Recreational vehicles are popular and a common sight on the road. Driving an RV for road trips and camping is an American pastime enjoyed by millennials and baby boomers alike. 40 million Americans go RV camping per year with almost 9 million owning their own rig.
While RV sales have generally increased over the last decade, the Covid-19 pandemic has made RVs ideal this summer for vacations while social distancing. But RVs are not ideal to get in an accident with. The danger of their weight and size is multiplied by the inexperience of many novice drivers. If you have been in an accident with an RV, turn to Sam & Ash Injury Law for solutions and counsel you deserve.
RV Driving Safety Tips
If you are planning a trip in an RV soon, you deserve a good time. So take the specific precautions you need for an RV. We recommend:
- Calculate your average tail swing to clear tight right turns.
- Using a GPS app specifically for RVs to get safe navigation prompts.
- Practicing your braking distance.
- Insuring your RV with optional Roadside Assistance coverage for unexpected stops.
Researching RV driving safety is important because you do not need to take a special test before operating one.
Does an RV Driver Need a Special License?
Anyone with a Class B Non-Commercial driver’s license can operate an RV. That’s an ordinary driver’s license. People may drive a passenger vehicle well, but RVs are considerably different.
Class A RVs weigh as much as 30,000 pounds with an average height of 13 ½ feet. Class C RVs, the most popular class, maybe 12,000 pounds heavy and 10 feet tall. The average weight of a passenger car is under 3,000 pounds. As detailed below, these contrasts in size also affect driver negligence and injuries from RV accidents.
According to one study, the average RV owner uses their vehicle less than three weeks per year. Unlike commercial truckers or bus drivers, an RV driver is likely to be a little rusty behind the wheel when starting a new trip. Some rusty driving verges on negligence.
Driver Negligence in an RV Accident
New RV owners make careless mistakes like getting stuck in a fast-food drive-thru, forgetting to secure loose hoses, and not emptying full waste tanks. Those errors only do damage to their own rig. But other novice mistakes result in highway accidents that affect other drivers:
- A driver who carries a heavy load can misjudge a safe braking distance.
- An unevenly loaded RV risks stressing some tires, which results in tire blowouts.
- When a hitch fails or is improperly secured, a towed car will detach and collide with other cars behind it.
- With a higher center of gravity, RVs traveling as high as 55 mph risk rollovers at turns or during high winds.
- RV drivers miss blind spots that cover a substantial amount of the surrounding area. This includes several feet in front and behind the vehicle, as well as the back end of the left and right sides.
These mistakes form the most common grounds for negligence in RV accidents. The fault is only one part of a personal injury case. Next is the injury, which may be catastrophic in an RV accident.
Catastrophic Injuries When Hit by an RV
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records about 75,000 injuries per year from RV accidents. Unfortunately, many of these cases involve severe injuries that include:
- Broken bones
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck and spine injuries
- Nerve damage
- Burn injuries
What they all have in common is long-term and costly treatment. An experienced accident lawyer like the personal injury professionals at Sam & Ash Injury Law can ensure your recovery is done right without financial complications.
How Our RV Accident Lawyers in Las Vegas, NV Can Help
Bring your RV accident case to the Sam & Ash Injury Law team. How to prove the other driver’s negligent conduct that caused the accident is not always obvious. Our RV accident lawyers have a background in prosecuting negligence and the resources to determine what was at the fault in your accident.
Liability policy limits for RVs are usually higher, which means the money is likely there to recover your losses. But getting it from the insurance company takes a fight. Hire someone who fights that good fight every day. Sam & Ash Injury Law do What’s Right. Call us and we will discuss your case strategy for free at 1 (800) 304-2000.
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