivers. Beverly has driven our motor homes/buses from the first day we've owned them and consequently will take over on the worst mountain roads, no problem.

Start out easy though and as long as she really wants to drive it will just take a little time. Good seating position, a good view in the mirrors, her understanding that the bus has 8 corners (4 on the bottom and 4 on top), a little parking lot practice to get used to the controls, mirror use, and your explanation and demonstration of how the bus actually turns around the rear wheels (more mirror practice), and she'll be ready for rest stop to rest stop on the freeway.

The key to the whole thing is you, not her. Keep it light, have fun, be patient.

[sawdust_128]

Big Parking Lot, you review the controls and coach behavior, you get out of the bus and let her drive it and learn it her way. Did this with C when we were at Liberty after taking delivery. When it came time to go home, she wanted to drive and had no trepidation even after the dinghy was hooked. We both have a few thousand miles under our belts and it gets easier each time.

In my opinion, the biggest problam for a new driver is learning to control one's tendency to oversteer. After that is mastered, the rest of the process seemed to fall into place.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

TGO in Titusville is quite large and we might practice turning stopping and starting driving around the neighborhood

Folks will think we are lost The rest we will irritate by such slow speeds.

I will be riding shotgun taking it all in.

[Will Garner]

Joe,

If you have not checked it yet, go see the U-tube videos from Jimmy C's post. The link below takes you to one of them. This equipment should resolve any issues arising from "slow driving" in the parking lot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNW3EBxfhbY&NR=1

[lewpopp]

When all of the lovely wives are learning to drive, put Tuga in with them. I would guess it has been a long while since he was behind the wheel. Louise won't let him, God bless her.

[merle&louise]

Hey Lew,

I would love to teach some of the wives to drive a coach if they are not comfortable with their husband's instructions. But, when we tried to have an actual wives' driving course in Kerrville @ POG III it got shot down because of insurance and liability issues. It's too bad because I think some of the gals really wanted to learn.

Regardless, I know that Louise has enjoyed driving and especially backing the coach into an RV site while a group of men are standing around watching her. She is a great gal. I consider myself lucky to have a wife who wants to drive!

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Tuga, I'm slightly confused about why some girls were not afforded the opportunity to learn and do a little driving.

Humor me here for a minute while I think out loud.

All these vehicles have RV plates so legally in most states anyone over the age of 16 with a valid licence can drive one. All of the girls who wanted to had valid licenses and I'm pretty confident most have insurance on their bus

So.............?

Seems to me any girls who really want to just have to tell the old boy to slide over to the passenger seat and show me. Most I have encountered (women) usually get their way on many issues.

I will never be convinced this is a liability and insurance issue.