With RV Ownership at an All-Time High, Erie Insurance Offers Tips for First-Time RVers

The Difference

The Tips

Drivability

Driving a car is second-nature for people who do it all the time, but maneuvering an RV is different, especially if you're doing it for the first time and it's not something you do very often.

• Spend some time practicing driving your RV in a safe place away from traffic, such as in an empty parking lot.
• Leave a lot of room for wide turns.
• Maintain a proper distance from other vehicles knowing that it may take longer than usual to slow down or speed up.

Visibility

Anyone who drives a car is familiar with blind spots, but those can seem even more pronounced for new RVers.

• Be extra cautious knowing that if a car is following too closely behind your RV, you may not see it.
• Motorcycles can be especially hard to see depending on where and how close they are to your vehicle.

Maintenance

Both cars and RVs require regular maintenance like oil changes and tire rotations, but RVs have many additional features to attend to, like water, sewer and electrical lines, awnings, slide outs and seals.

• Put your RV on a monthly, seasonal and yearly maintenance schedule to lessen the chance of a breakdown, equipment failure or other malfunction happening while you're on a trip.
• Know that it may be more difficult to access specialized RV roadside assistance if you're in a more remote location.

Getting around & gassing up

When you're on a car trip you use your car for sight-seeing and you don't think twice about hitting a drive-through for dinner or pulling into any service station to gas up. Depending on the size of your RV, however, those things may not be practical.

• Consider towing a vehicle behind the RV so you can park the RV at a campsite and use the car to get around.
• Plot out your trip on a map so you know the locations not only of campgrounds that accommodate RVs, but also of rest stops big enough for you to get into to fuel up your RV.

Insurance

Whether for a car or an RV, you'll need Liability insurance, which covers injuries to others or damage to others' property if you are responsible for an accident, and you will also likely want Comprehensive and Collision to cover your own vehicle.

• Many people choose Umbrella coverage as an extra layer of protection on top of their existing Auto, RV or Home insurance. Umbrella may be especially helpful for RVers given the different risks. Talk to your insurance agent to help you choose the coverage that's best for you based on your specific needs.