Safety Tips for Your Family's Fall RV Trip • Simple At Home

Traveling as a family in an RV presents a special set of safety needs that you ought to adhere to for the best outcome. Keeping them in mind can help you enjoy an amazing time and make memories that you’ll cherish for a long time to come. Of course, the best memories are those that don’t involve health and safety risks, so read on to see some helpful tips for your family’s fall RV trip.

Service Your RV

The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that the condition of the RV you’re set to travel in is perfect. Have it serviced and make sure that everything is in stellar condition, packing a spare tire and other roadside emergency items. When you set out in an RV that’s in good shape, you have a better chance of staying safe on the road.

Note that it’s estimated that the global Automotive Repair and Maintenance Service market will reach $810.30 billion by 2026. This makes it clear that a large number of people see the importance of servicing their vehicles and keeping them in good shape by fixing them when things go wrong. You and your family, too, could gain from having a well-serviced RV when you get on the road.

Travel Light

Remember that it’s just a short trip when packing. This means that you should pack light and avoid carrying too many things with you. There’s a good chance that these excess items will just end up becoming an inconvenience to you and you won’t even use them. Remind your family that you’re coming back home in a while, so you don’t have to take every single thing with you.

For clothing, make sure to pack warm clothes and layers so that you can easily adjust them as you need. Make sure that there’s room for essentials like water, food, and emergency items. This is the way to know that you’ve packed responsibly.

Plan Your Stops in Advance

As mentioned, you have additional considerations to make when traveling as a family than you’d have when traveling alone. One of these is making sure that there are adequate rest stops on your trip. This will help keep the kids less cranky and make the trip a bit more enjoyable for everyone. You also need time to stretch your legs every now and then so that you can keep driving safely. That said, take time to map out your route, taking the one that offers you a reasonable number of rest stops. These include places to buy food and refreshments.

Keep in mind that RV ownership is at a record high, as 11.2 million households owned an RV in 2021. This is a 62% increase from 6.9 million households in 2001 and 26% more than the 8.9 million households who owned RVs in 2011. You can therefore check online for suggested routes from other people who’ve been to the places you want to go.

Rest Well Before Setting Out

Finally, you need to make sure that you’re well-rested before you get on your way. This will help you drive carefully, and you can get to and from your destination with your family more safely. Note that 11% of state police and highway patrol vehicles in 2000 had in-car cameras. This number has increased to around 72% of all state patrol vehicles today, meaning that there’s a better chance of staying safe while on the road.

People won’t be likely to break road rules if they know they may be caught and charged more easily. This means that you should be reasonably safe if you take other precautions on your RV trip.

Keep these safety tips in mind if you want to make the trip a safe one for your family in your RV this fall. If you get into these safe habits, you can make repeat trips with no real risk to your family’s safety.