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I was wondering who else out there has researched the topic of passenger safety in motorhomes.
My wife and I plan on getting an RV at some point. We have two young children and plan on traveling as a family. We do not currently own a vehicle suitable for towing, so we would need to first purchase that and then shop for a travel trailer later on.
A few months ago I started thinking about the possibility of buying a used motorhome and towing our family vehicle behind it. I found many examples that would fit our budget. At that point I started thinking about the safety of our children when riding in a motorhome and it turned me off of the idea.
The driver and passenger seats in a motorhome and almost always safe, but the rest of the vehicle rarely is. Even when there are seat belts on the couch or dinette they aren't mounted to the vehicle the way the seat belts in the front seats are. In the example of a dinette they are usually just mounted to its weak wood frame and really do not do much in the case of an accident. I'm including a video as an example of what I mean.
I was wondering if anyone knows of an RV manufacturer that makes a motorhome that actually has safe seats for passengers, or if there is some way to create a safe seating area. I would not want a class B motorhome, only an A or C. I know plenty of people out there do travel with their kids in a motorhome, but after researching it I just won't risk it. I'm guessing there really aren't safe options out there and we will just have to wait until we can afford a tow vehicle and a trailer.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I use a Quad Rialta (a C that is B size) It has 4 person safety seating (Quad), but for extra safety, I would improve the rear set of (2) seats with NTSA (high back and better restraints.)
Thus... with the correctly designed A or C (or B) you could upgrade to safety seating (Positioning passengers in conventional orientation (Quad seating) will assist in the majority of moving vehicle accidents.
Rialta is most suitable for singles / short trips. But there are some really nice A and C's. (I prefer at leat (3) doors for safe exit (fire most likely) Pros & Cons of a Rialta
My RV has 2 passenger seats around the dining table that are bolted to a metal cage that in turn is bolted to the floor. I can't imagine it could be any safer than to be bolted the same way your front seat belts are. Many questions to be answered and only you have the answer to some of them.
What class of RV?
Are your kids little or in their teens?
Would you be allowing them to move around while in motion?
Are you extremely over protective to where they will never be what you consider safe?
They would not have airbag protection, but do they have it in the back seat of your car?
Remember, if you wait long enough you won't have the kids to travel with, as they will be odd and married and have their own families.
What class of RV?
Are your kids little or in their teens?
Would you be allowing them to move around while in motion?
Are you extremely over protective to where they will never be what you consider safe?
They would not have airbag protection, but do they have it in the back seat of your car?
Remember, if you wait long enough you won't have the kids to travel with, as they will be odd and married and have their own families.
What class of RV?
I'm flexible, A or C. It just needs to be large enough to comfortably house a family of four plus a dog for a week at at time.
Are your kids little or in their teens?
Currently 5 and 2
Would you be allowing them to move around while in motion?
No. Not now or when they are older.
Are you extremely over protective to where they will never be what you consider safe?
No.
And what RV specifically are you driving? Did you happen to watch the crash video I included to see what happens to a typical RV dinette with passengers during a crash?
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,714 posts, read 58,054,000 times
Reputation: 46182
As a 40+ yr CDL driver... RV crashes are often ugly for bodily injury, and remarkably LUCKY!
Since the RV is BIG... (EZ to see) most accidents are driver caused, so
1) Follow SMITH driving rules ALWAYS (be a defensive driver)
2) Know that the OTHER drivers are NOT watching for you
3) Keep your kids / family safe
4) If you are tired, pull off, you have a BED!!! (kids love Municipal pools and Hot springs!)
5) If you are upset... don't drive. (go play in the park with your kids!)
Good for you for checking into this.
Motorhomes and Campervans are wonderful family road trip memories (and war stories for us VW van owners... fires and such!)
I have a 25 ft class C. In addition, I am such a hermit and loner that I can't envision a situation that anybody will ever be in that RV but me. I have seen the crash video, and in fact I made a point of watching a bunch, so I have seen dozens of them. I notice that they tend to crash more if they are towed when the sinus rhythm of the trailer swaying opposite of the tow vehicle gets extreme. Of course blown tires and such can cause any vehicle to crash. That's why they are called accidents.
My perspective of this is coming from an old man with children that are 40+ so it's slightly different with you have very young kids. I have no reason to ever rush or push myself and never go more than 100-120 miles at a time, and never over 60 mph. That's one of the benefits of retirement, having no place to get to and no time to get there. Of course the down side is that I have 40 less years of life left than you, so it's a trade-off.
Best advice is to just drive safe, plan your trips so you have no need to rush or push for distance covered, or optionally wait until the kids are older. I mean, they are not even out of car seat age. You may be best suited with an extended cab truck and a 5th wheel behind you than a class A.
No they are not very safe in a crash, unless you buy a Prevost or a Newell or a Bluebird (on of the ones made form a bus), but those cost a million or more.
You are travelling in a relatively flimsy fiberglass box that is filled with utensils, equipment tools etc. Many have no bumpers or useless bumpers. Nothing between the driver/passenger and impact object but some fiberglass and a giant piece of glass.
So are they safe in an accident? No.
On the other hand, nothing is safe in an accident. The idea that cars can somehow make you safe is a product of clever but false marketing. The "safety" tests in cars are for low MPH collisions and the provide limited protection only in single impact collisions at relatively low speeds and where the impact is evenly distributed, etc.
If you want to be safe, leave your cell in the back. Do not drive when you are tired, practice defensive driving techniques, and focus/perception techniques.
No vehicle will make you safe. If you have a major collision with anything in anything, you are all pretty likely to die or get majorly messed up. Not colliding with anything is how you stay safe. While you are not completely in control of whether you get in an accident, a situation where the accident could not have been prevented, avoided, reduced in severity by alert driving is pretty rare. In the oddball situation like someone careening over the median and hitting you head on, you are not likely to survive or at least without serious injury no matter what you are driving.
The second most useful thing you can do to keep your family safe is to keep the control/safety features on your vehicle in prime condition. Brakes, clean windshield, shocks, tie rods, control arms, tires, seat belts, turn signals, mirrors, cameras, collision avoidance radar thingies. . . All of these things properly adjusted, properly functioning and properly used, will do far more to keep you family safe than your selection of chives will.
If you do all those things you are hundreds of times safer than most. If you still feel unsafe, get a 5th wheel.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,714 posts, read 58,054,000 times
Reputation: 46182
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens
No they are not very safe in a crash, unless you buy a Prevost or a Newell or a Bluebird (on of the ones made form a bus), but those cost a million or more.
...If you still feel unsafe, get a 5th wheel.
or... make a Skoolie from a NTSA approved BUS Chassis! ~ $10k + $20k for a NICE conversion. (DIY)
Make it a Greasel (no fuel costs)
40 + yrs as CDL driver, I do not concur that a 5r is safer. Towing brings an additional set of risks.
The last fatal accident I was front seat (present at accident)... 7 days ago. It was a HD Pickup 'tow vehicle' (but not towing at the time).
He tried to run over a semi truck (from behind).
You need to respect the "Lug Nut Rule".
The vehicle with the most lug-nuts is most probably winner.
I diligently follow that rule when on a scooter in city traffic in Thailand and China and a bus or cement truck pulls across 6 lanes of traffic
Nobody has mentioned the slides......in big RV's the slides seriously impede the area inside the motorhome when they are not extended. That stuff surely would be trouble in a crash even if the seat belts held you in.
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