Tips For Driving Your RV at Night

While it’s best if you can complete all the driving in your RV during the day, you’ll definitely have occasions where you have to drive at night. It’s not ideal, but it can be done safely if you’re vigilant and careful. There are a lot of things you have to worry about when driving at night, and these only increase when you’re driving a big motorhome or towing a large trailer behind your vehicle. Here are some helpful tips to follow when driving with your RV after sunset.

1. Don’t Drive Tired

This should go without saying, but people try to do it anyway to save time. Driving when you’re too exhausted to keep your eyes open is asking for trouble. There’s no amount of caffeine or vitamin supplements you can take that will make up for missed sleep. If you can’t switch drivers, then you just have to pull over to a safe parking lot or side street and get some shut-eye before you try again to reach your destination in the morning.

2. Dim Your Interior Lights

Keeping the cabin lights on in your driving cab is likely to make it hard to see out the windshield and windows, due to glare. Dim those lights so that they aren’t causing a distraction, and don’t let your passenger use them, either.

3. Keep Watch for Nocturnal Animals

One of your biggest obstacles when driving at night is the presence of nocturnal animals who may leap suddenly into the roadway. Many a driver has slammed into a deer late at night; try not to be one of them. Keep your speed a little slow when you see animal warning signs posted so that you can scan the road for any animals that might cause you issues if you were to hit them. 

Remember that it’s always better to hit the animal than to swerve off the road in any direction; no one wants to do it, but it’s honestly the safest choice if you can’t brake in time.

4. Clean Your Windshield

The dark will make any stains or streaks on your windshield stand out in stark relief at night, blurring your view. Carefully clean the interior and exterior of your windshield before your drive. Check your wiper blades before every trip to make sure they don’t need to be replaced, and also top off your windshield-wiper fluid.

5. Replace Exterior Lights

Sometimes, the lights on the outside of your RV might not be bright enough to help you to see and be seen. In this case, you can replace them with brighter LED lights, and you can even add more LED lights along the sides of your camper to make it more visible. Reflective tape or decals can also help.

Looking to buy a new camper? When you’re ready to see some models in person, come by our dealership in Indianola, IA, to see our available stock of new and used RVs for sale. We can also assist you with financing options on your camper purchase. Herold Trailer Sales serves the metro areas of Des Moines, IA, and Omaha, NE.